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I’ve basically dedicated my life to the pursuit of stories and story-telling. Without stories, everything falls apart. A lot of people try to dismiss fantasy as being escapist or childish. Well Tolkien himself said, “Fantasy is escapist and that is its glory.” You can never diminish the power of storytelling, no matter the genre. Fantasy, especially, has had an enduring value to the human spirit. It’s part of the common mythological heritage of man. It’s how we’ve made sense of the world for thousands of years.
A good friend of mine, Joshua, is a Presbyterian. I once joked that Presbyterians were the Dwarves of the Christian world because they like “long hymns, dark beer, big meals, and large beards.” Recently, my friend lost his father to a mysterious illness. While processing his grief, he kept returning to my joke about Presbyterians being dwarves. Strangely, that helped him a lot. He thought about how his father was dwarf-like in many ways, and he kept returning to Durin’s song: “But still the sunken stars appear In dark and windless Mirrormere There lies his crown in water deep, Till Durin wakes again from sleep” Gimli sings this song as they’re passing through the Mines of Moria. To Joshua, it was a reminder that his dad is now in a much better place, and that the light still shines in the darkness.
In America and apparently in Britain as well, we are in a time of great darkness and chaos. The riots, the pillaging, the destruction; it all seems like nothing could ever go back to the way it was. In the movie, The Two Towers (it’s been so long since I read the book, I don’t remember if it’s in there or not) Sam Gamgee gives a speech where he talks about the “stories that really mattered”. He reminds Frodo that even the darkness will eventually pass and a new day will come. That’s the enduring value of Tolkien’s work, and why we keep going back to it. Even this present darkness will pass, and a new day will come, and its light will shine all the brighter.
The most important stories are the stories we tell ourselves. What’s your story? I’m probably going to get in trouble for this, but I really do think that part of the problem with our society is that we’ve told ourselves the wrong stories for too long. You tell someone they’re the victim long enough, they’ll believe it. They’ll allow themselves to be victimized over and over again because that’s what they’ve been told and what they’ve always told themselves. We need to stop telling that story. Are there barriers to success? Yes. But with the proper determination, no barrier is truly insurmountable. You push through, no matter what gets in your way. You owe it to yourself to ignore the haters and keep going. Never let anyone make you a victim. You are a warrior, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
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Some people ask “Ian, what are some books that you’d recommend sci-fi/fantasy fans?” Actually, no one has asked me this, however, I’m going to tell you anyway, because I can. This list isn’t exhaustive, and it doesn’t cover ALL the books I’d recommend, but these are some of the books that ave most influenced me as a writer and reader. On some other occasion, I’ll publish a list of books I’d recommend to the comic/graphic novel audience, and then some for budding artists. The Black CauldronThe Chronicles of Prydain were a high fantasy series by Lloyd Alexander. I refer to them as “The Lord of the Rings for people with short attention spans” which is by no means an insult. All of them are good, but the best in my personal opinion is The Black Cauldron. I have never seen the animated Disney version, but from what I’ve heard, it’s nothing like the book. The book is actually good. But don’t take my word for it; read it yourself. A Wrinkle In TimeThis Scifi-fantasy novel was pretty influential on me as a teen. It had a certain “something” that resonated with me. I don’t have a name for it. It was very eye-opening and enlightening. I very much enjoyed it. I don’t know about the movie, I haven’t seen it yet, but the book is good. L’Engle wrote several other novels in the series, but none were as good as the first. That Hideous StrengthThe third book in C.S. Lewis’ Space trilogy happens to be my personal favorite. It was a huge influence on the development of the Sword Bearer. It’s a seminal work of Cosmic Fantasy. The Worm OuroborosThis is an early pre-Tolkien high fantasy book about a war between two nations on a fantasy version of the planet Mercury. Written in 1922, this book was praised by C.S. Lewis and Tolkien as a great work. It’s a bit of a challenging read, given that it’s written almost entirely in 16th century English. If you’re familiar with the King James Bible or the works of Shakespeare, you’ll pick it pretty quickly. I’m still reading through it, but so far I’m really enjoying it. The Children of HurinThis underappreciated work of Tolkien’s tells the story of Turin, a warrior exiled from his homeland by the Dark Lord Morgoth, and sent to wander Middle Earth. Arthur C. ClarkeI’ve been a fan of Clarke for years. He was one of the first science fiction writers that I really enjoyed, particularly his short stories. I tried one of his novels once; he took too long to get to the point, but I have a regrettably short attention span. If you’re into scifi, or want to get into scifi, look no further.
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AuthorI'm Ian Wilson; an eccentric comic artist, just telling a story.
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