Interview of Julian Egelstaff (cont')

RG: Okay. One more and you are free to get back to updating the Monastery. How much would you pay for a complete set of mint condition, personalized, autographed copies of every Lone Wolf book available?

JE: Not much. The books themselves, the physical books, aren't very valuable, certainly not in absolute terms. I mean, things are only ever worth what anyone's going to pay for them, and no one's going to pay much for a Lone Wolf book. It's not like Superman 1 in comics or something. And the physical books aren't very valuable in a personal sense either. Yes, the books mean a lot to me, but they are not objects that hold value, like gold bars, or real estate. They are personally valuable in that I really love the series, but my own copy of book one so heavily used and taped together, is far, far, far, far, far more valuable to me than any other copy ever could be because it's the book that I came to Magnamund through. My own copies mean the most to me because they were my vehicles on one of the most fantastic adventures I've ever had.

One last personal note I just thought of while answering that last question (this kind of relates to the fans I guess): I think one of the great things about the series is the mythology it creates for the readers. I know that for me, running from the warhounds in book 4 to get to the garrison in Ruanon is a very strong part of the series and a section I look back on as emblematic of a lot that's good about the character. And just like some people might look to favorite bible stories, or greek myths, or the sayings of Sun Tzu or whatever--I mean we all have little things that inspire us or help us interact with the world--well for me and a lot of fans out there too, I think, it's the little mythologies that are borne out of the Lone Wolf adventures that act as our companions in life. When faced with some adversity, we can draw some strength from Lone Wolf running for six hours with Lord Lieutenant Rhygar. These are experiences we loved and identified with (or else we wouldn't be fans) and so they mean something to us and guide us to some extent. And it's because those experiences came to me through the books I own that I don't have much interest in a mint edition set. What's important about Lone Wolf to me is my experience of it. And that experience came to me through my books.