Anne McCaffrey 1926-2011
Anne McCaffrey was without doubt one of the five writers who most influenced my reading of science fiction and fantasy. Where many people see Pern as fantasy dressed up as science fiction, (with an implicit sneer, as if that's a bad thing) I see fantasy transformed into the science fiction idiom, with all the necessary rigor that entails.
This is particularly true in the earliest Pern stories and books, which feature not only science, but sophisticated politics and characters who need cunning, not magic, to save themselves. If you start with the The Dragonriders of Pern, you find yourself plunked into a medieval society sorely in need of scientific advancement and, dare we say, enlightenment. Just look at how poor Menolly is treated at the beginning of the Harper Hall trilogy.
Along with the Pern books, I most fondly remember Crystal Singer and Killashandra, two lovely and original science fiction romances.
She will live on in the pantheon of the greats.
Showing posts with label sad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sad. Show all posts
Friday, November 25, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Sad
Author William Sleator (1945-2011) has died.
Sleator's House of Stairs was one of my defining reads in middle-school, and no doubt had a lot to do with my interest in sff later. The grim story is about a group of teenage orphans who are kidnapped and dumped in the "house of stairs,"(an Escherian disaster meant to throw the kids off-balance) in a rather brutal attempt at brainwashing.
I reread this one not all that long ago, and found it as compelling as when I was 12. The characters were -- and still are, a bit -- unusual for young-adult literature: the narrator, Pete, is mildly autistic (I think) and Lola is quite aggressive, and not in the cutesy, punky way so many are now.
With the resurgence of dystopian YA, House of Stairs should still be a huge success, but maybe it isn't a pretty enough dystopia.
Another of Sleator's books that I remember fondly is Into the Dream, which I read when I was younger. Classmates Paul and Francine find that they are having the same nightmare, a vision filled with dread that leaves them exhausted and terrified. They follow clues from the dreams to find a damaged little boy and a mysterious event that ties the three of them together. It's a fine example of old-fashioned suspense.
Rest in peace.
Sleator's House of Stairs was one of my defining reads in middle-school, and no doubt had a lot to do with my interest in sff later. The grim story is about a group of teenage orphans who are kidnapped and dumped in the "house of stairs,"(an Escherian disaster meant to throw the kids off-balance) in a rather brutal attempt at brainwashing.
I reread this one not all that long ago, and found it as compelling as when I was 12. The characters were -- and still are, a bit -- unusual for young-adult literature: the narrator, Pete, is mildly autistic (I think) and Lola is quite aggressive, and not in the cutesy, punky way so many are now.
With the resurgence of dystopian YA, House of Stairs should still be a huge success, but maybe it isn't a pretty enough dystopia.
Another of Sleator's books that I remember fondly is Into the Dream, which I read when I was younger. Classmates Paul and Francine find that they are having the same nightmare, a vision filled with dread that leaves them exhausted and terrified. They follow clues from the dreams to find a damaged little boy and a mysterious event that ties the three of them together. It's a fine example of old-fashioned suspense.
Rest in peace.
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