A few years ago, Lee at Fantasy Book Review set out on a quest to find the top 100 fantasy books of all time. In a unique approach, the books are rated between 0.0 and 10.0 which offers a much more precise appraisal than the usual 5 star scale. This allows for an interesting ranking system which is enriched as more books are added. At the moment the book count is around the 250 mark. The Riddler’s Gift was reviewed in 2008 and has held its own on the chart amongst books by David Gemmell, Stephen King and Juliet Marillier. Lee’s review of Second Sight is imminent.
The website is dedicated to reading and reviewing the very best fantasy books for children and adults (both young and old). Featuring interviews, the latest fantasy news, audio-book reviews and competitions Lee provides fantasy fans around the world with a useful, interesting and informative guide to the genre. We chatted about plotting, designing, flying … and madness.
FBR: You have an alter-ego as a paragliding instructor. Do the extreme sports influence your fantasy writing?
Well of course! Paragliding is full of maps and quests. We fly off to strange lands (sometimes that’s Essex). The perspective I get from flying helps me to view the world with some detachment, which leads to ideas of the rise and fall of civilisations, and the passage of great spans of time. The air is a beautiful realm and that stimulates a lot of creativity. There are also more obvious influences: in the Lifesong you’ll find descriptions of the wind whistling under the wings of the dragon, of riding a gyphon, of being snatched up by a winged demon, and a wizard who likes base-jumping. I also studied marshal arts for many years – I use that knowledge to understand how my characters survive in a fight. An appreciation of risk and how one can feel alive in the face of fear drive my action scenes. Years of surfing taught me to find the calm place at the centre of power; the balance point. All this goes into my writing … or at least, I understand these things and so they shape the story as it emerges.
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