My earliest obsession with all things fantastic began when I was a kid growing up in New Jersey. I was enthralled with all things fairies—specifically, the Complete Book of Flower Fairies by Cicely Mary Barker—and used to spend summer afternoons building ‘fairy houses’ (a pile of twigs and leaves stacked into huts) in the wood behind my house.

From fairies, my interest in fantasy naturally grew through reading. Early favorites were Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, Sabriel by Garth Nix, and who could forget the greatest genre-crossover series of all time (and I will fight anyone on this), Vampirates by Justin Somper. Most of the time, though, I could be found in my local library browsing the collections of ghost stories and fairytales.

Nowadays I read widely across the speculative genre. Huge influences are the Earthsea series by Ursula K. LeGuin, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, Dune by Frank Herbert, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and too many more to mention here.

The question I leave you with is this: if you were stranded on a deserted island and only had 3 books for entertainment, which would you choose? Mine are the following:

• A book on surviving in the wilderness, as I’d like to have a good shout of staying alive
• The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula K. LeGuin, because it seems fitting for island life
• Circe by Madeline Miller, so I always have a companion in another woman who is in island exile

I’m curious to hear your 3 books and why you picked them. Feel free to share your island library below!

Our first ever issue of new SFF writing is coming in October, so stay tuned to hear exciting updates from Otherverse! The dream is to eventually produce print editions of every new issue of the magazine. So, if you believe in the power of science fiction and fantasy writing, please consider donating a quid to our future fund: https://otherversemagazine.com/support-us-2/. Every little donation brings us closer to achieving this goal!

See you again soon. Chandler out.

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