There are many authors who have been important to me, but one stands out.
Lloyd Alexander.
His books, “The Chronicles of Prydain”, are among my favorites.
When I was young they helped see me through dark times.
When I was older, I sat on the floor and read them to my daughter as she toddled about her room. When I reached those powerful moments all readers of Alexander know, Sofia would walk up to me and place her hand on my shoulder and look deep into my teary eyes. I hope the power and beauty of his words reached her and became a part of her in those moments. I think they did.
I also read The Hobbit and Narnia to her at that time, but the Alexander was the only one where I cried while reading. The feeling the ending gives stayed with me for a long time, it is there still, and is as profound as anything else I have ever read.
I saw a documentary film where Alexander talks about the chronicles and where the characters came from. Most importantly to me, he talked about how he had written books for adults for many years, but when he started writing “so-called children’s books”, the feeling content was more deep, more profound, more meaningful.
This hit a powerful node in my being. I spent years since creating works for young audiences and families…and now have finished the first series of my original inspiration from years ago, Tales Of The Ocean City. I still continue with my ‘serious art pieces’, after years of investment one cannot merely toss them away, but now I am focused on my fantasy works, which include hours of some my favorite music of mine in the audio albums. Perhaps you are hearing some of it now.
I want to thank Lloyd Alexander for helping me in this life direction. I have found the same rewards in the work!
What fantasy authors have inspired you?
Gotta read him now!
Yes! The Chronicles of Prydain – maybe my favorite of them all!
I remember seeing Disney’s “The Black Cauldron” with you when it came out in 1985 — forty years ago! I didn’t get around to reading the Chronicles until 25 years later. Better late than never!
At the moment I’m enjoying the epic fantasy tetralogy “The King of Ys” by Poul and Karen Anderson, based on the same Celtic myth cycles as Lalo’s opera “Le roi d’Ys”, which I only know from its overture. I’m about halfway through the first book, too early to make a recommendation, but I like where it’s going. So far it’s more historical fiction than fantasy, set in the declining years of the Roman Empire, though magic in this world is very real.
Hello Again! — welcome back to the discussion. I don’t remember the movie – perhaps, blocked it out…the book are so wondrous and great… let me know how the Anderson goes…you’d mentioned him before…is he a favorite?
I have “The Black Cauldron” on DVD and saw it again a few months ago. It was one of Disney’s biggest flops, but I find a lot to like about it. It has a great musical score by Elmer Bernstein (but no songs), as well as some of the most gorgeous background art in any animated film. The main problem is that it was originally intended for older audiences (it’s rated PG), which would have been fine; but when the chairman of Disney saw all the violence in the battle with the Horned King, he got spooked and personally cut about ten minutes from the film, with the result that the ending feels rushed and anticlimactic. I seem to remember that you weren’t happy about all of Disney’s alterations to the source material. Alexander said that he enjoyed the movie, but it wasn’t really his story any more.
I’ve read a lot of Poul Anderson’s science fiction. I think he was best friends with Jack Vance, unless I’m thinking of someone else. Like a lot of Campbell writers, Anderson was ultraconservative politically, and it’s a lot more obvious to me now than it used to be. At least he seems not to have shared Campbell’s racism. I’m not getting that vibe from “The King of Ys”, which was written in the ’80s, by which time Campbell was long dead. Nevertheless, Anderson, though a very good writer, is one whom I’ve by and large stopped coming back to. When I started downsizing my library last year, his novels were among the first I carted off to the used book stores.
That is unfortunate…perhaps it rings home more now than before in terms of political stances…though some things are/were never acceptable in any form. In my stories, they don’t even have a word for ‘gay’ and the like… 🙂 the people accept others for who they are — they have golden skin which ranges from bright gold to super dark…as they age their skin color changes, usually darkens, and they form colored bands on there skins…
I’ll have to watch Cauldron again – and listen!
Hey, how come my avatar is Mrs. Potato Head?
The system somehow finds the perfect avatar… ha! Lemme see if I can place a picture of you for your avatar…have to prepare for a podcast right now… ugh…can’t write emojis – it makes them HUGE…I think I can fix that. Smiley faces have become part of my punctuation.