"It exists! It's real!", shouts an excited young woman as the fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson (Lincoln, Nebraska, 1975) walks through the center of Avilés, whose medieval historic quarter is currently taken over by the legion of fantasy, science fiction, and horror literature lovers gathered at the Celsius 232 Festival, a must-attend event for genre literature in Spain.
The American writer, with over 40 million books sold -1.5 million in Spain alone-, is undoubtedly the main attraction of this 14th edition of an event that in its first year, 2012, brought titans like George R. R. Martin to Asturias, and in 2014 managed to bring together, for the first time in history, the trio Sanderson-Joe Abercrombie-Patrick Rothfuss. However, as co-director Diego García explains, "this is the year with the highest attendance, people have come from Scotland, Colombia, the United States, Finland...". Most of them are Sanderfans or Cosmerians, as they call themselves, who have been coloring the surroundings of the festival for several days with their elaborate costumes, medieval outfits accompanied by swords, spears, or strange contraptions.
As usual, hotel rooms in the town have been sold out for months, and a large part of the credit goes to Sanderson, who will participate in several signings with almost 10,000 people. "Initially, it was going to be 6,500, but the booking website crashed within minutes, and we had to expand," García points out. "I love this festival," says the author of popular sagas such as Elantris, Mistborn or The Stormlight Archive -published in Spain by the Nova publishing house-, all set in the Cosmere universe, a world where magic exists not only in books.
"My first international visit, when I was barely known, was here in Spain, and I love coming to Avilés because unlike conventions in the United States -his other two only events of the year have been the San Diego and New York Comic-Cons- here people don't have to pay $200 or $300 to attend, and that brings a diverse audience, many young people, creating a special atmosphere."
Sturdy, with glasses and a beard, always dressed in a tweed blazer, Sanderson's appearance matches that of the classic fantasy and science fiction author. However, as he tells EL MUNDO in one of his rare moments of respite, in other aspects he is a bit of an outsider. "As a young man, I didn't read much, something very rare among writers, or at least few admit it. Most seem to have started reading their first book in the womb, got a copy of Anna Karenina, or something like that as children. In contrast, I was a reluctant reader," he confesses. "But I had a great high school teacher who gave me a fantasy novel, and I fell madly in love."
"As a child, I was a reluctant reader, something very few writers admit. It seems like everyone started reading in the womb"
The writer's crush came with a book by the veteran Barbara Hambly -also present at Celsius these days- and it was about, as he recalls: "a middle-aged woman going through a life crisis, something initially very distant from a teenager's interests, but there was also magic and dragons, and above all, a family," he remembers. "The truth is that this book made me empathize a lot with my mother, a brilliant student who graduated as an accountant as the only woman in her class and managed a successful career while raising a family. Can a fantasy book help you understand life better? Yes, that's where I learned that the power of fantasy is that we can approach the real world in different ways than other types of literature offer. And I decided to learn to do it myself, writing became my obsession for the next 15 years."
Q. Since 2005, you have published over 50 books and belong to a generation that has subverted the genre's conventions, how do you understand epic fantasy?
A. Today, the model proposed by Joseph Campbell based on the hero's journey has been broken. I can get a bit geeky about this, but succinctly, there are three major eras: Tolkien, those who followed in his footsteps, like Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, or Robin Hobb, and more recent ones like us who write in response to Tolkien, seeing a tired model and changing it. Among these, the precursor was George R. R. Martin, who attacked the idea of the hero's journey and started killing characters left and right. He was a revolutionary, although he could never stand fans guessing his intentions in advance, which led him to change some things in his books.
Q. In what way was that response to the Tolkien model given? How have you avoided his influence?
A. I think my generation started to think: well, what else can fantasy do? For example, in Tolkien and his followers, magic was disappearing. There are very few wizards, very few people with magic. In my generation, the return of magic is very common. Both The Stormlight Archive and Elantris deal with the disappearance and return of magic to the world. And Mistborn is a deconstruction of the traditional epic hero. It's about what would happen if the Dark Lord of the time won, if the hero failed. Authors like N. K. Jemisin have also done this, the most acclaimed genre writer who unfortunately couldn't make it, we work on this idea of deconstructing what our literary predecessors were trying to decipher.
Q. Tolkien was also criticized for being excessively moralistic and simplistic in his idea of good and evil. Should a fantasy writer explore the ambiguity of humanity?
A. He was moralistic, although colleagues like Joe Abercrombie [the other great global author of the genre, also in Avilés] are much better than me at talking about this. I analyze the innate goodness of humanity and how it survives in darkness. He, on the other hand, wonders what innate qualities make us human and how they can be exploited or manipulated. These are seen a lot in our generation. I would say I'm a bit more optimistic than Joe, but certainly a fantasy novel in 2025 cannot be about good and evil.
"George R. R. Martin managed to break Tolkien's legacy, but he could never stand fans guessing his intentions"
Another aspect that connects Sanderson with Tolkien is religion. Raised in Utah -"a bit isolated from the world among cornfields," he jokes-, the writer, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has had certain controversies in his country for openly discussing his faith.
One of the great discussions between Tolkien and C. S. Lewis was the degree of indoctrination. "For him, the story came first, and I agree," he explains. "I am religious, yes, but something I like is that authors strive to explore all aspects of human beings, even atheism or any intermediate nuance," he asserts. "What does awaken my faith is a great curiosity about what it means to be human and how different people interact with society. That is, in a way, my driving force. I hope my books make the world a better place, but I am not seeking to teach anyone. I aim to tell a good story and explore what it means to be different people," he argues.
Q. A couple of weeks ago, Abercrombie was defending the current great moment of fantasy. Are we experiencing the triumph of geek culture?
A. Certainly, and it was about time [laughs]. It must be emphasized that everyone loves the idea of exploring something new and different. And although not everyone has the time or desire to delve into these intimidating tomes we write, if those stories are adapted into another format, everyone enjoys them. Even my mother, who knows nothing about fantasy, was thrilled by the "Lord of the Rings" movies. Furthermore, I do not believe in that fictitious division from years ago that the world is divided into geeks and jocks. Deep down, everyone is a geek about something, for example, those American football fanatics who overwhelm you with statistics of their favorite players. Or those who build model trains, or craft beer lovers... That obsessive passion is part of human nature. The important thing is that fantasy is no longer a stigma; we are all fascinated by different things, and modern society seems to deal better with that reality.
Q. Is the rise of these genres, also in cinema, a way to escape from reality, from a world in crisis where fear is increasing?
A. It is very possible. But Tolkien said that escapism is precisely a human quality to deal with the world. Before, there was religion, for example, things that help you better address other aspects of your life. For example, if you read a book about someone different from you, it is harder to hate that person. Books are empathy machines. I also believe they are exercises for the imagination. I think all the great things that have happened in the world happened first because someone imagined them. Reading a fantasy novel that expands the imagination is as good for you as going to the gym and lifting weights. Simply taking a break and expanding the imagination renews and refreshes the mind.
Q. What is the worst nightmare for a fantasy author with millions of fans? Perhaps the rise of AI?
A. In reality, what I fear is doing my job poorly and not listening to criticism, as happens to many. As for AI, I think it will affect new writers more, who may decide to take shortcuts. I worry that they will publish their first book too quickly. Any professional writer is usually glad that no one reads their first novels, but leaving that tough learning process in the hands of AI is as tempting as a bad decision. I have faith that people will want to read books written by humans. Machines already run better than us, and there are still Olympics. There is a connection between author and reader that people will continue to want, no matter how good AI becomes. But who knows, we are in the Wild West.