I recently talked to my classmate about book. He told me that the best sci-fiction/fantasy he read was Ursula's "Left Hand of darkness" and "Earthsea" saga. I do not like women's writing so I was rather skeptical, but he said that Lem, a writer I look up to, claims she's second best American writter, after Dick. I personally do not like Dick, but I borrowed her books. I liked them. I wondered, have you read them? The only woman I read before was Rowling, and it is a typical book for kids, so it's language was not very special. But Le Guin... from the first sentence I was sure it's a woman's writing. It is so obvious, and it hit me hard and I began to look for any symptoms why am I so sure about this. I didn't. Have you noticed something like this? I'm sure many of you read Le Guin. Of course, Mr. Card is much better Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I'm a bit puzzled why you would think that you didn't like female authors after having read one female author whose work you didn't connect with. Seems...odd. You say that you don't like "women's writing". How would you characterize such writing?
In any case, there's a whole world of good female SF authors out there. LeGuin is staggeringly good, as you've already discovered. Others whose work I love include Maureen McHugh, Octavia Butler, Pat Murphy, Nancy Kress, Robin Hobb, James Tiptree Jr., C. L. Moore and Lisa Tuttle.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Ye gods, how can you mention that bunch of non-entities, and ignore Bujold? The greatest SF author of our day, bar none.
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
Yeah, how can you? Great honk!
Posted by Gryphonesse (Member # 6651) on :
well that was a refreshing dose of Monday Morning Misogyny...
Why on earth does it matter what the gender of the author is? I have never even paid attention to that. There's plenty of other stuff to worry about besides boobs when it comes to writing ability
[ April 18, 2005, 10:11 AM: Message edited by: Gryphonesse ]
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Great honk? Pop, is there Trouble in River City?
Posted by Papa Moose (Member # 1992) on :
KoM started it....
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Great Honk indeed! Whatever could I have been thinking?
[ April 18, 2005, 11:59 AM: Message edited by: Noemon ]
Posted by 0range7Penguin (Member # 7337) on :
I like Anne Rice. Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
What about Andre Norton and Marion Zimmer Bradley? Egads, how dare you leave them out, you great honks!?!
Edit to add: I was a bit hasty in ending my list with those two as I immediately thought up more just after pressing the button. So. I add more. These are not necessarily scifi, although some are. These are just damn good female authors.
Anne McCaffrey. Dorothy Gilman. Anne Perry. Mary Stewart. Madeleine L'Engle. I'm sure I'll think of more...
[ April 19, 2005, 03:33 AM: Message edited by: quidscribis ]
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Who is it that wrote Outlander? I remember Olivet singing her praises pretty highly, and came this close to buying a used copy of Outlander on Saturday. Haven't actually read her stuff, but I trust Olivet's opinion pretty implicitly when it comes to fiction.
Quid, do you really consider all of the authors you named to be that good? I'm fond of Stewart and L'Engle, but I don't really care for any of the others you mentioned (Anne Perry I haven't read, and so have no opinion on).
Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
Diana Gabaldon. (Get Outlander, now!)
How can you all forget:
Katherine Kurtz Patricia Kennealy-Morrison Jennifer Roberson
Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :
Isn't Anne Rice an erotic novel writer? Anyways... What was her name... the auther of "Who wants to be a wizrd" series is great.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
She's best known for her vampire novels Sid--Interview with a Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, Queen of the Damned, etc. There is certainly a strong erotic element to her fiction, but I wouldn't classify her as being primarily a writer of erotica.
[ April 19, 2005, 10:44 AM: Message edited by: Noemon ]
Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :
Okay then, I've been corrected.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
You might have been thinking of Laurell K Hamilton. I've not read her work, but my understanding is that her horror is very intensely erotic.
Back on the subject of female authors whose work I've really enjoyed, C. S. Friedman has turned out at least one good novel, The Madness Season. I loved Kathleen Anne Goonan's Queen City Jazz (and really should reread it and then read the sequels she's written since I first came across her stuff. I'm not a huge Elizabeth Moon fan, but her Paksenarrion trilogy is servicable. I've been hearing good things lately about Mary Doria Russel, and will be reading her The Sparrow as soon as I can find a used copy of it.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Noeman, with the understanding that I read different books for different purposes, yes. Sometimes, I want a fluffy, easy, entertaining read. Then the Pern books, especially Dragonsong, Dragonsinger, and Dragon Drums are perfect, as are all of the Mrs. Pollifax books or Mary Stewart's adventures. The Darkover books are fun. Different types of books suit different moods.
Posted by Sid Meier (Member # 6965) on :
Actually Noeman Anne Rice wrote a trilogy about sleeping beuty which was erotic and quite detailed. However I only suggest to those with an open mind since it mixes some *cough* additional things in there. What I do is ignore those parts and skip on ahead.
[ April 19, 2005, 11:02 AM: Message edited by: Sid Meier ]
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Quid, those three McCaffrey books you named are among her young adult stuff, aren't they? I think of her Menolly trilogy to be her best stuff. When I was a kid I *really* wanted to give Menolly from the first Harper's Hall book a pair of tennis shoes.
I can understand liking fluff for fluff's sake; I'm that way with Harry Turtledove's stuff actually.
Oh! Susan Cooper! How could I have forgotten Susan Cooper? The Dark is Rising is a phenomenal book. I'm not that wild about any of the other books in that series, but it stands on its own well enough that that isn't a problem.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I haven't read it Sid. I don't deny that her work has a strong erotic component, I just don't think of her work as being erotica. Then again, I've only read the her vampire books, and not even all of those, so it's quite possible that I'm just pulling stuff from my nether regions here.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
The Sleeping Beauty trilogy was originally published under a pseudonym and it is definitely erotica. Intentionally so, and not just fantasy with erotic elements.
Edit: It is also one of the very few series in which my obsessive need to read every book by an author whose work I have enjoyed broke down and I didn’t finish it. I wouldn’t recommend it, even to someone who didn't mind reading sexually explicit material, because it’s tedious.
[ April 19, 2005, 01:34 PM: Message edited by: dkw ]
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
I've met Jennifer Roberson. She breeds Cardigan Welsh Corgis as a hobby. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my books along to the National Specialty to get them autographed. Probably next year!
AJ
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote: Anyways... What was her name... the auther of "Who wants to be a wizrd" series is great.
So You Want to Be a Wizard is the first of Diane Duane's Young Wizards series.
Posted by CRash (Member # 7754) on :
I recently (okay, it was a while ago) talked to a pal about a book. She told me that the best Scifi writer was OSC, with his book Ender's Game. I do not like men's writing so I was rather skeptical, especially when I heard that it involved nearly all male characters and silly war games. But I read his books. I liked them.
I wondered, have you read any books by male authors? The ONLY man I've ever read before was Dr. Seuss, and it is a typical book for kids, so its language was not very special. But Card... from the first sentence I was SURE it was a man's writing. It is SO obvious, and it hit me hard and I began to look for any symptoms why am I so sure about this. I didn't.
Have you noticed something like this? With those MALE authors? I'm sure many of you read Card.
(Excessive female sarcasm here, just in case you can't tell.) Okay, and I am a *bit* POed that everyone starts naming female authors like they're some kind of rarity. I'm sure I could think of at least a hundred right off, just like I could think of at least a hundred male authors. It's a bit like the difference between authors with blond hair and authors with black hair. There's not really any difference. I'm disgusted.
Posted by Bretagne (Member # 7852) on :
The point of naming them was to prove that they aren't a rarity. Although I am a bit surprised that Kathy Tyers wasn't mentioned.
In all honestly, I could care less what gender the author is. I mean, what does it matter? As long as the story is good, I don't care if it was written by the Flying Purple People Eater!
Posted by Verily the Younger (Member # 6705) on :
quote:(Excessive female sarcasm here, just in case you can't tell.)
Under the circumstances, I didn't think it was excessive. I thought it was right on the mark. The implication in the original post that no woman could possibly have any stories worth reading was so absurd and beneath contempt that I'm somewhat dismayed that anyone dignified it by answering at all.
Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
I first came to really love sci-fi from reading Andre Norton. didn't know she was a "woman writer" until after I had fallen for Catseye, Galactic Derelict, The Stars Are Ours, Starborn, and several other books.
LeGuin is brilliant, one of the pivotal writers in the field. Octavia Butler has written some of the finest science fiction novels ever written - I think she's actually better than LeGuin. Robin Hobb is one of the finest writers of serious fantasy EVER.
Yet I feel I should remind you that there IS such a thing as "women's fiction," which is, by design or accident, designed to exclude many male readers. And it's easy to get confused about what it is a man feels shut out of - is it woman writers, or women's fiction? When I'm reading a "women's fantasy" I get so sick of the characters thinking about what to wear that I want to puke. GET ON WITH THE STORY, I shout, only I know that the intended community of readers thinks this IS part of the story.
When women write "women's fiction," there's nothing wrong with it - and nothing wrong with men who feel excluded from it. Just as there's nothing wrong with a woman who has no idea why Tom Clancy has a writing career. As communities and as genders, we have different interests. Duh.
That said, let's also remember that there are writers who do NOT try to write within a community of gender. I want men to read my "Women of Genesis" books, and I want women to read my science fiction. I want men to read my books that have female heroes, and I want women to read my books that have male heroes.
And when a woman is a good writer and is aiming for that broader audience, I have found no evidence that women are in any way either superior or inferior to men of the same ability level. Octavia Butler and Ursula K. LeGuin write male characters who are as convincingly male as their female characters are female. I try to do as well with my female characters as they do with male ones.
So my guess is that our original postero simply hasn't read enough fiction by women authors who were not writing "women's fiction." So he has some wonderful adventures ahead of him.
(And before someone points out the obvious: There are plenty of women who hate "women's fiction," just as there are plenty of men who hate "men's magazines"; and I am among the many men who actually like "chick flicks" better than the kinds of movies that, as a man, I'm supposed to like better. Any statement about what men and women want or do or ... whatever ... has no chance of being truthful unless we understand that the word "generally" or "often" or "by reputation" or some such cavil is appended to the assertion.
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Verily, my reason for posting is what Bretagne said. To show that good women writers are not a rarity or odd. And no, I also don't care whether an author is male or female. I only care if they can spin a good tale.
(And I don't like women's fiction. Blech!)
Posted by CRash (Member # 7754) on :
Ah, now "women's fiction" I can accept. It was the apparent contempt for "women writers" that made my hackles raise. That said, I myself am not a fan of women's fiction (tends to bore me) though I'm female.
Posted by Katarain (Member # 6659) on :
Excuse me while I expose my ignorance...
What is considered women's fiction? It sounds dreadful... Are we talking like penny romance novels?
-Katarain
Posted by lonelywalker (Member # 7815) on :
My two cents / pennies / agorot...
I used to particularly avoid women authors in the fields of science fiction and, especially, fantasy. Why? Because I've found that a lot of work written by female writers seems to concentrate on romance, and TALKING ANIMALS!!! Sorry, but I'm allergic to talking animals. Talking horses especially make me break out in hives.
Fortunately I stumbled onto the work of Robin Hobb (er, yes, I didn't realise she was a woman when I started reading) and then I realised how dumb my attitude was. I had been reading the work of women authors all along - Le Guin, Susan Cooper, Marion Zimmer Bradley (to name a few). And I guess I was just thinking of them as exceptions. I quickly revised my opinion to classify all the talking horse stories as exceptions.
I just KNOW someone is going to jump in here and quote some irrefutable classic of literature that includes talking horses...
Posted by lonelywalker (Member # 7815) on :
Incidentally, I read a series of fantasy books as a kid about a girl who pretends to be her brother so she can train to be a knight. Anyone have a clue what it was?
Posted by ambyr (Member # 7616) on :
lonelywalker, you're thinking of Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness (Alanna: The First Adventure, In the Hands of the Goddess, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, Lioness Rampant). I'm very fond of them, though I think Pierce's work does a nose dive in some of her more recent books.
Kate Elliott and Michelle West are both at the top of my personal female authors reading list at the moment.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Well, I don't know about talking horses, but Gene Wolfe's The Knight and it's sequel The Wizard have a talking dog and cat, and The Wizard features a telepathic horse. Well, mount.
Posted by lonelywalker (Member # 7815) on :
Ambyr:
"lonelywalker, you're thinking of Tamora Pierce's Song of the Lioness (Alanna: The First Adventure, In the Hands of the Goddess, The Woman Who Rides Like a Man, Lioness Rampant)."
Aha! The author's name sounds familiar, but the titles don't... Well, I will have to seek them out again. Thanks!
Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
Felix Salten's original novel Bambi was brilliant and beautiful. It has talking animals throughout, but I loved it.
But maybe if it had had a talking HORSE, I might have felt different about it.
WOMEN'S FICTION:
This includes, of course, the entire Romance genre - the books with half-dressed or period-costumed men looking at or grabbing a fainting or lusty or aloof woman.
But it also includes stylish and witty contemporary women's-scene novels, some of which are absolutely wonderful - even for a male like me. These are sometimes marketed as mysteries or as literary fiction, partly because if something is actually LABELED "Women's fiction" on the cover, it will be taken by most readers as a clear sign that it is anti-male. Which is not at all what the broadly-defined "women's fiction" category is about.
"Ya-Ya Sisterhood" and "Cold Sassy Tree" and "Fried Green Tomatoes" were all considered "women's fiction." And I LOVED Cold Sassy Tree.
Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
and I think Tamora Pierce is wonderful. But it IS clearly labeled as YA fiction.
Posted by Agnes Bean (Member # 7614) on :
This thread remineded me that I've been meaning to read Ursula LeGuin. I've somehow missed out on reading any of her beyond a few of her (quite fantastic) short stories. Does anyone have any suggestions for which of her books I should start with?
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
As for that whole YA fiction label - so what? I read Madeline L'Engle as an adult. Never heard of her as a teenager. Still loved her anyway. So the books weren't as long, detailed, or complex, but they were still very enjoyable. They can still serve their purpose in an adult reader's world.
Posted by Door (Member # 7837) on :
I will be one of the first to admit that while I am a vid reader, for a long time I read only male writters. It wasn't until late high school that I finally read L'Engle and other female authors. What OSC said it true(obviously) There is a seperate feild for male and female authors, however, there are many, many wondeful female authors who like OSC, don't give ducks' wing about writting for a specific gender. One such woman I recently discovered was Melanie Rawn and her Mageborn series. I have just started another of hers and am loving it. SO to all of those who read only one gender, that is your choice and no disrespect, but you are missing out on some great stories.
Posted by beatnix19 (Member # 5836) on :
Agnes Bean -
you most certainly should read the Earth Sea book sby LeGuin. They are classic Ya literature but there are wonderful. My first dip into Fantasy was her A Wizard of Earthsea back in like 5th grade. I remember thinking it was ok back then (of course this was before I discovered the true joys of reading) but I've since read in numerous times as an adult and love it.
Door - If you like Melanie Rawn I think you would enjoy her Dragon Prince Trilogy. I believe it is her first series. You are reading Exiles which is still a work in progress if I am correct. But I've only read the Dragon Prince books so I could be wrong but I did enjoy them quite a bit.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Agnes, if I were you I'd start with Left Hand of Darkness. It's widely considered to be her best work, I think, and is certainly a brilliant and brilliantly told story. I'd also pick up her short story colletion The Compass Rose. She has quite a few excellent collections out there, but that one is far and away my favorite. Has some of my favorite short stories by any author actually.
Posted by ambyr (Member # 7616) on :
As far as LeGuin's collections go, I'm actually partial to The Wind's Twelve Quarters. But "Some Approaches to the Problem of the Shortage of Time," in Compass Rose, may rate as one of the most hysterically funny pieces I've ever read.
Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
quote:Ye gods, how can you mention that bunch of non-entities, and ignore Bujold? The greatest SF author of our day, bar none.
I'm beginning to like you a lot more, KoM.
No offense or anything.
For anyone who thinks Tamora Pierce's writing has gone downhill recently:
I'm going to assume you haven't read her Trickster novels, or you're insane.
That said, I really don't like the Keladry books. I feel like they're trying to be Alana and failing. And I don't like Kel at all. I do, however love the Circle of Magic books that everyone else seems to hate. I think people forget that they're written for a much younger age group than the Alana books.
Posted by Szymon (Member # 7103) on :
UPS. I just wanted to say that women write differently than men. And if you agree with it. Of course I read many women, It was kind of a exaggeration, what I wrote. And I do like Le Guin. And thanks for comments, anyway
Posted by Jenny Gardener (Member # 903) on :
Wow. I never thought of paying attention to the gender of an author as a reason to pick up a book or leave it on the shelf. I just want good stories, told well. Author's personalities and genders are interesting as trivia, but it really has very little to do with the stories they choose to tell.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
::nods:: Yeah, exactly Jenny. Fiction, especially SF, is a huge hobby of mine, and I tend to know a lot of trivia about it. The author's gender falls into that category.
A few months back I was cataloging all of my fiction, and my father was helping me. I'd divided my library up into alphabetical by author piles, and he was calling out authors, title and publication dates for each book as I typed it up. It always took him a minute to find the publication date, and I'd generally make a stab at it. I was almost always within a year or so of the right date, which I found gratifying.
Yes, that's completely off the subject.
Posted by Orson Scott Card (Member # 209) on :
Thanks for the mention of Melanie Rawn. Book to start with?
And I inhaled Tamora Pierce's entire oeuvre in the past year. She's wonderful, though with her ups and downs, like all of us. Ups and downs for each individual reader, that is - the book I care for less will be someone else's favorite!
LeGuin: Earthsea is one direction, but her whole interlinked series of books culminating with Left Hand of Darkness is wonderful. I loved Rocannon's World, and there were others.
City of Illusions. The Word for World Is Forest. Lathe of Heaven.
She got into a "literary" mode for a while, where story was neglected. And now she's best known as the writer of Earthsea books. But she had a transformative influence on science fiction at the beginning of her career. Most of those books are, sadly, out of print.
Posted by TheClone (Member # 6141) on :
Thank you guys, now I don't feel quite so bad for being a sixteen year old male and still reading Tamora Peirce.
It's actually rather fun going through and reading her early stuff, and seeing how far she's come since Alanna: The First Adventure. Especially in Trickster's Choice and Queen, the quality of writing is just noticeably different.
And yes, Kel's story could have been better, but at least it was an attempt to move her world along. Circle of Magic was great, I'm not quite as fond of the Open Circle (I moved all of her books off the shelf behind me, I don't recall the exact name). But Shatterglass was pretty good.
One author I'm suprised that hasn't been mentioned is Diane Wynne Jones (or maybe I just missed it), she's older, but I really enjoyed The Homeward Bounders, the Crestomanci (I hope I spelled that right, series, the Dalemark Quartet, and Dogsbody. Most of her fantasy is great.
[ April 22, 2005, 11:47 PM: Message edited by: TheClone ]
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
The Eye of the Heron is a good one (of LeGuin's) also.
I really didn't realize that she was so well known for her Earthsea books. They're more of a sidenote in my mind when I think of her stuff, but googling her almost every review of her work I'm finding refers to her as the author of the Earthsea books.
When you're talking about her literary period, are you thinking of stuff like Always Coming Home? That's one that I've never been able to make much headway in, despite a number of attempts. There are also some later short stories that struck me as veering a bit toward misandry, but it was years ago when I read them, so I don't know that I'd still perceive them that way now.
Posted by Portabello (Member # 7710) on :
I barely discovered Octavia Butler. I was sucked into Dawn like I have been sucked into few books. Unfortunately, they don't have its sequels at the local library. I'm now waiting for them to show up from half.com. Posted by Szymon (Member # 7103) on :
Left hand of darkness was stunning. I like it when writer creates his/her world complex.
It,s quite like Tolien, though I doubt there are many books with so many names as Silmarilion Le Guin has even created her own calendar.
The book was simply great, even though short. I do not like short good stories. So if Mr. Card reads it...
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Porter, that's awful! I was about to volunteer to mail you my copies of the other two, but then I remembered that last time I was rereading them I discovered that the last 10 pages of the third book had been shredded (literally shredded--I have no idea how that could have happened). I had to go to a bookstore to finish it, but I didn't buy a new copy of the book right then. I need to remember to do that.
Anyway, you could always request them through interlibrary loan. You might also check to make sure that your library doesn't have a book called Lilith's Brood--it's all three of the Xenogenesis books in a single volume.
If you haven't read her book Wild Seed you're missing something at least as good if not better than Dawn. It's that good. Her more recent Parable books are incredibly well written, but I find them so painful to read that I don't reread them very often.
Have you read any of her short fiction? Most of it is collected in Bloodchild and Other Stories, and almost all of it is fantastically good (although I maintain that "Speech Sounds" feels like the first chapter of an amazingly good book rather than a short story. That could just be me in denial, though, liking the main character so much that I didn't want the story to be over).
Szymon, it's interesting that you don't like short stories--I think I actually prefer them to novels. Have you read any of Card's short work? Most of it is collected in Maps in a Mirror, and it's fantastically good stuff.
[ April 23, 2005, 12:17 PM: Message edited by: Noemon ]
Posted by Mr_Megalomaniac (Member # 7695) on :
quote: As for that whole YA fiction label - so what?
I just recently read a book from the Juvenile section. It was called "First Meetings." Anyway, I just thought that was kind of humorous.
So many books that I have yet to read from this thread...
Posted by MidnightBlue (Member # 6146) on :
quote: Others whose work I love include Maureen McHugh, Octavia Butler, Pat Murphy, Nancy Kress, Robin Hobb, James Tiptree Jr., C. L. Moore and Lisa Tuttle.
You know, I had been wondering about whether Robin Hobb was male or female. It's not that it really matters, I had just been curious. Robin is a name that can be male or female (I know a guy who spells his name the same way) and the about the author at the back of the Farseer trilogy simply said, "Robin Hobb lives in Washington State."
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Robin Hobb is actually a pen name for Megan Lindholm. I haven't actually read that much of the stuff that she published under that name--Wizard of the Pigeons is all I'm coming up with for sure.
Speaking of Robin Hobb, anybody know when Shaman's Crossing is coming out?
[ April 23, 2005, 07:35 PM: Message edited by: Noemon ]
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Looks like there's no definite publication date for it yet, but according to her site she was doing final rewrites in Feb, so I'm guessing it'll be out by the end of this year.
My favorite quote from her site is:
quote:If you are not hearing the background music for my site, it is either because your browser has better taste than that or I didn't include any. Probably the latter. Feel free to hum whilst your peruse this.
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
The Word For World is "Forest" remains one of the most powerful SF novels I have ever read. It lingered in my mind long after the covers were shut.
Posted by Hot Soup (Member # 7840) on :
I love susan cooper, but not Anne Mcaffery. Used to think they were ok, but started to feel pretty repetetive. Like the Menolly series though.
Earthsea is one of my favorite fantasy series ever. But the movie miniseries doent look so great.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Huh. Megan Lindholm is aparently a pen name also. I had no idea!
Posted by dab (Member # 7847) on :
speaking of Dianne Wynne Jones... there is a JApanise anamated film of her book HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE that I found to be quite wonderful. It is in Japanise, and i dont know if there are any future plans to create a translated version in the future, but even if there isnt, I would reccomend people see it in Japanise. I did, and I really dont speak or understand much Japanise and still found the film to be very enjoyable and facinating.
Posted by Szymon (Member # 7103) on :
Noemon >> I know, but it's always very annoying when you read with great interest and you know that the ending is coming... Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
"Howl's Moving Castle" will be released in the United States in June.
Posted by Yozhik (Member # 89) on :
quote:There are also some later short stories that struck me as veering a bit toward misandry
IMHO, most of her later work is like this, starting with Tehanu aka Grumpy Old Women. Posted by St. Yogi (Member # 5974) on :
Noemon, if you go into the Dates To Remembersection of her site you'll see that she has an Australian book tour for Shaman's Crossing in July
edit: and according to this forum, the release date is 4th of July. At least in the UK. Seems like the american release is some time in September.
[ April 25, 2005, 07:33 AM: Message edited by: St. Yogi ]
Posted by ambyr (Member # 7616) on :
quote:Earthsea is one of my favorite fantasy series ever. But the movie miniseries doent look so great.
LeGuin is in copious agreement with this point, as her website indicates.
Posted by Sartorius (Member # 7696) on :
There's an entire Tamora Pierce series that I've missed? Must return overdue library books ASAP. Mr. TheClone, I am twenty and shall never, ever stop reading YA novels. You have plenty of company.
I'd like to add Robin McKinley, with her long list of wonderfully dimensional heroines, to the discussion. One of my favorite passages of fiction occurs in The Hero and the Crown when Maur's head is mounted in the great hall and it's voice almost kills Aerin with despair. It tingles me.
And Jane Yolen, too. Can't forget her.
Posted by Hot Soup (Member # 7840) on :
HA! I just went to the Portland Wordstock festival over the weekend, and got my copy of The Farthest Shore signed by ULG herself. Yeah and she talked at length on how the movie butchered her books.
Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
Porter, the wait for the sequels will be worth it - they are *so* incredibly good. Noemon, what do you find so painful about the "Parable" books? It's been awhile since I read them. *Hugs her signed copy of "Lilith's Brood"* Ms. Butler needs to write a new book right now.
space opera
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Well, horrible thing after horrible thing happened to an incredibly well drawn, vividly real primary character (I can't remember what this Lilith's name was right now, for some reason). The setting was unutterably bleak, but also quite believable. For me, that's a combination for a painful book. I loved them, but they definitely hurt to read.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I've been wondering what Butler is up to--wish she had a site that she maintained. At the moment I'm impatiently awaiting a new Butler book, a new McHugh book, and A Feast for Crows.
Posted by Portabello (Member # 7710) on :
I now have the entire Xenogenesis trilogy, and am halfway through it.
Once I finish the Xenogenesis series, I have the Bloodchild and Other Stories book and both Parable books to read.
While waiting for it to show up, I read Patternmaster, the only book in that series in my local library. Now I have to find that entire series as well.
I couple of weeks ago, read Speech Sounds in OSC's Future On Ice. It makes me look forward to reading more of her short fiction.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
You're making me want to read through all of my Butler books again.
I found the Patternmaster series to be fairly weak compared to most of her stuff. Of course it's also some of her oldest work, unless I'm misremembering. The prequel to that series, Wild Seed is the exception--it's an absolutely stunning book, one one the best things she's written if not the best.
Did "Speech Sounds" feel like the first chapter of a novel to you, rather than a short story?
Posted by Chris Bridges (Member # 1138) on :
"YA" just means that the books may appeal to younger readers. Doesn't mean you ever have to stop reading them just because you got more candles on your cake.
Let's see, female science fiction writers on my bookshelves and in my Palm Pilot...
Gail Baudino, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Lois Bujold, Poppy Z Brite, Susan Cooper, J. M. Dillard, Diane Duane, Esther Friesner, Madeline L'Engle, Mercedes Lackey, Ursula Le Guin, Holly Lisle, Tanith Lee, Vonda McIntyre, Julian May, Anne McCaffrey, Robin McKinley, Laura J. Mixon, Elizabeth Moon, Andre Norton, Tanora Pierce, Jeanne Robinson, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, James Tiptree, Jr (Alice Sheldon), Judith Tarr, Sheri Tepper, Connie Willis... an incomplete list, I assure you.
And that doesn't even begin to mention the non-sf female writers I enjoy. Jennifer Crusie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Sharyn McCrumb, Alice Sebold, Audrey Niffenegger, Rita Mae Brown, Agatha Christie, Alice Hoffman, Jane Smiley, Ann Tyler... I better stop before my wrists cramp.
Posted by Portabello (Member # 7710) on :
quote:Did "Speech Sounds" feel like the first chapter of a novel to you, rather than a short story?
I can see how it could be greatly expanded into a larger story, but I did not feel unsatisfied when it ended. It felt complete enough for me.
Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
I agree with Noemon on the Patternmaster series. The rest of the books were engaging, but they were not "Wild Seed" by any means.
However, I might just need to find my "Parable" books tonight.
space opera
Posted by Domini (Member # 3880) on :
Octavia Butler's next book is called "Fledgling", and will be out in stores in November 2005--or at least that's what the web is saying if you google around. It's about genetically-engineered vampires, I guess...the topic sounds corny, but knowing Ms. Butler's powerful, throughtful writing, I'm looking forward to see her take on it. If anyone can make you believe in vampires, she's the one.
I realize a lot of you are mentioning women writers who are well-known have been around at least a decade in most cases, but I wanted to mention Karin Lowachee if we're reccomending woman writers now. She's pretty new, came out with her first book in I think 2002, called "Warchild". It's been compared to OSC's "Ender's Game" by some--and that's not an insult to either book. She's really very good, does some of the best characterization I have EVER seen, and like Mr. Card does with Ender and the other kids, doesn't portray children like talking animals (oooh! It can talk!).
So for those of you who have already read most of the classics and well-known authors and want something new, take a look at Karin Lowachee's "Warchild". She was nominated for several awards. Her third book just came out this month.
Edit: Fixing typo.
[ April 27, 2005, 09:02 AM: Message edited by: Domini ]
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
Thanks for both the information and the recommendation. I'll have to check her out.
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Must return overdue library books ASAP. Mr. TheClone, I am twenty and shall never, ever stop reading YA novels. You have plenty of company.![[Wink]](wink.gif)