Suvudu Universe

Over on the Suvudu main site, we've got an exclusive interview with Lev Grossman, the Magicians Trilogy author, who has my official Me Stamp of Approval:

Suvudu: I’ll keep this sufficiently spoiler-free, but the ending of The Magician’s Land, Quentin’s relationship to Fillory and to *ahem* other locations is very much analogous to the relationship between an author and his work. How much of that is you coming to terms with ending the series after the better part of a decade? And what do you hope your non-writer readers take away from it?

LG: There’s an autobiographical element to it, I suppose. Quentin has to learn to let go of things when it’s time, and so do I. But in the vaguest possible terms, The Magician’s Land is about accepting loss but also about learning to be happy in this unspeakably cruel world we inhabit. A lot of the power and the magic in the Magicians books comes directly out of personal hurt and pain. I wanted to explore the idea that there’s power and magic in love and joy too. Which, in the context of the books, isn’t quite as Pollyanna-ish as it sounds. I hope.

Suvudu: And speaking of Pollyanna, The Magicians trilogy is so rich in allusion and reference points to other sci-fi & fantasy works – how do you walk that thin line between homage and appropriation while still creating a fully developed, emotionally real story?

LG: When you spot an allusion/homage to another book in the Magicians trilogy — and there are a lot of them — what you’re seeing is me having a conversation. I’ve always loved the way Tom Stoppard — for example — talks back to Shakespeare in ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD. In a different way you can see Philip Pullman in conversation with C.S. Lewis in HIS DARK MATERIALS. If I echo another book in the Magicians trilogy, it’s because I felt I needed to respond to it — to say, I love it as much as it is possible for a reader to love a book, but I’ve also got a bone to pick with you.

Except for the cacodemons. Those I just stole, from Larry Niven.