David Hair is the author of the Moontide Quartet, an epic fantasy series about the clash of east and west, in the tradition of Robert Jordan and George R.R. Martin. Scarlet Tides (Jo Fletcher Books, October 7, 2014), book two in the series, continues the story begun in Mage's Blood. Hair lives in New Zealand, where he has also published many YA fantasy novels.
On your nightstand now:
I'm a third of the way through the last book of Laini Taylor's Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. Demons versus angels, but not as we know it. Waiting behind that is Chosen by Benedict Jacka and an embarrassingly large amount of other books! My willingness to buy books outweighs the time I have to read them.
Favorite book when you were a child:
The Weirdstone of Brisingamen by Alan Garner. Myth and magic in the English countryside, like a secret world opening up.
Your top five authors:
Tough question. I've loved a lot of books over the years, and I'd probably answer this differently on any given day, and five is way too few. Today it's J.R.R. Tolkien (got me into fantasy), Tim Powers (fantasy and cool history), Colleen McCullough (Masters of Rome series, which is amazingly rich and detailed), C.J. Cherryh (incredibly prolific, but mostly I love the Morgaine books and the Ealdwood books) and Terry Pratchett (wonderful humour and humanity).
Book you've faked reading:
No, I don't fake! If I haven't read it, I won't pretend.
Book you're an evangelist for:
Q by Luther Blissett (not the former Watford and A.C. Milan footballer). [Luther Blissett is the nom de plume of] a collective of Italian writers, telling a tale of faith and betrayal and intrigue set in the Hundred Years War. It's awesome.
Book you've bought for the cover:
I'm not really prone to doing that. I read the blurb on the back (or inside jacket) and decide then.
Book that changed your life:
I know it's a cliché, but it has to be the Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R Tolkien. I read it when 13, and it changed my reading taste permanently.
Favorite line from a book:
I've always loved a line from the poem that Gimli recites in Moria in The Fellowship of the Ring: "The shadow lies upon his tomb,/ In Moria, in Khazad-dûm." I've got the BBC radio play, and it's very stirring when read aloud. I was disappointed Peter Jackson didn't work it into the movie version.
Which character you most relate to:
I like clever characters who get by on their wits: my favourite all-time character is Silk from David Eddings's Belgariad series: sly, funny and always three steps ahead, but his heart is totally in the right place.
Book you most want to read again for the first time:
The Drawing of the Dark by Tim Powers, which combines history and fantasy wonderfully. I love all his books, and it's a toss-up with this one and his The Anubis Gates, which is also mind-blowing.