It’s been a bit of a quiet week, so I thought I’d talk about some of my influences.  I’ve cast my net pretty wide as far as genera is concerned, but I always come back to fantasy and science fiction.  It started when I was 12, and my mother gave me a copy of Robert Jordan’s “Eye of the World” for Christmas.  Did I understand it?  Eh, maybe like half.  Did I love it?  Yes.  I absolutely devoured every page.  “The Wheel of Time” is still one of my favorite series, one which I’ve read multiple times.  Honestly, when I reread it as an adult, I was shocked just how much of the foreshadowing I’d missed as a child, but that just made my second read through all the more entertaining.  Never miss an opportunity to recognize how much you’ve grown, even (or especially if) said appreciation also requires you to have a bit of a laugh at yourself.

But what is it about fantasy/SciFi that holds so much allure?  For me, it’s two things.  First, a well crafted fantasy narrative feels like exploration, something akin to landing on an alien world with nothing but a vague notion of where to go and possibilities vast as the horizon.  Beauty comes in many flavors, from the sublime, to the otherworldly, and even the terrible.  Fantasy and Science Fiction can encompass them all, and a good author can deliver it up in a package so crisp you can taste it.

Secondly, as fantasy walks unshackled from reality, it is free to explore ideas without constraint.  The imagination of both reader and author is the only limit to what can be examined and explored.  It’s the ultimate creative freedom.

That, and we’ve got wizards, magic swords and space ships.  So I guess that makes three things.