DL: What do you think is the important function of Fantasy as a genre?
SE: Hmm. Well, the fantasy genre lets a writer take a metaphor and make it real, and barring magic realist or absurdist fiction (which are, arguably, forms of fantasy anyway), it's unique in that. I am aware of myself doing that all the time, sometimes in an ironic sense, but other times in a far more visceral way. I'm not sure if anybody notices, but that's okay too. Now, is that function important? Who knows -- see my reply to your first question....
DL: I'm always fascinated with Fantasy that has mythic themes. Do you use themes from mythology in your books? SE: Not directly, although no doubt some archetypal stuff seeps in. I love the language of myth, and the dialogue it creates (or created) with its audience, particularly the way it can seem entirely alien to our modern sensibilities (as in Beowulf or Gilgamesh), and the way in which we can at times re-interpret a myth and so embrace it under our own terms (as with Homer, for example). For so long the fantasy genre was trapped in the inherent antiquity of myth -- by that I mean it clung to the trappings that, to my eye, seemed of least importance -- feudal hierarchies and archaic diction come to mind as examples -- which quickly became pastiche. In other words, the outward form and cultural source of mythology took on absurd importance, as if to mime the style was to celebrate the meaning. Which is rubbish. It misses the point. So when I say I love the 'language' of myth I don't mean that stuff, I mean everything that's underneath and behind it -- because style, diction and social structure (and the sensibilities it entails) are all context-based and, while interesting in the abstract, not as important as the way in which a myth or legend explores and celebrates the human condition.
