I just recently finished the short story collection
"Tales from 2 A.M." and saw the clear influence of Lewis. At the end of the collection, the author acknowledged Tolkien as an inspiration. This is coming from an author who is outside the fantasy camp--he's published several realistic novels. Does anyone know other contemporary authors who publicly acknowledge Lewis and Tolkien as prime influences?
J.K. Rowling is one. I know there are others; but I can't think of them off the top of my head.
Lewis is a bit unfashionable, and I've not heard of many recent fiction writers citing him as an influence.
I've been on a quest to find authors who are writing in this tradition. To me, this means a certain mythic outlook but one which attempts to resuscitate the moral imagination, as Burke described it.
I'd include
Ray Bradbury and one book by
Fred Chappell called
More Shapes Than One. Although there is a lot of fantasy lit out there, it is difficult to find books that have quite this flavor.
I just finished
heartstone also by Schreiber (see Message #1) and was amazed at the fantasy. The author clearly pays homage to classic mythology but then puts some neat spins on old favorites (i.e. trolls). He has a Christian base to the fantasy without being quite as obvious as Lewis nor as "hidden" as Tolkien. If you're looking for a new, undiscovered fantasy, check out this one.
A couple of years ago I challenged people on a mailing list to write a novel in the style of Charles Williams. Unfortunately there were few takers. I think the novels of Phil Rickman come quite close to Williams, particularly his earlier ones.
Message edited by its author, Sep 7, 2008, 12:39pm.
Neil Gaiman has mentioned on his blog several times about the influence that many of the Inklings have had on his writing, including Lewis.
It's not a book but the Wolfram & Hart legal firm on the Angel TV series seems very similar to the National Institute of Coordinated Experiments in
C. S. Lewis'
That Hideous Strength(back to top)
