I am not at all a fan of Modern Epic Fantasy (Martin, Sanderson, etc). Maybe I’m not a fan of the epic at all; oh, sure, Tolkien pulled it off. Eddison, perhaps, though I’m not sure his novels fit the genre as it is defined today.

I’ve marketed my four Donzalo’s Destiny novels as an epic tale but I’m not so sure they fit either. I am fairly sure a typical fan of the above mentioned authors would probably not care for them. Just as a typical buyer of mainstream bestsellers might not care for my mainstream books.

My own tastes in fantasy—and early influences—have tended more to authors such as Lord Dunsany and James Branch Cabell. And, of course, there are plenty of mainstream writers of the past, Rudyard Kipling, Evelyn Waugh, Jane Austen, whom I would certainly choose to read over pretty much anything—epic fantasy or whatever—being published today.

Perhaps my stuff is unfashionable but that is quite all right with me. I should have my fiftieth title out by next year and intend to keep going as long as I last. Incidentally (well, not really), the first book of the Donzalo sequel, The Plain of Silver, will be out on June 26. The start of a new epic!