The Red Knight (117 page)
Authors: Miles Cameron
Fourth, the teachers who taught me about history, about life and philosophy, about weapons, and about chivalry; Dick Kaeuper of the University of Rochester; Father William O’Malley, SJ,
who may or may not forgive my theology; Guy Windsor, possibly the world’s finest swordsman (he runs a school!) and Ridgeley Davis who taught me to be a much better rider. And to use a spear
on horseback.
Fifth, the many people who have helped me in the publishing world; my Agent, Shelley Power; my gallant publicist, Donna Nopper, and most of all on this book, Gillian Redfearn, who gets credit in
every step from creation to actual editing.
And last, the other teachers – the hundreds, if not thousands, of writers who inspire me to write. Medieval fishing? Theology? Hermeticism? Memory palaces? Jousting? Singing Neanderthals?
Neurology? Ancient Greek philosophy? I owe a debt to the authors of hundreds of books for filling in the gaps in experience, or just teaching me a dying or dead craft.
And, of course, there’s fantasy itself. I adore – nay, worship – J. R. R. Tolkien. For my taste, it is not just
The Lord of the Rings
or
The Hobbit,
but
Sir
Gawain and the Green Knight,
from which I have borrowed shamelessly. And C. S. Lewis and their lesser known contemporary, E. R. Eddison. I will not claim Eddison is the best of the lot, but I
will confess that my idea of what fantasy ought to do owes a great deal to Eddison, and to William Morris. Does anyone still read William Morris? Have a go.
The Sundering Flood
is one of my
favorite books, not least because I share Morris’s love for the crafts and the material culture. More recently, I love Celia Friedman, Glen Cook, Katherine Kurtz and Steven Erikson. My hat is
off to Erikson – I think he did the most magnificent job of plotting in our generation. And C. J. Cherryh and Lois McMaster Bujold. I don’t think either has ever written a book that I
didn’t enjoy.
I could go on. But I have to work on book two –
The Fell Sword
. If you want to know more, visit my website at www.traitorson.com. And if you want to wear armour in the Wild . .
.
Well, we’ll see if we can accommodate you.
Miles Cameron
August, 2012
A Gollancz eBook
Copyright © Miles Cameron 2012
All rights reserved.
The right of Miles Cameron to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in Great Britain 2012 by
Gollancz
The Orion Publishing Group Ltd
Orion House
5 Upper Saint Martin’s Lane
London, WC2H 9EA
An Hachette UK Company
This eBook first published in 2012 by Gollancz.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978 0 575 11331 2
All characters and events in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the
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