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Tony Roberts, a resident of Bristol, England, is the creator and webmaster of
the official web site for the Casca book series. Barry Sadler created and wrote many novels about Casca the Eternal Mercenary, who was cursed 2,000 years ago to live possibly thousands of years as a soldier of fortune. His adventures embroil him in many of the historical conflicts since that time.
Shortly after I wrote a
review of the Casca series for SwordAndSorcery.org,
Tony, trawling the internet for other parties interested in Casca, saw my review and contacted me about the existence of his site. He was very helpful in filling in some blanks in my review. Recently, Tony again contacted me, this time with news of a new Casca book due out fall of 2006 (see below for details). This contact then lead to more of his info to update my review, and to this interview.
Andy Beau
How and when did you become interested in Casca? Have any trouble getting the books in England, were there British editions or did you have to get them from the US?
Long story about what got me into Casca! My late mother often bought me books on day trips as she knew I was interested in militaria and history, and in 1986 she came back from Bath (a nearby city) with Casca 3: The Warlord.
I got hooked on the story almost immediately and wanted of course to get the first two. At that time a British publisher (Star Books) did the first three but no others, and I had no idea how many were in the series. After visiting a fantasy book store in my home city of Bristol, I came away with three more (numbers 6, 15 and 16) and then traveled to Bath to get number 2. After that I could find nothing in the UK so I went to the publishers in New York and through them and other US sources managed to collect all 22 in the Sadler series by the end of 1999.
After that I felt a need to carry on searching for Casca and discovered Paul Dengelegi was writing number 23, and as there were no websites on Casca, I decided to start one up, so by March 2000 www.casca.net was up and running.
I understand that Barry Sadler didn’t write all the Cascas. Why is that? And which ones did he write, and who were the other writers and what books did they write?
There’s no concrete evidence I can find as to who wrote each book, but over the past six years I’ve contacted and exchanged emails with so many people who knew Barry or were involved in it in some way or another. Up to 1983 Sadler was based in the US, but after being jailed for 30 days for killing someone, he went to Guatemala and became involved in some deals down there. I think his writing suffered as a result – and the fact he spent lots of spare time in bars – and the publishers got ghost writers to do the latter half of the Casca series to keep the series going. As long as Sadler lived, they could use his name to sell the books, even if he didn’t actually write them. After he died they found on his computer a virtually complete Casca: The Mongol
and they published this as number 22 in the series, which was finished off by a friend of his as a favour. The fact to me The Mongol was a better written novel than numbers 13-21 indicates Sadler had little to do with those books. You can gauge by the different styles of these books that different people wrote them, and some basic errors in Casca’s history were made in these books which Barry would clearly have not made.
Some have said he wrote just two, but I know for a fact he wrote more from those who knew him. Any written prior to 1984 almost certainly were Barry’s own compositions. The worst two from a historical/Casca lore/compositional point of view were numbers 20 and 21, which were done by the same writer. You can just tell.
What is the story of Sadler’s mysterious death in Central America?
The best I can do on this is to guide readers to the page on the Casca site which covers Barry’s life and death. Two versions exist as to who shot him; one is that a former friend and compatriot shot him with a long range rifle on the roadside for some reason, the other is that he shot himself with his own pistol in the taxi after a day of carousing. One is not so exciting as the other but probably more accurate. It's up to each individual to believe one or the other.
What other swashbuckling historicals (as we call them here) have you read and enjoyed? Have you read any from the pulp era, such as from Harold Lamb or Robert E. Howard?
The only swashbuckler series I’ve read is the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell. I’m a great fan of Sharpe and have seen every story on TV here in the UK. The only “pulp” books I’ve read other than Cascas are a couple by John Norman, many many years ago, called Explorers of Gor and Assassin of Gor. My reading tends to be the more serious side these days, such as historical books on Byzantium or the American Civil War.
What other similar books would you recommend for us to read?
If you like Napoleonic adventures then the Sharpe series is one for you, but for swords and sorcery I would point readers at the Shannara series by Terry Brooks which I have except for two (one went to a friend who never returned it and I’ve yet to get the last one). Also Bernard Cornwell has written a trilogy on a character in the Middle Ages which revolves around the Holy Grail called Harlequin, Vagabond, and Heretic. Good reading which covers the Hundred Years War.
Tell us about the new Casca - Halls Of Montezuma novel that you’ve written and the future of further Casca adventures.
When I was asked to pick up Barry’s and Paul Dengelegi’s pens and continue the Casca series, I was to write a story set in the US around the Civil War but which referred back frequently to the Mexican War. I found the Mexican War fascinating and this became the focus of the story. Eventually I persuaded the publisher we could do a prequel to the Civil War in its own right. I wanted to return Casca to the general style of Barry Sadler, rather than the more reserved one of more recent years, so I’ve put Casca in the forefront of most of what happens in the story.
He’s up against the Brotherhood Of The Lamb cult again and also falls foul of a really nasty type who wants Casca’s head, and he’s having to deal with both of those plus an Irish girl who wants to marry him! Casca decides its safer in the army and joins up just as the war with Mexico breaks out. Having two sub-plots as well as the main story provides what I hope is an interesting story of my own style without taking it away from the old Casca that people who’ve read the series like.
(Editor's Note 10/16/06: Casca #25 - Halls Of Montezuma is now out. See the review towards the bottom of the Casca series review.)
As to the future, because things are being built up again from scratch, the financial side is uncertain, so the man putting up the front money is naturally cautious. If things go well, we could well see many new stories. If not, then there’d only be one more, if that. I hope people buy it and keep the series alive. It deserves to continue. If things go well, number 26 will probably cover the period 1857-1862 in the US. Work that one out!
What do you think is the future of swashbuckling historicals in general, especially stories in a sword-based society as opposed to a gun-based society?
I think there will always be a place for the sword-based society genre as this harks back to a time long gone and people will always be nostalgic. Look how many times we have films come out about Romans, Crusaders, Alexander and Hannibal, for example. We have so many books/films on gun-based action that you get somewhat punch-drunk and its always a relief to have a sword-and-sandal story to make a welcome change. I’m particularly interested in medieval history myself so my preference will always be in that period. Although I’m writing Casca stories in a gun-based society, I’d prefer to do Casca stories set in the Middle Ages.
Tell us about a possible Casca movie. Are you involved in any way, such as advisor?
Firstly, I’m not involved in this aspect of Casca. There are others employed by the Casca owner who are actively engaged in promoting a movie. The script they are using is one that was written in 2002 and then put on hold due to the untimely death of Gary Sizemore, the previous Casca owner, and the fact Hollywood was involved in getting The DaVinci Code up and running. Those who followed the film/TV series of Highlander may get some idea of the type of script it is. There are also moves to attract the interest of actors who may want to take up the role of Casca. What point these negotiations have reached isn’t known to me, but I do know a great deal of time and effort is being put into it. If it does come off, then the future of Casca will almost certainly be assured.
And lastly, please tell us something about yourself.
I’m British, born in Bristol and have lived here most of my life. I’ve worked most of my working life for various governmental agencies including the UK Customs & Excise and the Ministry of Defence. I’ve also worked in security at a British Airport. I’m divorced with two teenage boys and am living with my girlfriend in Bristol. This is my first story to be published but I have written other stories, including five other Cascas before Halls of Montezuma.
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