a couple of books by Tanith Lee
I remember reading some of her books when I was younger, they were kind of shorter sf-ey kind of books, but really well written... everything I've seen of hers in a while isn't what I remember... does anyone else remember this, or am I losing it?
Also, I am *finally* finished my last semester so am looking for some non-school type reading. I would love some sort of fantasy-type books, along the lines of Mary Stewart's Merlin/Arthur books, maybe similar subject matter (no Guinevere, though, thanks)- although I know there are few out there to parallel Stewart's fabulousness in the genre.

I have Quicksilver and The Confusion sitting on my shelf, waiting to be read.

Very annoying, this time lack thing.

Considering I'm the only person I know who's read Cryptonomicon three times, I clearly NEED to read them.

I've read Cryptonomicon at least three times, and it is still ROFL funny.

Quicksilver I am still kinda "meh" about, I'll re-read in a couple of months and see if I like it any better. Mostly it made me want to go read Gleick's biography of Isaac Newton, and look for a bio of Hooke, just to see how much liberty Stephenson took with his portrayal of them.

My Tanith Lee starter kit would begin with "Night's Master" and continue through the Flat Earth series, with maybe a brief stop in her "The Wars of Vis" trilogy (Storm Lord, Anackire and The White Serpent). Just beautiful stuff.

Y'know what I miss? That whole late 70's/early 80's New Wave fantasy stuff. Tanith Lee, Jo Clayton, Eric Lustbader (before he started sucking), all that stuff that seemed to get sparked by Mike Moorcock's Elric books. I really liked those lush fantastic worlds they showed me. That's really what kept me going when I ran out of RE Howard books to read.

Also with the mad Brust fannage. Agyar was of the yum. Also, you Cowboy Feng haters are clearly mad. (Unfortunately, Comrade Brust must be included in this sweeping polemic.)

As for neat Arthurian stuff, if you can find it, grab Dave Drake's "The Dragon Lord". Before he sank into the Mil/SF churning machine, the dude wrote some interesting stuff. I thought it had an intriguing take on the story.

Hey, wasn't Chris Pike the guy who wrote those Tripod novels a ways back? YA SF, post alien invasion, kinda War of the Worlds-ish? They were good.

edited for title screwup

Hey, wasn't Chris Pike the guy who wrote those Tripod novels a ways back? YA SF, post alien invasion, kinda War of the Worlds-ish? They were good.

That was John Christopher. They were awesome. Also, Tim Minear would like to adapt the story of the Tripods into a feature, according to the latest Q&A on his website. Which would make me unbelievably happy.

I knew there was a Chris in there somewhere. Tim's adaptation would also bring the happy this way. So, who do we have to kill?

Just beautiful stuff

It really is, especially Storm Lord. Epic fantasy almost always makes me want to kill someone, I loathe it that deeply, but Lee's just worked for me.

The short sci-fi novels - would those be Drinking Sapphire Wine and Don't Bite the Sun? I remember them as fun, but without her usual power. More flip, and surface.

Y'know what I miss? That whole late 70's/early 80's New Wave fantasy stuff. Tanith Lee, Jo Clayton, Eric Lustbader (before he started sucking), all that stuff that seemed to get sparked by Mike Moorcock's Elric books. I really liked those lush fantastic worlds they showed me. That's really what kept me going when I ran out of RE Howard books to read.

P.C. Hodgell too? I love that stuff.

Also with the mad Brust fannage. Agyar was of the yum. Also, you Cowboy Feng haters are clearly mad. (Unfortunately, Comrade Brust must be included in this sweeping polemic.)

Right on, with the Brust fannage. Steve has some ideas about his work that I find a bit odd. He hates Yendi, for example and says that Orca was his attempt to fix Yendi. Yendi was the book that make me realize Jhereg was no fluke and I'd be buying this guy's stuff for as long as he wanted to put it out there.

Tim Minear doing John Christopher's Tripods saga? Oh my. I join you in the unbelievably happy! Those were so dark they scared me. Then I tried the Sword of the Spirits trilogy, and it was even darker with no happy ending at all. Check out the review at Amazon for the comparison to Hamlet. Of course, Luke may have ended up growing out of his teenage angst and maybe even getting another girlfriend and having that son after all.

I never did finish The Sun, The Moon and the Stars, but I feel guilty when I see it, still sitting in the secondary TBR pile. My life may not be long enough to get to it. I better quit my job and devote myself to appreciating art.

For Arthurian fantasy, I liked Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon. Interesting to see the evil Morgaine as a pagan priestess reviled and wronged by the Church machine. Her Guinevere was the kind of character I wanted to hurt. I might try Alice Borchardt's Warrior Queen for another take on poor old Guinevere, even if she is Anne Rice's older sister.

Tanith Lee: I differ from others who have recommended her older works, because I like the newer ones better. I always recommend Silver Metal Lover and Black Unicorn. BU is a short YA novel, and thus suitable for sampling. I enjoyed Heroine of the World and White as Snow, which is Snow White revisited. Vivia is a vampire novel that asks the question, is immortality a curse? I keep forgetting to ask Jilli if she’s tried that one.

Comrade Brust must be included in this sweeping polemic

Aha!