Tad Williams: I love any interaction with readers, but it’s sometimes difficult to discuss ongoing work because 1) the readers are usually a year or two behind what I’m actually doing, which makes me want to spill all the beans, and 2) whenever someone says anything even mildly critical, I begin weeping and cursing the heavens. What do you like (or dislike) about that interaction with your readers? Treacherous Paths: You drop by the Tad Williams Message Board, which you founded in 2001 as part of your “Shadowmarch” project, from time to time to discuss your work with avid readers. Fortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case and I finally stopped worrying about it after the second volume, Empire of Grass. As I’ve said elsewhere, it also made me nervous about the project for the first time, because I realized if I screwed up I wouldn’t just be writing a bad book, I’d be souring people’s memory of a series they had enjoyed. Tad Williams: Always surprised by ANY recognition, but it’s true that I was a bit startled to see all the kind words people showered on the original trilogy when I announced the new books. Were you surprised to receive so much recognition in the States for The Witchwood Crown and your return to Osten Ard? This year, you’ll be the Writer Guest of Honor at the World Fantasy Convention in Los Angeles. Treacherous Paths: In 2017, The Witchwood Crown was nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award in the category Best Fantasy Novel, and in 2018 it was nominated for a Gemmell Award. I admired the early Universal monster movies, and I was scared to death by Godzilla when I was super-young. Get Smart as a reflection of the spy genre probably activated some of my absurdist tendencies, as did Monty Python and other English comedy later. The Addams Family, New Yorker cartoons and then the television show, definitely had an effect on my lifestyle if not my writing. Tad Williams: Hard to say, because so many of my written influences began early, and I only remember them all because I still have the books. What other sources, such as film, television, or radio, have influenced the writing of your Osten Ard books? Treacherous Paths: Tad, you’ve cited several authors (Tolkien, Zelazny, Peake, Moorcock, Baum, and many others) as well as world mythology and history as being influences on your writing. The answers we received were often quite surprising! In this interview, we asked Williams about details of Empire of Grass, how his work on The Navigator’s Children is going, and asked for details about The Lady of the Woods, The Shadow of Things to Come, Brothers of the Sky, and The Veils of Heaven. Tad’s publisher, DAW Books, has recently released Empire of Grass, volume two of “The Last King” series. Legendary Fantasy and Science Fiction author Tad Williams talks about Empire of Grass and several additional Osten Ard novelsĮ at Treacherous Paths are proud to bring readers another exclusive interview with storyteller Tad Williams, bestselling author of the “Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn” and “The Last King of Osten Ard” series of books.
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