One of the joys of being a fantasy author is being interviewed about writing fantasy (which is, after all, my favourite subject). Nerine Dorman interviewed me for The Star (part of the Independent News and Media group in South Africa). We talked about Ametheus, my relationship with Twardy Zarost and Tabitha’s inspiring nature, as well as my favourite scenes and sources of inspiration.
Read the full interview on their website:
Enter South African fantasy author’s world of music and magic.
If the best things in life are free, then free things must be the best
but if it costs nothing to write a book, why do they charge for the rest? — Zarost
The new fantasy novel Second Sight seems to be making an impact on Goodreads.
Cynde Mitchell just rated it:
I really enjoyed this novel. it reminds me a lot of the novels by Katherine Kurtz-Deryni books. I’d like to read the first one too. It was a great read and easily read. The book was extremely well written and engrossing!!!
The second review comes from my good old dad. He is super-intelligent and has read most of the books in the library, so I’m chuffed as all hell that he likes the story. A big part of Twardy Zarost’s character comes from him. He kept me guessing all my childhood … was he telling the truth, or winding me up? I think he’s telling the truth here … or is he?
Mike Hamerton rated it:
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.
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.
Read the rest of this interview >
A few days ago, a box arrived containing these proofs for the shiny new version of the Tale of the Lifesong fantasy series. I’m impressed with the print quality and have approved the production, so The Riddler’s Gift and Second Sight are now available in the USA.
Although my books and specials are still available to US customers on greghamerton.com, the cost of international airmail makes some of the options expensive. So I’m delighted to announce that you can now buy the Tale of the Lifesong series from Amazon and save on the postage costs! See the bottom of the special deals page for details and links.
The Riddler’s Gift has been released in two parts, to make it more affordable for new readers who haven’t yet heard the Lifesong. Second Sight is in one volume, because if you have read The Riddler’s Gift, you’ll be wanting the whole of the sequel! It was also impossible to split Second Sight in the middle; the story is complex and spans more than 600 pages. The Riddler’s Gift was originally written in two parts, and so divides neatly in the middle of the story.
Come and join me for a bit of release day fun. At 5pm (GMT) on 1 August 2010 there’s a launch party for Second Sight on Facebook and you’re welcome. This is a virtual party … just wander over to the Tale of the Lifesong group page then post whatever you like on the wall.
Bring an image from Eyri … a sprite, a mote, the last photo your friend took on his phone when he tried to raise a morgloth. Come surprise us with the image post, scratch a secret you stole from the Shadowcasters on the wall or simply hang out and enjoy the essence.
Dress code: Oldenworld style … so dress up your avatar (that’s your profile photo, dummy) Come fan the flames or just cause some Chaos.
You’ll be instantly famous! Your name will be sung in worship songs for years to come. You may even end up written into the future books as something memorable, like a mote … there’s three of ‘em, all huddled together.
Then the afterparty starts at 6pm over at The Crowbar (it will appear, as if by magic, on the homepage of greghamerton.com) I’ll be having a live chat there for as long as the party goes on for! Come terrify the guests.
Another 5 star review, this time from Liviu Suciu of Fantasy Book Critic, 
a seasoned reviewer in the US who reads more fantasy novels than anyone I know. If you enjoy deep insight into the latest fantasy novels, I highly recommend checking out the website by clicking on the image.
Liviu wrote: “Second Sight” is the second Tale of the Lifesong following the author’s debut “The Riddler’s Gift”. While quite a traditional fantasy tale – the destined girl, the magical artifact, the mentor of the title, the nasty and tricky villains, the pseudo-medieval setting – “The Riddler’s Gift” enchanted me from the first pages with its beautiful and lyrical style and I followed the adventures of Tabitha Serannon and the assorted cast of characters to the superb and complete ending of the novel’s main thread.
However the big picture remained in the background with only hints and snippets given and indeed “Second Sight” picks up where “The Riddler’s Gift” ends and deals with the monumental – the creation and destruction of worlds, the relationship between Order and Chaos or Dark and Light – all embodied in the eons long conflict between Wizards of Order, Sorcerers of Chaos and Gods and Goddeses of Creation and Destruction.
Very high magic and big-words stuff, but despite my general avoidance of such, the beautiful writing and the great characters, especially Tabitha and The Riddler, compelled me to read and greatly enjoy this tale too.
Continue the review here >
Second Sight just got a 5 star review!
A few advance reading copies of the new fantasy novel Second Sight went out last week. The first review has just come in from Samantha Shove:
“This book continues the promise of the epic fantasy laid down by Riddler’s Gift and follows the story with all the dry wit, humour, tenderness, magic, mystery and mayhem (actually there’s a hell of a lot more mayhem in this one, unsurprisingly considering where they’re travelling through) found in the first tale. Once again Hamerton’s writing pulls you deep into the story so you feel everything as they experience it, every victory and defeat, every moment of honesty and kindness, treachery and deceit, love and hate and most of all every moment of battle between Order and Chaos and of course the power of the Lifesong. Hamerton has definitely created a world and story to rival Tolkien’s LOTR (although this will always be the original and the best of the fantasy world) in all aspects of story-telling, character creation, other world creation and sheer epic-ness (not a real word, I know, nothing else would do). The only question left is…when oh when is the third instalment, so subtly alluded to by Twardy, going to be out?” > Read the full review on Goodreads
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