M
artin Sládek
Science fiction and fantasy author
About Martin
The math is simple - I write stories and have fun doing it. People have fun reading them. And they come back for more, so it's hard to stop writing. It's a vicious cycle. Reading, and later writing, has always been a part of my life. I wrote short stories for eight years and in 2009 I had the idea to send them to a couple of literary awards. In the "Lord Trollslayer's Iron Glove" contest, I placed right behind the victors, and the publisher liked the stories so much that he decided to publish them in a special edition. I won the "Best Fantasy Award" that same year, along with a sword and placement in the "Fantasy 2009" short story collection. Since then, I have published other short story collections and several novels. Back in my youth, when I was reading nonstop, it became increasingly difficult to find another quality book. It was one of the motivators for writing them. So I write stories that I would like to read myself. And you can read them with me.
Beginnings
The first fantasy story I ever heard was Prince Bajaya by Božena Němcová, and I can't remember which of my parents used to read it to me at bedtime. Magical horses, terrible dragons, gentle princesses and fearless fighters had their charms, even though only half the kingdom was offered as a prize. Much later, I discovered the nearby library (cell phones didn't exist yet) and in it a fantasy section that, combined with a vivid imagination, had a devastating effect on me. I read almost everything from Biggles and Karel May, to lavish fantasy sagas, of which I can only recall snippets. I read at school, while walking, at night, and experienced something for which the word "daydreaming" is quite fitting. My head filled with stories, and I had the vague impression that fifty percent of my parents were concerned about my mental health.
First works
The first work was co-authored - when I was fifteen, a friend and I wrote an epic fantasy in which we put everything we liked at the time. The result was a hodgepodge that has thankfully been lost in the annals of history. I soon became independent as a writer and spent the next eight years writing just for fun. In 2009, I submitted several short stories to three of the biggest Czech fantasy literary awards and won one of them ("Best Fantasy Award", Poutník, 2009). This resulted in the publication of the first texts in short story collections, for which I owe a big thanks to Egon Cierny. Other anthologies and novels took quite a long time, but under the motto "better to write properly than quickly" I didn't mind at all and still don't. And the readers got used to it :-)
Inspiration
A lot of inspiration came from certain video games texts - it contained some truly worthwhile stories. As far as books go, the first person who influenced me a lot was David Eddings, but I quickly outgrew his works, much to my disillusionment. David Gemmel, on the other hand, has stayed in my heart forever. The moral code contained in all his works shaped me more than anything else. This is only the beginning of the list. Next: Miroslav Zamboch's early works, which still count among the world's best. Sapkowski's The Witcher. Greek and Norse mythology. Edda. Real historical events. Kulhánek, because nobody was funnier. Simmons and his Hyperion, proof that something extremely complicated can be written and stay readable. Zelazny's Amber, proof that books can be written almost entirely in dialogues. Farland's Runelords. Michael Scott Rohan and his The Winter of The World. Michael Crichton. And many, many others for which there's no room here.
