The Fireside

Here is the cover for Bernard Cornwell's upcoming book, The Empty Throne , which is #8 in his Saxon Stories series. This one will be out in the fall sometime, though the format which I will get it in (and have the rest of the series) will be out in May sometime.

GEORGE: — It has long been my contention that the historical novel and the epic fantasy are sisters under the skin, that the two genres have much in common. My series owes a lot to the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert E Howard, Jack Vance, Fritz Leiber, and the other great fantasists who came before me, but I’ve also read and enjoyed the work of historical novelists like Thomas B. Costain, Mika Waltari, Alfred Duggan, Nigel Tranter, and Maurice Druon. Who were your own influences? What writers did you read growing up? Was historical fiction always your great passion? Did you ever read fantasy? BERNARD: You’re right – fantasy and historical novels are twins – and I’ve never been fond of the label ‘fantasy’ which is too broad a brush and has a fey quality. It seems to me you write historical novels in an invented world which is grounded in historical reality (if the books are set in the future then ‘fantasy’ magically becomes sci-fi). So I’ve been influenced by all three: f...

That time again to do another author / series spotlight. After mentioning George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire  series (which the HBO series Game of Thrones is based on); Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time ; and Brandon Sanderson's brand-new Stormlight , I had uncovered another author and series I wish to recommend.