Appreciate an Author
There's been a lot of stuff said about the Hugo ballot controversy, with the inevitably angry and hurt and divisive fallout, so the suggestion of taking today to appreciate an author sounded like a great idea. Except who?
There are so many I enjoy! My first thought was, how about the one who don't get tons of publicity?
Well, I could always link my Goodreads "recently read" page, which I do try to keep up to date, as I can.
A lot of new discoveries there, and old favorites. And old favorites with new things, like Deborah j. Ross's epic fantasy series The Seven-Petalled Shield. Plenty of action, nifty world building, and interesting woman characters.
Also, she inherited the Darkover mantle. I've had problems rereading Darkover, for several reasons, though they were comfort reads during my early twenties. But MZB is gone now, and Ross has improved what I liked about Darkover, and finessed the stuff that made me wince (both in plotting and prose) so that revisiting Darkover in Children of Kings and others is a real pleasure.
Then there's Kari Sperring. Whenever I hear someone moaning that fantasy is stupid and all the same, some guy fighting a war and becoming king, Kari Sperring is one of my leading "Um, have you tried this?" examples. Her years of study of history show in delightfully sophisticated world building, and totally unpredictable plots. Come on, in all the many Shattereds and Bloods and Bones in titles today, when have you ever seen a title like The Grass King's Concubine?
I've already talked here a lot about indies I've been discovering, and I'm going to have stuff to say about how space opera is changing in the hands of women besides Ann Leckie when Judith Tarr's new one comes out, but right here were two that popped into mind.
Feel free to add reccos of your own of authors to appreciate!
There are so many I enjoy! My first thought was, how about the one who don't get tons of publicity?
Well, I could always link my Goodreads "recently read" page, which I do try to keep up to date, as I can.
A lot of new discoveries there, and old favorites. And old favorites with new things, like Deborah j. Ross's epic fantasy series The Seven-Petalled Shield. Plenty of action, nifty world building, and interesting woman characters.
Also, she inherited the Darkover mantle. I've had problems rereading Darkover, for several reasons, though they were comfort reads during my early twenties. But MZB is gone now, and Ross has improved what I liked about Darkover, and finessed the stuff that made me wince (both in plotting and prose) so that revisiting Darkover in Children of Kings and others is a real pleasure.
Then there's Kari Sperring. Whenever I hear someone moaning that fantasy is stupid and all the same, some guy fighting a war and becoming king, Kari Sperring is one of my leading "Um, have you tried this?" examples. Her years of study of history show in delightfully sophisticated world building, and totally unpredictable plots. Come on, in all the many Shattereds and Bloods and Bones in titles today, when have you ever seen a title like The Grass King's Concubine?
I've already talked here a lot about indies I've been discovering, and I'm going to have stuff to say about how space opera is changing in the hands of women besides Ann Leckie when Judith Tarr's new one comes out, but right here were two that popped into mind.
Feel free to add reccos of your own of authors to appreciate!