Can a world of many races exist without racism? Fantasy author J. A. Cullum doesn't believe so! In her new release, Lyskarion: The Song of the Wind, the author's story unfolds against a backdrop of racial and religious tensions, which are a curious reflection of our modern society.
Hundreds of years before the story takes place, the Great Wizards created the Karionin, eight living crystals which substantially increase the bearer's power. When a conflict breaks out among the great wizards, this increased power results in mass destruction and death. Now people fear the wizard's potential for destruction, and few children train to become wizards.
Plagued by racial and religious hatred, Tamar is home to nine races-humans live side by side with races who have the ability to shift their shape from human to animal form, including dolphins (Ingvalar), tigers (Linlar), and lizards (Isklar). The dolphins and humans get along; yet prejudices exist. The tigers and lizards have been attacking human settlements, and a devastating war seems inevitable.
Cormor, the last of the great wizards, knows that the only chance for peace is for a legion of powerful wizards to reign once again. The fate of Tamar falls upon three youths - each with great potential, each with a reason for resistance. These young wizards-in-training must learn to overcome their differences and restore peace once again or humanity will be destroyed.
Even before Janice A. Cullum could read and write she was creating new fantasy worlds by telling herself bedtime stories at the age of four.
"My father refused to read children's stories to me calling them utter rubbish", said Ms. Cullum, in a recent interview. He did, however, approve of Kipling. Therefore, Janice's earliest literary hero was Mowgli of the "Jungle Tales".
Janice has always believed in reincarnation. This life after life experience was evidenced by Janice's sensation of "remembering how to read". She applied this "recalled" knowledge by voraciously consuming books. The first book she recalls reading on her own was Walter Farley's The Black Stallion; her second, Robert Heinlein's The Red Planet.
Cullum had an early wealth of influence that many sf and fantasy writers would have given a world or two for. These Janice affectionately called "the stacks" - nearly two tons of science fiction and fantasy magazines collected by her father. From Amazing Stories to the Unknown, her dad had it all! Janice's favorites were the Planet stories of the late 1940's which featured stories by Leigh Brackett, C. L. Moore and Poul Anderson.
One of the greatest tragedies of the author's life came when her father donated all two tons of magazines to the Syracuse Library!
Her later influences include Robert E. Howard's Conan stories, Georgette Heyer's regency novels, Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Dorthy Dunnett's Chronicles of Lymond, and Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels. She read "King Kull" when she was about 8 and was offended that the snake people were portrayed as totally evil. Cullum liked snakes, so she created a world where the snake people were no more good or evil than the humans. The snake people eventually morphed in the lizard folk.
Ms. Cullum loves science fiction and fantasy conventions, which she started attending with her family when she was eight, and where she met her husband, who shared her love of science fiction and fantasy.
J. A. Cullum currently live in Trinity County, California.
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