Four World Stars Visit Fantasy Festival 2025

No fewer than four Guests of Honour are coming to the festival – ready to share their stories, secrets, and love of fantasy. Make sure to get your ticket so you can join when these four world stars take us straight into the very heart of the writing process at the festival. Look forward to meeting:

Lev Grossman – Interpreter of Magic

Lev Grossman is the man behind The Magicians trilogy, published between 2009 and 2014 and later adapted into a TV series that ran for five seasons. Known in Danish as Magikerne, the series has become a modern fantasy icon.

Grossman studied literature but has also made his mark as a sharp journalist, writing about everything from video games to comics, and interviewing J. K. Rowling, Neil Gaiman, and Salman Rushdie.

In 2020 he turned to children’s fantasy with The Silver Arrow and The Golden Swift. His latest novel, The Bright Sword (2024), reimagines the Arthurian myth – a book George R. R. Martin has called a must-read for anyone who loves King Arthur.

Victoria Aveyard – The Queen of Fantasy

Victoria Aveyard made her breakthrough with the Red Queen series, which since 2015 has taken the world by storm. The series consists of four novels and two short story collections and has secured her place as one of the most widely read new fantasy authors.

Today she is working on the Realm Breaker trilogy, where destiny comes knocking on young Corayne’s door – in the form of both an assassin and an immortal. The series highlights Aveyard’s talent for creating dark, complex tales where heroes and villains walk side by side.

Born in Massachusetts in 1990, she now lives in Santa Monica, California, where she continues to work on new projects.

Tad Williams – A Living Legend

Robert Paul “Tad” Williams has been one of the most influential voices in fantasy for more than four decades. He debuted in 1985 with Tailchaser’s Song – a story with a cat as its main character – and has since sold more than 17 million books. His epic works Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn and The Last King of Osten Ard have inspired an entire generation of writers and readers.

George R. R. Martin has called The Dragonbone Chair one of his absolute favourites, even writing a hidden nod to Tad into his own A Song of Ice and Fire series, where House Willum pays tribute to Williams’ universe. Patrick Rothfuss and Christopher Paolini have also named him as a major source of inspiration.

Williams’ background is as colourful as his books – he has worked as a DJ, created TV concepts, played in a band, and worked for Apple – but it is as an author that he has left his lasting mark on world literature.

Alexandria Warwick – Romantasy with Music

The romantasy genre has found a new star in Alexandria Warwick, who lives in Florida and writes stories filled with both love and magic. She created The Four Winds series, with the first two volumes, The North Wind and The West Wind, being published in Danish as Nordenvinden and Vestenvinden in connection with the festival.

She is also the author of The North series and the standalone novel The Demon Race. Her inspirations range from Beauty and the Beast to Greek myths and Scottish legends. When she isn’t writing, she plays the violin professionally – an artistic energy that carries over into her storytelling.

A Festival Sprinkled with Stardust

Fantasy Festival 2025 will be nothing less than a gathering of world stars in Esbjerg. From epic classics to romantic adventures and dark tales of power and destiny – this year’s guests embrace the breadth of the fantasy genre and show why the festival is Europe’s magical meeting point.