Old Tea Leaf Reviews 10: 1990 Locus Poll Best First Novel

[james_davis_nicoll]

Cut for length



1 Orbital Decay Allen Steele

I think this involved Deadheads in space fighting the Man.

Allen Steele is both fairly successful and reasonably prolific.


2 Sunglasses After Dark Nancy A. Collins

Horror, featuring the vampire Sonja Blue, I think. I did not
read it.

Writing horror professionally is a bit like trying to weather a
storm by tying onself firmly to the ship's anchor. I am not particularly
surprised to see that most of her novels predate the 21st century.


3 On My Way to Paradise Dave Wolverton

The protagonist finds himself on a mixed-nationality mission
to an alien world. I remember this was vaguely MilSFy, that Wolverton is
a firm believer that nationality defines character and that it was
utterly unsurpising that Orson Scott Card liked his fiction.

He has been reasonably prolific but recently appears to be
published more frequently as David Farland.


4 The Tides of God Ted Reynolds

I did not read this.

As far as I know, this was his only novel. He was getting
published at shorter lengths until at least the mid-1990s.


5 Strange Invasion Michael Kandel

I did not read this.

Kandel is an excellent translator. His novel writing career
appears to be limited to four novels published in the 1990s, although
shorter pieces still appear from time to time.


6 Laying the Music to Rest Dean Wesley Smith

I also did not read this.

Smith is a very prolific author of media tie-in novels.


7 The Gate of Ivory Doris Egan

I did not read this.

As far as I can tell, Egan had four books published and then
left for the more lucrative television production and writing fields.
Her work is seen on such shows as HOUSE and NUMB3RS.



8 Petrogypsies Rory Harper

I have not heard of this book or this author.

This appears to be his only novel. He wrote shorter pieces
until the mid-1990s.


9 Twistor John G. Cramer

A scientist's discovery of a method that allows access to alternate
dimensions makes him a target for a malevolent corporation.

I think he only wrote the two novels (This one and EINSTEIN'S
BRIDGE. I believe his current specialty (aside from his academic work)
is writing pop-science articles for ANALOG.


10 The Grotesque Patrick McGrath

I have not read this.

An online search suggests that although the author produced
two books in consecutive years in the early part of his career, he
two books in consecutive years in the early part of his career, he
prefers a three to four year gap between books. His most recent
book came out in 2008.


11 Silk Road: A Novel of Eighth-Century China Jeanne Larsen

That doesn't really seem like the title of a fantasy novel
and looking at her website, she seems more likely to be writing
historical novels or poetry than fantasy or SF. I hope this isn't
an APOLLO 13 situation, where the voters are apparently too
ignorant to tell a historical account from SF.

If I am reading her bibliography correctly, there was
a gap in her books from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s but she
was busy with shorter works.


12 The Steerswoman Rosemary Kirstein

This is set in what initially appears to be a fantasy world. The
protagonist applies what we would see as a scientific approach to the
many mysteries of her world. This inadvertantly angers the "wizards", who
appear to be malevolent engineers.


There was a looooong delay between the second and the third
book in this series. I don't know what the status is on the fifth book.


13 Child of Saturn Teresa Edgerton

I missed this.

Edgerton is not especially prolific but her career continues
to this day.


14 Julian's House Judith Hawkes

I missed this.

Hawkes appears to have had three novels published in the 1990s.


15 Mermaid's Song Alida Van Gores

I missed this.

As far as I can tell, this was Van Gores' only novel.


16 After Sundown Randall Boyll

I also missed this.

Boyll appears to have been fairly prolific in the 1990s (apparently
specializing in Darkman tie-ins) but I don't see anything after 2000's
KATASTROPHE.


17 Bad Voltage Jonathan Littell

I did not read this.

Littell doesn't seem to have stuck around in SF although his other
writing was considered of sufficient merit to earn him French citizenship
thanks to "a clause stating that any French speaker whose "meritorious
actions contribute to the glory of France" are allowed to become
citizens [...]". He doesn't seem entirely keen on Israel.

His father is Robert Littell (author of THE AMATEUR amongst
many other novels).


18 Contrarywise Zohra Greenhalgh

I also missed this.

I don't see a lot of information on this author. They had at
least two novels published.


19 Empire's Horizon John Brizzolara

I missed this.

This appears to have been his only novel, although shorter works
appeared through the 1990s.

Comments

[ross-teneyck.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard of the matter, but a quick google turned up this article. Granted it's one side of the story, but all I can say is: bloody hell.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Everything I've read makes me think the accusations are false. Ed Kramer wasn't ever my favorite person (he did offer that I could come down and look at Dragon*con's books, since he didn't want to make them public), but there doesn't seem to be any actual evidence that he did anything wrong. In the meantime, he's been mistreated in prison and become a more and more damaged person. I think it would be only fair to drop the case.