Cassie McCullough

Let's get back to the plot of the novel, though.

You've got these different...

people or avatars or representatives, and they have to work out how to come together as a group.

And so I keep thinking about what you said, Chris, about seeing it almost like a Marvel movie of this unlikely group of strangers who have to work out how to work together.

I mean, can we also just, does it make sense to talk about this as a sort of adventure story?

There's a lot of movement, action, there's a quest, there's adventures, there's goodies and baddies.

Cassie, let's talk about the style.

I mean, how did it work for you?

I mean, you talked about how confusing it was at the beginning.

Did it then make sense?

Denise, if we talk big picture about whether it succeeds as a novel and what you made of the way that she wrote this, what would you say?

Yes, I'm wondering if she's going to take us into other parts of the world altogether.

Well, I think that's part of the playfulness you can have.

I mean, which cities would have enough of that presence to start breathing or that you could hear them singing away to themselves?

And, you know, what would you do?

Chris Flynn, how successful would you assess this book to be?

Well, right up the top of the show, you heard some stuff from Raymond E. Feist, who, as he said, has been writing epic fantasy fiction for 40 years.

And he then wrote another 10 in that Riftworld saga series, I think.

I also spoke to Christopher Paolini, to Lev Grossman, but also to some of Australia's really terrific fantasy writers.

So why don't we hear from a few of those about what's happening in the field and what's changed, and we'll hear from our guests on that as well.