Erstellt am: 19. 11. 2011 - 12:39 Uhr

Confessions of a Fantasy Fan

... or how J.R.R. Tolkien changed the life of a stranger in a strange land and Tad Williams made my day, live on FM4 Reality Check (12-13).

I love this time of year and I love this kind of weather. Yes, I love foggy days.

There’s something magical, even romantic, about walking around a city or out in the country when mist has turned everything to mystery. Sharp edges are softened; soft edges are blurred and, although the world still goes about its normal business, there is a stillness and a quiet that has nothing to do with sound and everything to do with a contentment of the spirit.

Or maybe I’m just weird.

This time of year and this type of weather is also, for me, perfect reading weather. There’s nothing more comforting than lying in bed with a good book and a warm drink (or maybe something a little stronger!) listening to the muted sounds of a frozen city preparing to sleep.

I can’t read on holiday. Lying on a beach trying to read constitutes one of the rings of my own personal hell. There are too many distractions; sand gets everywhere and the brightness of the sun bounces back from pristine pages and is magnified to an almost painful level.

That’s why I’m almost positive that I first started reading the Lord of the Rings on a foggy day in England – when are the days in England not foggy?, I hear you ask. But that’s discussion for another day.

cc

J. R. R. Tolkienn, 1916

I read Lord of the Rings and I was hooked. How many books do you read at least once a year? Apart from the Silmarillion - has anybody ever managed to read that turgid tome from cover to cover? JRR Tolkien’s series has been my constant companion since my very early teens and it still is today. I even have an absolutely brilliant BBC produced radio play (Hörspiel) on cassette (yes, it really is that old) that I get out and listen to every few years.

After Tolkien came Frank Herbert’s Dune series (even the ones not written by the great man himself are pretty damn good), Robert A. Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land and then, of course Steven Donaldson’s "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" which, I’m always shocked to learn, very few people seem to have heard of.

Reading science fantasy was, and to some extent still is, a secret passion of mine. Somehow people can accept a grown man reading science fiction... but science fantasy?!

Tad Williams

CC

Tad Williams, 2004

When a science fantasy/fiction nerd like me hears that Tad Williams is in town and is available for interview he doesn’t hesitate. He grabs the chance with both hands. How often do you get the chance to interview someone who’s been described as the Tolkien of the 21st century, for heaven’s sake?

Tad Williams is the consummate professional when it comes to interviews. Experience working in radio, in theatre and, of course, writing readable books have given him the necessary skills.

He’s open and optimistic, witty and gracious: He even forgave me for not yet having read his seminal work "Otherworld": Although I do think I redeemed myself a little bit through having read the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series.

At the end of every interview – when the interview partner is long gone – there always occurs to the interviewer a question (often several questions) he wished he had asked. For me it would be that although there is no doubt that, over the centuries, science has fuelled many of our fantasies and disproved many others, just how much science is there in Tad Williams' fiction? And what about his views on female writers of the genre. Ah, well, maybe next time.
By the way, speaking of female writers of the genre, check out Karen Miller, Robin Hobb and Trudi Canavan, if you haven't done so already.

One thing I did learn is that Tad Williams uses mythology (Roman, Greek, Celtic) as the basis for the names of people and places in his books. A good tip, I think.

So now, maybe I'll dig out and finally finish writing the great European fantasy novel that has been lying gathering dust in the draw of my work desk. Or maybe I’ll just get online and order Tad Williams’ "Otherworld" series – there are, after all, more than enough foggy days ahead.

Tad Williams is Hal Rock’s guest in today’s Reality Check Special (12-13):