The First, Last, Everythings are coming thick and fast and this time it's author Phil Parker.

Phil Parker is the author of the dark fantasy trilogy, The Knights’ Protocol. He’s busy working on the next novel, which is based in the same world plus an anthology of short stories which bridge the two. An idea stolen from Dave Woolliscroft, so please don’t tell him. Phil created the British & Irish Writing Community and now edits its online magazine, The Bard of the Isles. He’s also a judge in this year’s SPFBO competition as part of Team Qwillery.

I think the book that led me into reading adult fiction as a teenager was 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke. I went to the cinema to see the film and, though I didn’t understand what was happening, it affected me deeply. I promptly went to the library, found the book and read it. Clarke led us into asking not just who we were as a race but what we should become. A giant-sized question framed within a narrative spanning millennia.

Arthur C. Clarke did something which affects me even now. He showed that speculative fiction can be informed by our current situation, it can lead us into not just imagining “What If?” – but to speculate on the options and alternatives based on that reality.

Clarke was a visionary, predicting so much of the technology we take for granted now as well as imagining how humanity would fare in space. ‘Islands in the Sky’ predicts things like the International Space Station, ‘A Fall of Moondust’ the colonisation of the Moon. Stories written in the 1950s before any of this had been seriously considered.

He was a regular writer of stories for the forerunners of graphic novels, magazines like Startling Stories. They offered a natural progression for a teenager who’d spent years reading Marvel and DC comics about superheroes!

I’ve just finished reading Joe Abercrombie’s latest novel, A Little Hatred. It’s hard to believe I read The Blade Itself in 2007 after a friend recommended it. It had a profound effect on me. It introduced me to a story filled with dark characters, grit, blood and violence and a nihilistic approach to morality that I’d never encountered before – and I loved it. His First Law trilogy led me on to similar authors, Richard Morgan, Brent Weeks (whose latest novel I’m reading now). Their stories prompted my own writing style. With my acting/drama background, I’m primarily interested in characterisation. Telling stories about how people deal with extreme darkness is a fascinating exercise and intrigues me still.

A Little Hatred shows the growth of Abercrombie as a writer because the moral issues are no longer so black and white. Some characters have heart and battle against injustice and prejudice but may need to commit their own misdeeds if they are to succeed. I love that ethical conflict and how it plays out in the novel.

I’ve struggled to arrive at a decision here! Which story stands out above all others? The truth is I cannot decide to I’ve decided to cheat! After hours of contemplation that’s made my brain hurt, I have got the choice down to two authors!

Tad Williams and Brent Weeks.

Now my good friend Nick Borrelli is also a big fan of Tad Williams and said everything I’d want to say. (He really is under-rated!). So, I’m going to focus on Brent Weeks. I know, cheat!!

So much of his Night Angel series resonated with me and its residue remains and informs my writing even now. It tells the story of an assassin and his apprentice (long before this trope became established). The ethical dilemmas I mentioned earlier abound here. These stories deal with consequences and the choices that go before and after them. His characters are dark, rounded and full of internal conflict. Just how I like them.

His writing is sublime in how he delivers threat and tension, never allowing the pace to lapse, providing twists and turns you never anticipate. I’m baffled by his ability to plot a narrative that reaches into so many dark corners and yet still weaves something that sparkles.

I mentioned earlier that I’m reading the fifth and final instalment of his Lightbringer series and none of his talent has diminished in the last ten years. Five books, all of them massive tomes, tell a story so complex that I cannot begin to imagine how he weaves it together. He’d have been comfortable making the Bayeaux Tapestry I’m sure!

I strongly recommend both these writers. For me, they are the best there is in a world filled with a wealth of talented authors.

Thanks very much, Phil!

That's all for now but I know there will be more soon. And remember, if you want to take part I’ll post your entry. Just drop me a line on Twitter or via email to dave@dpwoolliscroft.com and I’ll send you some simple instructions.