Everything dies, from the smallest blade of grass to the biggest galaxy.
— Stephen R. Donaldson
The portal structure is simply a technique: it is neither necessary nor unnecessary, except as the writer and the story make it so. In the case of 'The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant,' it was absolutely necessary to my intentions.
I had no intention of pursuing either the characters or the setting further.
For a variety of reasons, my books struck the marketplace like a thunderclap; and one of those reasons was that there were so few alternatives available. Readers who loved Tolkien, and who were not satisfied by Terry Brooks, had nowhere else to turn.
I respect my limitations, but I don't use them as an excuse.
Of the authors published under Ballantine's Adult Fantasy logo, only Evangeline Walton 'spoke' to me.
I may not yet be as old as dirt, but dirt and I are starting to have an awful lot in common.
