he mentions that his writing comes to him visually, and on his website he lists "the matrix" and "the lord of the rings" as having been particularly memorable films (see profile). his work shows elements of magical realism and has a vivid visual style. although taking some inspiration from the works of j.r.r. tolkien, he writes with a more contemporary approach similar to robert jordan and terry goodkind. in an interview he referred to stephen donaldson and robin hobb as having influenced his work, as well as the satirical discworld novels of terry pratchett.