Jessica Shelley
asked
Katherine Arden:
What books have inspired you the most as a writer? :) (P.S The Bear and the Nightingale is my favourite book of 2017 - possibly one of my favourite books of all time. I cannot stop thinking about it. How did you conjure something so magnificent? Your prose is to die for. I want to eat up every single sentence! Thank you for creating, what seems to me, a masterpiece! Eagerly anticipating TGITT)
Katherine Arden
I am so glad you enjoyed BEAR. To answer your book question:
The Lymond Chronicles and the Niccolo Rising series, by Dorothy Dunnett. If you want a master class in writing--in imagery, in misdirection, in plotting, read these books.
The Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brien. Brilliantly realized depiction of life in the British Navy during the Napoleonic wars. Subtle, often hilarious with a bone-dry sense of humor, occasionally heartbreaking, with two brilliantly drawn characters at the center.
Anything by Mary Renault, but maybe start with The King Must Die. She also writes historical fiction (I am a big reader of historical fiction), generally set in the ancient world. The King Must Die is a brilliant and symbolically rich retelling of the myth of Theseus.
There's a lot of books I love, but maybe that's a good start :)
The Lymond Chronicles and the Niccolo Rising series, by Dorothy Dunnett. If you want a master class in writing--in imagery, in misdirection, in plotting, read these books.
The Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brien. Brilliantly realized depiction of life in the British Navy during the Napoleonic wars. Subtle, often hilarious with a bone-dry sense of humor, occasionally heartbreaking, with two brilliantly drawn characters at the center.
Anything by Mary Renault, but maybe start with The King Must Die. She also writes historical fiction (I am a big reader of historical fiction), generally set in the ancient world. The King Must Die is a brilliant and symbolically rich retelling of the myth of Theseus.
There's a lot of books I love, but maybe that's a good start :)
More Answered Questions
Adam Kveton
asked
Katherine Arden:
When you're writing and you have something terrible happen to a character seemingly as retribution for the character enjoying themselves or doing what they want, do you ever think "you know, I could just let them have this" or "maybe they just get away with it"? Why is it important to you to have this cause and effect? (Struggling with this myself in my own writing)
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