Hi All,
It's been way too long since my last post, but be assured that the Niffaran Chronicles are still coming, and there's also a new science fiction story in development.
I'm often asked where I get my inspiration; in truth, it comes from many places but not really from books. I read very few books these days. Most of the books I've started in recent years have not engaged me, and I haven't finished them. I am more often drawn to visual stimulation like movies, games, images, and simply walking outside.
The Niffaran Chronicles draws inspiration from several sources, only one of them a book:
- The Company of Wolves (in my opinion, the most fantastic fantasy film ever made)
- The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever (ok, this one's a book)
- The Magnificent Seven (the original, not the dodgy remake with Chris Pratt)
- Forrest Gump (Just one scene which always brings a tear)
- Warlock (an old western with Henry Fonda and De Forrest Kelly (Bones from Star Trek))
- Star Trek II the Wrath of Khan
- Highlander
- Red Sonja (Bridget Nielsen wielding a giant sword - what's not to like)
- Excalibur
- All the things I don't like about The Lord of the Rings*
*I feel this needs some explanation. The Lord of the Rings is my bible, not just for the story and characters but for the fantastic world-building, engrossing maps and lore. Even though I love this book and have read it several times, I still have some issues - issues shared by other media.
- Very few female characters, and the ones that are mentioned, have little impact on the story (other than Eowyn killing the witch king of Angmar). We don't meet female hobbits, dwarves, orcs or goblins etc.
- The orcs are simply evil. There's no attempt to explain why they're evil or what motivates them. They're one-dimensional.
- There are no gay characters, not even hinted at. I know the book was written when gay characters were rare, but it began to grate on me in my twenties.
- No disabled characters. An accusation I also level at most current TV and film.
- Too much time was spent describing the landscape. I'm often tempted to skip chunks of the book as it spends so much time talking about hills and mountains etc. One chapter follows Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli simply running through the landscape - it can be skipped without impacting the story.
- The house of Tom Bombadil. I know plenty of Tolkien lovers will be aghast, but this chapter always felt out of place, and I'm glad Peter Jackson dumped it for the film. Frodo doesn't even mention it to Gandalf later, almost as if it never happened.
Do I think my novels will be better than the Lord of the Rings? Of course not. However, these are my inspirations. I can't help how I think.
Until next time.
John Howes.
