Illustration from Quest RPG https://www.adventure.game
I remember when I first discovered my love of epic fantasy and sci-fi books through a family friend. He told me that if I read fifty pages of Magic Kingdom for Sale—Sold, by Terry Brooks he would give me five dollars. I took up the challenge not knowing it would spark a passion for fantasy and sci-fi novels. I read the whole The Magic Kingdom of Landover series that summer at the age of twelve. Other books that were influential to me include C.S Lewis’s Narnia series, Isaac Asimov’s I Robot, Jules Vern’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, H.G Wells’ War of the Worlds, and J.R.R Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
I imagined going on quests to obtain a magical gem or sword. In these fantastic worlds there are witches, warlocks, elves, goblins, trolls, giants, dwarves, gnomes and the like. The best thing I liked about reading these stories was that you can lose yourself in the worlds of the characters. It was then I realized I wanted to become a writer.
I found this Terry Brooks advice on writing in the epic fantasy genre a helpful guidepost in my own writing: “A small band of friends or comrades on a quest, an archetypal confrontation between good and evil, and an element of magic are crucial to a story.” I try and use this approach in my own writing. Discovering our own unique writing journey through reading can be a quest in itself that is lifelong and filled with lots of magical surprises.
James Wagstaff