Yep, Druss is descended from Oshikai and Angel.

Simply because no-one has told it this way. And because it is enormous fun to write. The publishers have really gotten behind it. They just had a conference in Barcelona, where they had notices on the hotel doors saying: Do Not Disturb - in bed with David Gemmell. Wish I'd been there!!!

6) Would you ever consider writing a story or two on the Chiatze people perhaps on focus on the rajnee order. For the Chiazte, did you use any information from specific eastern culture to help inspire the way you portrayed the culture, ie perhaps japanese or chinese myths etc.?

The character Kysumu in Hero in the Shadows was based entirely on a chacter in one of my favourite films. No-one has ever spotted this, but his name and description exactly match the Kysumu in the Seven Samurai. So only I knew [well, until now] that Kysumu passes through a gateway in time, and appears at the right time to defend that little village from the bandit hordes.

7) With the Troy tale taking up the next few years of your writing, have you had any idea's for the following project or do you tend to ignore this sort of thing so that your current work isn't effected, if so what can you tell us about this or are you worried about someone else stealing the idea for their own use?

I only ever concentrate on the project in hand. I have no idea whatever what I'll do after Troy. Much depends on how the public reacts to the books. If, for example, the Troy novels sell enormously there will be a lot of pressure to produce another 'historical'. If they flop then the pressure will be the opposite. It will be: 'For Heavens sake, DG, turn out another Waylander as soon as you can.'

8) On your last tour you seemed a bit surprised at the sheer volume of fans that wanted to meet you, why was that, and has the success of the last tour made you consider adding additional dates for the next one?

That was scary. As you know my style is intimate and chatty at talks. I like to involve the audience and take questions. The ideal number for this is around fifty in the audience. On the last tour we had over 200 in places. This causes logistical problems. How much time can we allow for the Q&A, how much for the signing afterwards, and how much for the stock signings after everyone has gone. Before last year it was quite easy to manage. An hour for the chat, an hour for the signing and half an hour for the stock. Start at 6.30, finish at 9. Last year the signing queues alone were running at just under two hours, the stock signing at 90 minutes. This meant that the staff couldnt leave the store until after 10pm, and many of the people in the queue ended up worrying about buses and such like.

9) Its been supposed that Druss is related to Oshikai, with quotes like Shadak saying that these gifts are passed from Father to son, and with the two characters weilding the same weaponry with the same skill, as well as having other similarities such as the Poet, it all seems a bit too coincidental. Other factors for the assumption include that Druss is descended from Angel and Miriel son who married a Nadir Maiden from the Wolfshead, so can you confirm or deny this and did the thought ever occured to you when you wrote the novel?