T.J. Muir writes adult epic fantasy filled with lost magic, dangerous choices, complicated loyalties, and characters who have an unfortunate tendency to get involved before anyone gives them permission. She is the author of the Legacy of the Lost Mage series and The Chanmyr Chronicles.
I read The Hobbit when I was ten and spent the next several years rereading Tolkien and devouring classic science fiction and fantasy. A few years later, a friend introduced me to C.J. Cherryh, and the list of authors who shaped the way I thought about speculative fiction grew quickly from there.
What hooked me was the ability of fantasy and science fiction to do two things at once: tell a compelling story and explore complicated questions about people, cultures, power, belief, and the worlds we build around ourselves.
My own writing draws on cultural anthropology, comparative religion, medieval history, and a lifetime's worth of assorted experiences, including horse training, gaming and role-playing, sword work, and making swords and armor. Those influences tend to find their way into the cultures, conflicts, magic, and practical details of my worlds.
Mostly, though, I like playing the “what if?” game, turning a group of characters loose inside the answer, and seeing what trouble they create.
The result is fantasy set in worlds that feel as though they might exist just beyond the edge of our own: places shaped by old histories, forgotten magic, conflicting loyalties, and people trying to make their way through all of it.