2005 books
Mike Resnick, The Soul Eater, 1981
Resnick is a choice for one of this year's "SF authors I wish to know more about", so I've begun with one of his first books under his own name, The Soul Eater (and will move on towards his much-praised Kirinyaga). It's a straight ahead tale of the hunt for an elusive beast that inhabits interstellar space and what that pursuit does to the hunter, drawing on both Moby-Dick and the legend of the Flying Dutchman for inspiration. Resnick's sense of fun is apparent and the protagonist is somewhat predictable though two other characters, one of them alien, are particularly well-defined by their dialogue. An adequate enough novel.