Tad Williams, author of the classic Memory, Sorrow and Thorn fantasy series as well as the upcoming Heart of Regret and The Witchwood Crown sequels, all set in the world of Osten Ard, was interviewed by British publisher Hodder Books this week. The full podcast interview runs just under 12 minutes, below. The Osten Ard part of the interview begins at 2:58. (The interview contains some minor spoilers for The Witchwood Crown, including some basic plot details, as well as major spoilers for Memory, Sorrow and Thorn).

The character of Simon Snowlock is based at least partially on Tad Williams’ younger brothers, according to Williams’ latest interview.

Williams reveals several tidbits during this interview. The first is that his character Simon Snowlock, the main protagonist of Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, was modeled on his younger brothers. He also states that some fact-checking has been done on The Witchwood Crown, to make sure there are no conflicts with the original text.

The tentative dates for publication of the upcoming Osten Ard books are late 2016 for Heart of Regret and early 2017 for The Witchwood Crown. Subsequent volumes set in the same universe, titled Empire of Grass, The Navigator’s Children, and a fifth, as yet unnamed volume, will be published  sometime thereafter.

Williams also reveals some details about his Bobby Dollar books (at 0:20 in the interview), and also discusses Tailchaser’s Song, his first novel (at 9:40).