My name is Stian Lavik, and I’m writing fantasy stories from a universe called Ardalaar. I am the founder of the universe, which emerged from my imagination in 2009.

I have enjoyed fairytales as long as I can remember, and I love the great fantasy authors like Tolkien, Lewis, Rowling, etc. My love for the fantasy genre is not merely due to the stories themselves (although that is a good reason), but also due to the freedom the genre gives in allowing the reader to imagine new and unknown places and creatures, and the freedom it gives the author to tells stories and bring up greater topics without be restrained by the boundaries of the real world. I cannot make a final statement now regarding if I ever will attempt to write books in other genres, but at least this is where I start.

I agree with Tolkien when he divided factors that influences an author’s works into three categories:

• Factors that don’t influence the works much
  These are typically factors like illness, personal weaknesses (e.g. alcoholism), etc. 

• Factors that have a moderate influence on an author’s works
  These are factors like education, interests etc.

• Factors that greatly influence an author’s works
  Faith and worldview.

Therefore, I might as well state from the beginning that I am a christian, and my faith and worldview will most likely color my writing. Furthermore, I am very interested in and fond of music, so there will be some poems and songs here and there in the stories. Music and poetry have always played an important role in the history of mankind, and it is definitely present in Ardalaar as well.

The reason why I started writing these stories is because I love a good story, and as my imagination is filled with stories from the world of Ardalaar I would like to share them with you. In addition, you may discover intended or unintended deeper meanings or similar in the stories, and those will be somewhat influenced by my worldview. And even if this is not the main motivation for my writing (a good story is a valuable subcreation in itself), I think that it may add richness to the stories. I truly believe that stories containing universal topics like love, good and evil, forgiveness, etc. make any story timelessly relevant and interesting.

I’m a Norwegian author writing in English. Yes, I am aware that it may sound strange, but the reason is simple: Literature is something for the world, not just Norwegians. And the fantasy genre has many readers and fans globally that would be excluded from a story told in Norwegian.

I hope you will enjoy the stories flowing from my keyboard as much as I do writing them.

Stian