The oldest stories we have are all fantasy. It is at the roots of how we tell stories and how we understand the world.” Martin Stewart on his debut novel Riverkeep

JAMES Gray was 80 years old when he died in 2010. A Glaswegian, he had been, according to his grandson Martin Stewart, a robust figure who ate everybody’s leftovers.
But in his last years he suffered from cancer, Parkinson’s and a touch of dementia.
“He just withered away,” his grandson recalls. “I had never experienced that wastage and the impact that kind of loss has on a family. And there was a shift in his personality.
“It is an unbearable way to lose somebody while they are still there.”
So when he came to writing his first novel, Mr Stewart decided to explore themes of loss, grief and palliative care inspired by that painful experience. What might surprise some, however, is that he decided to do so in the form of a fantasy novel.
Riverkeep, which is published by Penguin this coming Thursday, was accepted by the publisher on the basis of just a 2,000-word extract. Now Mr Stewart, 33, is being touted as the new star of fantasy fiction, and the subject of heady comparisons with his heroes Neil Gaiman and Philip Pullman.
Riverkeep, which is dedicated to Mr Stewart’s grandparents, tells the story of Wulliam, a 15-year-old boy who with his father fishes bodies from the river. That is until his father is dragged under the water and then returned to him utterly changed. It was an idea that drew on Mr Stewart’s conversations with George Parsonage, the chief officer of the Glasgow Humane Society who has been recovering bodies from the Clyde since he was a teenager.
Mr Parsonage, however, has thankfully never had to deal with a monstrous beast called a mormorach.
Before Mr Stewart set down to write the novel based on the 2,000-word short story that won him a contract, he went to meet Mr  Parsonage in person.
“I took him some Hobnobs to grant me safe passage and he made me a cup of tea and told me amazing stories. What a life he has had. It is extraordinary. He might be the most physically strong man I have ever met. It is like he is carved out of wood.”
Mr Stewart’s book is being marketed as a young-adult title, although the author — a former teacher — hopes it is a book for everyone. And he believes that fantasy fiction is an excellent way to explore difficult, uncomfortable, themes.
“The genre allows you to create a form of storytelling that makes these things not more comfortable but more readable.
“I was writing about the right to die and the loss of a parent and if it was set it in the suburbs of Edinburgh it might be unremittingly awful.”
In the wake of the success of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books and The Lord Of The Rings movies, fantasy fiction has become one of the most popular genres for both children and adults. Tonight sees the debut of the latest series of Game Of Thrones, one of the most acclaimed television dramas of recent years.
Even literary novelists are dipping their toes into the genre. Booker prize-winner Kazuo Ishiguro’s most recent novel The Buried Giant even includes ogres.
Mr Stewart, who is already hard at work on his second novel, believes that fantasy is so successful at the moment because publishers and television companies are desperate to tap into the market for JK Rowling or George RR Martin novels.
But more than that, Mr Stewart believes, the appeal of the genre can be traced back to the origins of storytelling itself.
“The oldest stories we have are things like Beowulf. They are all fantasy. It is at the roots of how we tell stories and how we understand the world.”