Ruth Copland features her interview with superstar fantasy writer Tad Williams who has sold tens of millions of books worldwide and is a legend in the world of fantasy. Known as the ‘American Tolkien’, his work has inspired a generation of both readers and authors, including A Song of Ice and Fire/ Game of Thrones writer George RR Martin and Eragon writer Christopher Paolini.
To listen to the interview click here Tad Williams | It’s A Question of Balance
Tad Williams’ considerable output of epic fantasy, science fiction, urban fantasy, comics, and more have influenced a generation. Before he became an incredibly successful writer, Tad worked professionally in the theatre; wrote and played with the band Idiot; hosted a syndicated radio show for over 10 years; and co-created the first completely interactive television programme, amongst many other things! Born in Palo Alto, Tad and his family now live in the Santa Cruz mountains in a suitably strange and beautiful house.
Ruth Copland and Tad Williams talk about what inspired his new trilogy, his first creative experiences, the place of women in his fantasy world, what he hopes readers see in his work, his creative writing process, the need for fiction in education, whether art can be healing, his criteria for being satisfied with a book, what he’s working on next, and more!
After the publication of his first hugely popular book Tailchaser’s Song in 1985, Tad took the fantasy genre by storm in 1988 with the first novel in the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy, The Dragonbone Chair. This first installment and the subsequent books—Stone of Farewell and To Green Angel Tower—sold millions of copies worldwide and have been translated into twenty-five languages. Tad’s extensive body of genre-creating and genre-busting work comprises stand-alone novels such as The War of The Flowers and Caliban’s Hour; multi-volume series: Otherland; and Shadowmarch; the noir fantasy Bobby Dollar books; as well as comics published by DC Comics, a series of young-adult books written with his wife, Deborah Beale, The Ordinary Farm Adventures, and also short fiction, essays, and screenplays.
Now, after decades of fan anticipation Tad returns to the world and characters beloved by millions of fantasy readers worldwide with a brand-new sequel series set thirty years after the events in Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. The first novel in the The Last King of Osten Ard new series is The Witchwood Crown.
For more information and to hear past shows click here It’s A Question of Balance
