It’s all time-bending, reality-altering scenarios in John Bonello’s latest novel, Fil-Mergħat tal-Impossibli. Ramona Depares catches up with the author.
Just as the whole world celebrates the 50th anniversary of one of the most legendary time lords ever (that’s Dr Who, in case you’ve been living in an era where the good doctor hasn’t landed yet) the Maltese literary community greets the arrival of another time traveller, one who is locally-born. His travels are likely to strike more than one chord of recognition with Maltese readers, particularly in the first part of his adventures.
Meet Steve Ebejer, writer John Bonello’s latest creation, which takes readers on a rollicking ride spanning not only decades but also countries, from the catacombs of Rabat to the highest levels of the Vatican.
Fil-Mergħat tal-Impossibli offers the reader exactly what the title promises – a seemingly impossible scenario where the setting alternates between present-day reality; a utopian scenario where all continents are connected by an underground system and all pollutants have been eliminated; and a dystopia where nature has been killed and an evil pope threatens to destroy the world.
Of course, Bonello is no stranger to fantasy. His last publication before Mergħat was Il-Logħba tal-Allat, the conclusion to a trilogy that is nothing but epic in proportion, and that involves world-hopping using the temples of Dingli as a portal.
However, while Mergħat falls under the same genre, that’s as far as the similarities go, as characters, setting and even the nature of the language used in this new publication are totally different.
“I supose you’d call Mergħat modern fantasy. I do not like to pigeon hole myself where genres are concerned, although it’s difficult of course, particularly with fantasy. In a way, Mergħat was more of a challenge to write, because it is more tied to reality. I couldn’t invent everything, and there was quite a bit of research to be done, particularly in order to ensure that the religious dogma is accurate,” Bonello explains.
Religious dogma because, in a way, you could say that the Church is the main villain in Mergħat. Given that this is Malta, was Bonello worried about any possible repurcussions to this decision?
In reality the villian is not the Church itself, or Christianity
“I was obviously aware that the Maltese would be more affected by my choice, than if I were to have a random villian. But of course, in reality the villian is not the Church itself, or Christianity. After all, Pope Petru Markus, who has taken it upon himself to destroy the world as we know it, is a usurper, not the real thing. He is a distraction from other things that are happening in the plot...,” Bonello says with a mischievous twinkle.
The plot, as it happens, was conceived in a most intriguing manner. Without giving too much away, the book kicks off with the characters who populate the first part of the book setting off on the same bus trip.
Bonello dreamed up the whole story also while on the bus to Valletta, before the changeover to the current bus system.
“My wife wanted my elder son Luke to experience the old buses before Arriva kicked off, so we caught the bus from Dingli. The characters mentioned in the early stages of the book are all based on genuine commuters whom I regularly used to encounter on the bus. Il-Bambu, in particular, is based on a rather well-known character.”
As soon as the bus got to Valletta, Bonello told his wife that he’d need to disappear for 30 minutes so as to jot down the idea. Some coffees later, the whole plot for both books (sadly, Bonello refuses to tie himself down to a definite publishing date for the concluding book) was jotted down.
“The high-level plotline was all there. I did change the subplots and certain details at a later stage, but from the start I knew where I wanted to take the story. I started mapping it out backwards, from the end of book two,” Bonello explains.
At first, the author intended to wrap up the story in one book. However, the more the main character developed, the less viable this became.
“I realised that Steve’s character, with all its complexities, needed to unfold gradually. The story has quite a number of twists and turns, and one massive book just was not going to cut it.”
Which means that those who, like me, have breathlessly arrived to the end will need to wait a tad more to discover how the story resolves. I use the word ‘breathlessly’ judiciously, because the first part of Mergħat is an action-addict’s heaven, with the characters literally racing from one dangerous scenario to the other. And incidentally, Bonello is not scared of doing a George RR Martin to his characters, which makes the action pretty realistic.
“The non-stop action denotes the nightmarish scenario that Steve finds himself thrown into. However, the second part brings with it a change of style, tempo and setting as Steve finds him-self thrown into yet another unexpected scenario, which brings with it ripple effects both on his character and the storyline. To put it simply, the way he behaves is not the way he is expected to – this behaviour is then later explained in the second book.”
The writer who builds worlds
The novel can be described as part-fantasy and part-conspiracy theory. Bonello, as is to be expected, counts several fantasy masters – Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Philip Pullman and the more satirical Terry Pratchett – as his favourite authors. He adds that to a certain extent, the novel also reflects the material he read in his early teenage years, which tended to revolve around conspiracies, such as Michael Baegent’s Holy Blood, Holy Grail.
How about Bonello’s real life – how much of an influence is it on his tales? I can’t help but mention the fact that Dingli (Bonello’s hometown) once again features in his book, although not as prominently as it did in Il-Logħba tal-Allat.
“People ask me whether I have to mention Dingli in everything I write. The reply is yes,” he says with a grin.
What about Steve – is he some version of Bonello himself? The frank reply is that yes, there is a lot of John in Steve.
“I suppose it happens to all authors. We will always put in a bit of ourselves in the characters we create. If it’s not us, it will be someone else. Basing a character on a real person makes it more realistic. It doesn’t mean that the character will be a carbon copy of the real-life person, of course. I’ve modelled certain villains’ traits on friends of mine, and that certainly doesn’t mean they are villains,” Bonello explains.
The names themselves also have a rooting in reality.
“Steve, for instance, is my third name. Ebejer is my grandfather’s maiden name. Il-Bambu was the nickname of my grandfather’s uncle. Petru Markus is named for Mark Peter, a friend of mine. There are plenty of these Easter eggs throughout the story, it makes everything more real for me.”
And after even the second book is finalised, what’s in store? A lot, as it turns out; a post-apocalyptic young adult story; a high fantasy novel set in a totally different world, complete with its own mythos; and a kids’ adventure mystery that he describes as a cross between Dirk Gently and Enid Blyton’s findouters.
“For the latter, I’m using a different process than usual and am consulting with my six-year-old throughout. I give him the scenario and he comes back with feedback. He is loving it, and so am I,” Bonello says with a laugh.
Speaking of the writing process, it will please purists to know that Bonello does it the old-fashioned way – in longhand.
“I don’t know why, but having a pen in my hand helps. The only exception is this kids’ adventure, but it’s only because I’m involving Luke. With a day job and a family, I usually write at night and aim for about two hours. I’ve certainly trained myself to sleep less since I started writing.”
His loss of sleep is certainly his readers’ gain.