I am anonymous because I can't be bothered to create an OpenID or Dreamwidth account. I am Emajekral.
I am very happy to see some of my favorite books in this list: Ammonite, The Tale of the Body Thief, and Parable of the Talents. I am also glad to see books by authors I am just starting to read such as Chine Mieville listed here.
In ETA9 to this post you said, "I wanted to make a note that I encourage all the people perusing this list ... to check out reviews and comments to see what others are saying about the book". So, the following is a complete list of the books and authors on your list that Orson Scott Card has reviewed coupled with a representative quote or summary from his review.
Arnason, Eleanor - Ring of Swords
"Ring of Swords is space fiction of the first rank. Arnason has created a fascinating alien species, the hwarhath, who saved themselves from their males' unrelenting hunger for violence and domination by turning their aggression outward. The sexes no longer live together, and heterosexuality is regarded as a deep perversion. ... Arnason is one of those splendid writers who is always herself, even as she is genuinely One Of Us."
Beckett, Galen M. - The Magicians and Mrs. Quent, The House on Durrow Street
"Some amateur reviewers on Amazon have spoken ill of this book, but their reviews reveal that they are simply people who can't read their way out of a box. Here's a book that knocks down all the walls and draws from everything and tells a good story even while teasing just about every kind of audience -- and some readers just can't stand having their expectations defied. Too bad for them. I'm glad this book exists, and so will you be, once you read it."
Butler, Octavia - Parable of the Talents, Lillith's Brood
"My favorites of her books remain the Xenogenesis series and Wild Seed, though her most popular were the Parable books." - Note that the Xenogenesis series is now known as Lilith's Brood.
"I have good news and bad news for readers of naturalistic fantasy (i.e., those who appreciate George R.R. Martin or Robin Hobb or Charles de Lint as opposed to, say, David Eddings)."
"And so I not only resigned from the column (to be replaced by the inimitable and admirable Charles de Lint, so that no one missed me a bit), I also stopped reading science fiction at all."
Flewelling, Lynn - Tamir Triology, The Nightrunners Series
"Lynn Flewelling's The Bone Doll's Twin, Hidden Warrior, and The Oracle's Queen [ or the Tamir Trilogy] are brilliantly original and moving. This story still haunts me, months after reading the books. There's plenty of gritty realism to make this a book for adults and mature teenagers, but what it definitely is not is 'escapist.' This book drags you through so much emotionally painful territory that you're almost relieved when it's done and you can escape to your safe regular life."
"Last week I renewed[sic] Lynn Flewelling's powerful [Tamir] trilogy, The Bone Doll's Twin, Hidden Warrior, and The Oracle's Queen. I can't recommend this trilogy highly enough, as entertainment and as literature"
His 2007 Chrismas Gift Recommendations: "Lynn Flewelling: The Tamir Triad, starting with The Bone Doll's Twin and continuing with Hidden Warrior and The Oracle's Queen. Perhaps the deepest psychological novel I've ever read -- the fantasy makes the unconscious issues real. Gorgeous but dark."
Hasn't reviewed the books in question, but has praised nearly every book Robin wrote in the universe the books were set in. He says: "Robin Hobb is one of the best fantasy writers ever. Writing as Megan Lindholm, she created one of the best urban fantasies ever: Wizard of the Pigeons. Since then, her interconnected Farseer, Liveship Traders, and Tawny Man trilogies broke new ground for inventiveness, intelligence, passion, and realism."
Lee, Tanith - The Silver Metal Lover, Tales from the Flat Earth
Can't find reviews of the specific works, but seeing as they from the 1980's, and he seems to love her work now the following statements seem relevant.
"we're talking about Tanith Lee here, one of the finest writers of fantasy alive"
Le Guin, Ursula - The Left Hand of Darkness, The Telling
In a review of LeGuin's novel Rocannon's World he says "LeGuin is best known for her award-winning novels The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed, which are intelligent, passionate stories with feminist and political agendas that nevertheless don't stop the books from being good reads...I have spent much of my career recapitulating Rocannon's World; there's no shame in that, all writers do it, and I'm proud that one of my models was a book this good."
I don't know why you marked this one as not queer. The near-marital homoerotic tension between Ishmael and Queequeg can't be missed. You might want to remove it because one interpretation of Queequeg's death is that homosexuality is bad and punishable. At least from the point of view of society. The first night that Ishmael and Queequeg share a bed reminds me of how Card has writes first homosexual encounters.
Renault, Mary - The Last of the Wine, The Charioteer, The Persian Boy, Fire from Heaven
Doesn't mention any of the above books by name but says, on several occasions, that he loves the series three of these books belong to. "Beginning with the story of Theseus in The King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea, I lived inside Renault's marvelous stories until I had read them all."
Smith, Sherwood - Inda, The Fox, The King's Shield, Treason's Shore
On Inda: "[Sherwood Smith] has made a dreadful mistake by writing the fantasy novel Inda. Because it seriously threatens to move her into the lofty ranks of 'major writers of fantasy.' ... By the time I finished, I was so captured by this book that it lingered for days afterward. This was not convenient -- I had stories of my own to write. But I was haunted. I had lived inside these characters, inside this world, and I was unwilling to let go of it."
On The Fox: "Sexuality in these books is a bit utopian (in a libertarian sense) and denies much of human evolution -- it's a world in which sexual activity is largely separated from mating and child-rearing, and sexual orientation is accepted no matter which way it turns. ... I savored every paragraph and continued to live in the book for days afterward."
Card does not review the work in question, but says of the author:
"[Charlie] Kaufman ... can only be compared with Tom Stoppard, I think -- and the list of writers worthy to be compared with Stoppard is very, very short."
Your stated purpose was to compile a list of fiction "that would put any reader on the top of OSC's 'Evil Queer' List". So I did some fact checking - I looked up every author and book in this list and found all the ones that Card has reviewed on his website, http://www.hatrack.com/. The same site that collects several of the essays of this "howling bigoted douchemonkey" to which the GLBT+ community so vigorously objects. In no instance could I find a review that suggests your list delivered on its promise.
For what it's worth, it seems to me that his apparent homophobia is the result of the times moving past him. Early in his career he set up camp about as far into the gay rights side of things as his belief system would allow - believe me when I say that it's far far to the left of his upbringing. I'm sure it was also a bit to the left of the mainstream at the time. Soon the time came for the world to march to the left on this issue. I'll wager that some people believed that his was a tentative first step in the march left and tried to have him lead. It wasn't what he wanted. He was established where he was and still thought of his position as very open. The reaction to his position was unpleasant. Now he's paranoid - his homophobic behavior is an overreaction. And every time his reaction comes out he gets hit over the head for it. Hard. In spite of this he still seems to read and publicly enjoy literature that explores GLBT+ lifestyles.
Oh, and also please include his book Songmaster on your list.
Your List
I am anonymous because I can't be bothered to create an OpenID or Dreamwidth account. I am Emajekral.
I am very happy to see some of my favorite books in this list: Ammonite, The Tale of the Body Thief, and Parable of the Talents. I am also glad to see books by authors I am just starting to read such as Chine Mieville listed here.
In ETA9 to this post you said, "I wanted to make a note that I encourage all the people perusing this list ... to check out reviews and comments to see what others are saying about the book". So, the following is a complete list of the books and authors on your list that Orson Scott Card has reviewed coupled with a representative quote or summary from his review.
Your stated purpose was to compile a list of fiction "that would put any reader on the top of OSC's 'Evil Queer' List". So I did some fact checking - I looked up every author and book in this list and found all the ones that Card has reviewed on his website, http://www.hatrack.com/. The same site that collects several of the essays of this "howling bigoted douchemonkey" to which the GLBT+ community so vigorously objects. In no instance could I find a review that suggests your list delivered on its promise.
For what it's worth, it seems to me that his apparent homophobia is the result of the times moving past him. Early in his career he set up camp about as far into the gay rights side of things as his belief system would allow - believe me when I say that it's far far to the left of his upbringing. I'm sure it was also a bit to the left of the mainstream at the time. Soon the time came for the world to march to the left on this issue. I'll wager that some people believed that his was a tentative first step in the march left and tried to have him lead. It wasn't what he wanted. He was established where he was and still thought of his position as very open. The reaction to his position was unpleasant. Now he's paranoid - his homophobic behavior is an overreaction. And every time his reaction comes out he gets hit over the head for it. Hard. In spite of this he still seems to read and publicly enjoy literature that explores GLBT+ lifestyles.
Oh, and also please include his book Songmaster on your list.