Randall
Bush's fantasy fiction novel, The Quest for Asdin, is
the culmination of twenty-five years of ideas and creative efforts
that began back in 1978. In that year, he and a friend, David
Parnell, organized a fantasy-writing group that was inspired
by the styles of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. "At the
time," says Bush, "the works of Tolkien had made a
come-back, and we decided to try our hand at writing in the
fantasy genre. Eventually, I started work on my first Ph.D.
dissertation on F.W. Dillistone's theory of symbols. The
Quest of Asdin became a creative reflection of deeper academic
interests rooted in Dillistone's thought. Indeed, much of the
novel reflects the influence of his thinking on my own quest
for meaning and my search to find answers to life's deepest
questions."
"Later,
when I was a student at the University of Oxford," Bush
continues, "I was delighted to discover that my college,
Regent's Park, adjoined The
Eagle and the Child, the famous pub where Lewis, Tolkien,
and their fellow Inklings met to discuss their work. The influence
of my Oxford experience can be seen at various places in the
novel. Anyone who reads it will at once recognize various architectural
influences of 'the city of dreaming spires' on my descriptions
of the city of Chartra.”
The
Quest for Asdin is Bush's second work of fantasy fiction. His
children's Christmas fantasy, Gabriel's
Magic Ornament, was published by Pristine Publishers
in 2002. Written for an older audience, The Quest for Asdin
is filled with mystery, adventure, suspense, and romance. At
a deeper level, however, it represents a quest for answers to
some of humankind's deepest questions.
Bush
went on to earn his D.Phil. from the University of Oxford in
1990. He is now
Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Interdisciplinary
Honors Program at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee where
he lives with his wife, Cynthia, his son, Chris, and his daughter,
Laura.
Among
other life experiences, he has lived and traveled abroad extensively,
done social work in a Houston barrio, lived on a Texas ranch,
served as a part-time minister in a British church, and taught
ninth-grade English in an inner-city Houston School.
He is also an accomplished pianist, organist, and vocalist.
