WILLIAMSBURG – “Growing up, I loved Tolkien, Terry Brooks, Andre Norton, Edgar Rice Burroughs,” laughed Williamsburg author, Nikolai Krimp, discussing his writing at the Williamsburg Public Library on Saturday, February 17. “As a pre-teen, I spent all my allowance on books, then would come home and read all night. There was no question, I loved fantasy novels.”
It should come as no surprise then, that since the early 2000s, Krimp has devoted much of his own writing to creating novels set in a ‘fantastic’ North America. This world is a North America which, in generations ahead, has been crushed and re-shaped by a “catastrophic event.” It is a world where the young Mage, Jennifer Wells, is called upon to struggle against great odds, to use her “magical powers” to save those humans still left from the terrifying evil which now stalks the future world.
Born in a small village in Germany, author Nikolai Krimp was raised in Montreal, lived for a time in Brockville, and now makes his home in Williamsburg: “I love this village, the fields which surround it, the atmosphere.” He continues to write. “Fantasy is a genre that lets your mind run completely free – although I do have to return to reality at some point in my day,” he added. “The main character in my series is a girl, because so many books, so many movies, have boy heroes, and I wanted to change that. I find that this female character attracts many girl readers – I feel they can identify with her.” ‘The Last Mage: The Dragon’s Mouth’ came out in 2008. ‘The Last Mage: The Home Stone’ came out in 2021, and ‘The Last Mage: The Shadowland’ is currently in final drafts. Krimp’s novels have an appeal for young adults, and for younger, eager readers.
“The hardest thing about being a writer,” Krimp laughed, “is actually starting the story. Sometimes I just stare at the screen, but fortunately I can access the ‘map’ of this new world I have created in my imagination. The characters, themselves, may give me directions. Frankly, sometimes one of those characters literally takes over and tells me what to do, what to write. For me, writing is a wonderful experience. Imagination can actually give you a kind of escape from some of the ugliness that is out there in the world.”
Even when his current series is concluded, he has every intention of continuing to write, exploring new ideas and themes. He’s already working on a children’s book, ‘Pauper,’ which is about a Teddy Bear, a little bear who didn’t sell in the toy store, and has been tossed by the store owner into the trash. Then a little girl sees him, “picks him up and takes him home, only to learn that he is a magical bear, who must hide that magic around adults. It’s a sad story in a way, but it does have a very happy ending.” Krimp is also mind-mapping a new book, another fantasy, about a space ship going to Centauri which is suddenly sucked into a worm hole, the astronauts emerging into a new world in chaos with natives, cyborgs and A.I.s all seeking dominance.
As a reader, a man who adores books, and a writer, whose imagination takes him to wonderful worlds, Nikolai Krimp hopes that everyone will continue to understand and appreciate all kinds of literature. To young people, he has this advice. “A book can be much more interesting than any movie or TV show. A book demands that you use your own imagination, paint your own pictures, seek out the ideas and themes. A book lets you explore so many different views. So I say, read. Just read.”
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