Three books from the library yesterday:
Holly Black - Tithe
It's Holly Black. It's billed as a "Modern Faerie Tale". Kaye finds herself trapped between rival factions of faerie, in New Jersey. Good enough for me.
Christopher Priest - The Separation
Priest created something of an internet stir recently when he posted a rant about the short list for the Clarke Awards, and the general quality of science fiction writing at this particular moment in time. Many many people disagreed with his assessment of the short list, but, by and large, the general agreement was that the rant was exceedingly well written. John Scalzi described it as an exemplar of the form, which is high praise. The thing is, Priest is one of the grand masters of British sci fi, and I had never heard of him prior to this incident (although I've seen the movie version of his novel The Prestige). Jo Walton mentioned him in Among Others! This was, clearly, a Sign, and so I grabbed the only (!) book by him that our main branch had - this one. It's an alternative history set in a 1941 where England has signed a treaty with Nazi Germany (including the removal of European Jews to Madagascar), and involving twins, and who knows what all else. The Prestige is at a different branch, and if I enjoy this book, I may well grab that one as well.
Heather Donahue - Growgirl
Donahue was one of the actresses in The Blair Witch Project. After that film, she vanished from public view. This is the story of what happened later - she went to California and started growing marijuana, legally. So, it's about that, which is of some interest to me. Not because I'm a pot head (I'm not), but because the peculiar intersection of law and social mores, and state law and federal law - look, it's just interesting. Also, the cover of the book is highly provocative:
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| clearly, I won't be reading this book on the bus... |
Tee Morris and Lisa Lee - Moravi
Tee Morris was a voluntary guest at the convention that my wife and I ran, way back when - he sent us an e-mail, said "I have written a book - will you give me a guest pass if I drive myself to your con?" and we said yes, which was totally the right answer. Tee was a fantastic guest, he didn't pick fights with the other guests, he was a nice guy, and he bought my wife and I lunch when next we were in the DC area, which was just delightful. So, I've got a copy of his first book, I've read it, I'm going to read it again, and see if I want to keep it.
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