Authors Pick Five: Cory Poulson

Cory Poulson is Utah fantasy author that is relatively "new to me." A year or so ago, I went to an Authorpalooza at Barnes and Noble and saw the cover his book, Reiyalindis, and couldn't forget it! (What do you think of it?) Finally, I got my hands on it and am now currently reading it. Review to come very soon!

As part of celebrating Utah Author month, I wanted to get to know Cory better and have asked him my Authors Pick Five question:

What five books are most important or influential to you?

But you know... Cory had a struggle picking his five books! And who wouldn't really, right? First he listed scriptures, but then figured (correctly enough) that, even though they are important, that's not really what I was looking for.

Then he wanted to "cheat" a bit and list series of books, which included all the Middle Earth books by Tolkien and all the Shannara series by Brooks... and actually I think I would have let him get away with that one just fine!

But in the end, he narrowed it down to these five:


1. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien. This is simply an awesome book. I can't believe anyone could invent such a deep and complex world.


2. The Wishsong of Shannara, by Terry Brooks. Always been my favorite of the series, and Brooks' works, along with Tolkien's, was what got me into fantasy.


3. Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis. It's a really thought-provoking book, and I enjoy it a lot.


4. The Antiquities of the Jews, by Flavius Josephus. A very interesting book, from a historical standpoint in addition to a religious one.


5. An Omen of Triumph, by Tom Bishop. Very few people have ever heard of this one, because it hasn't been published. It's the first in a series a friend of mine is writing, and I consider it one of my favorite books ever. Hopefully someday it'll be out there.

There you have it. I might change the list if I actually had time to sort my memory out, and I'll probably kick myself later for forgetting something…but, oh, well.

Cory is currently in the process of finding a publisher for the sequel to Reiyalindis, so good luck to him! He has several other stories available on his website, some of them free downloads, so be sure to check those out!

Official Cory Poulson website.

Check out his blog here.

Find him on Facebook here.