Fantastic Metropolis

Gabe Chouinard: On another level, your writing reminds me of a lot of action and sci-fi movies that I’ve seen lately. I’ve been describing you as the John Woo of fantasy; a lot of poetic violence, non-stop action, no clear delineation between good and evil… how much of your style is a reflection of popular culture? Do you consider yourself to be competing against video games and movies? How much do other forms of media influence your writing style?

Matthew Woodring Stover: Hey, I like the John Woo thing. I used to describe myself in terms of Sam Peckinpah, but I guess that’s just showing my age.

Gabe Chouinard: Or, hell… Walter Hill? David Fincher?

Matthew Woodring Stover: Mmm, David Fincher. I am remotely acquainted with Jim Uhls, the screenwriter for Fight Club. In my petty, envious way, I really wanted to hate that movie. Instead, I am forced to admit it’s in my all-time Top Ten.

My style is a reflection of popular culture in only one way: I write the kind of books I like to read. I’m not competing against video games and movies at all; those are entirely different forms of storytelling. You can do things in books that you can’t do in any other format—especially, put your audience right inside your characters. That’s always my goal: to make you forget you’re reading a novel. I want to make you feel like you’ve lived through something.

What I’m competing against is shitty fantasy: the books that make grown-ups embarrassed to be seen reading a fantasy novel.

Gabe Chouinard: A strong statement. Care to list specifics?

Matthew Woodring Stover: Hell, no. I can piss off more people by sticking to generalities—a lot of writers who read this will be thinking, “Hey, he’s talking about me!”

In fact, I’d like to go the other way entirely, and say that every fantasy writer living today should get down on hands and knees to kiss J.K. Rowling’s, er, feet. She not only has managed to write fantasy that adults don’t mind being seen reading on the bus, she has also created millions of new fantasy readers out there. Ten years from now, a lot of those kids will be buying my books.

May the gods rain blessings upon Harry Potter.

As far as influences—well, everything influences me. Every time I come across a neat bit of storytelling, I file it away. I steal from everybody.

Gabe Chouinard: And yet, more and more, people (especially young people) are turning away from books, going to DVDs and PS2s and Digi-Poke-God-Knows-What for their entertainment. Do you find this overall trend disheartening? How do you get people to pick up your books?

Matthew Woodring Stover: Shit, Gabe, reading was never supposed to be for everybody. Universal literacy is virtually an American invention. Novels are for people who are comfortable using their brains, and we all know that isn’t the whole human race. I’m not one of those guys who says, “Well, at least they’re reading…”

Reading garbage is no better than watching garbage on TV or any other pointless time-filler. Garbage is garbage, whether it comes on a page or in a game cartridge. Anybody who wants to waste their lives on Digi-Poké-God-Knows-What is welcome to; I’m not gonna bitch. Better that than supporting the aforementioned shitty fantasies that crowd the good stuff off the shelves.

If this makes me sound like an elitist snob, it’s only because I am.