I felt rather nervous about this, but I submitted Children of Doro for consideration by this year's Ursula K. Le Guin Award.
It *does* have a good claim for consideration, because it shares the same point of inspiration Le Guin used for "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas". But I don't have high hopes, since it's indie published.
Still--if you published/loved a book last year that you think would do Le Guin proud, consider nominating that one, too.
#WritingCommunity
https://www.ursulakleguin.com/prize-nomination-form
Most of her work holds up very well on re-visit. I re-read The Dispossessed two years ago, and it was still some of the most clear-eyed writing reflecting on what we take for granted about the social contracts in which we live. Do you remember reading anything by her in particular?
God, I can't remember. Hum me a few bars and I'll pick it up?
Probably most of the Hainish stuff, and anything in a Tor with warm colours and a scantily-clad woman on the cover (isn't that all of them, though?) π Could have sworn she was on Del Rey, but apparently not β¦
The cover art back then was wild, eh? Linking a fun article below, filled with some bonkers ones.
To my mind, the Hainish books and stories were the best: lovely reminders that the difference between fantasy and sci-fi, "real" and "imaginary", is all a matter of cultural subject-position.
Out of today's SF writers, you might enjoy Adrian Tchaikovsky if you vibed with any of Le Guin's work; he has a knack for writing with a similar empathy.
https://lithub.com/an-ode-to-the-glorious-70s-cover-art-of-the-books-of-ursula-k-le-guin/
Oh yeah, Left Hand of Darkness stuck in my noodle. I was always being pulled towards the trad. sci-fi more than the fantasy, probably the influence of reading Heinlein at an early age and then getting infected with Rand (please don't make me talk about that π).
Me too. Big trad SF fan, not so much with the fantasy (although I enjoyed Eddings and Anthony). Pohl, Clarke, Heinlein, all the good stuff.
Funnily enough, my first "real" book was Anthem, followed by Animal Farm. My father was very clearly trying to make a conservative out of me--but a kid just gets an ironic chuckle out of Animal Farm's ending, and Anthem just taught me that Rand is excellent for children 6 and under, still asserting a sense of Self. ;) Any older, and problems ensue.
I kid a bit, but when I read Fountainhead later, I vividly remember stopping before the trial and thinking to myself "Rand's written a book I don't agree with, but can she write a trial scene that will make me believe in the plausibility of Roark getting off for his crime?"
And then she damned well did, and I learned a) the dangerous combination of a lousy philosopher and good writer, & b) that suspension of disbelief is *everything* when it comes to good prose.
(So thank you, Rand!)
It's an ill wind that doesn't blow somebody good, as they say.
It's ironic that you have to check your objectivity at the door in order to appreciate her work. π
I still have Anthem and the other stuff, but I see it more as escapist fantasy for narcissists and psychopaths (when I met the local Randites at their 'club' in Wi***peg it felt like some kind of grooming clique, with everyone checking everyone else's orthodoxy).
Maybe I'll have a grand piano with a wonky leg one day, and then they'll be useful.
There's something splendidly satisfying about the thought of using a Randian novel to carry the load for something else. π
Well, Atlas Shrugged would be perfect for the job.
Yeah! Shrug THAT, Atlas! π
@MLClark good luck!
@MLClark
My step-father had a monstrous collection of paperback SF in the basement, which my mother really looked down her nose at (prolly why she wanted it in the basement). But I found it a fascinating canvas for the mind. Ursula K. Le Guin was wellβrepresented.
Been a while since I've read any of her books.