Science Fiction Fridays: NW SF & Fantasy Authors Part 4: PORTLAND!

Posted by Misha
The Seattle area is host to so many amazing science fiction and fantasy authors, but Portland is, too. Here are some authors that hail from the Portland area aka PDX aka Portlandia aka Timbers territory:

Science Fiction Fridays: Sad birds sing the sweetest songs

I am very pleased to announce that mystery, thriller and science fiction wizard Kate Wilhelm will be joining us at the Library at the end of the month for a reading!

If you’ve never read Kate Wilhelm before you are most assuredly missing out. From her short stories to her novels, Wilhelm has a way with characters and elegant prose that most writers would sell their soul for! However, what’s most amazing is that she has kept up such a high level of quality even now, 56 years into her career! While her recent novels have been exclusively her mystery and thriller work, namely the excellent Barbara Holloway series, her new science fiction short story in Fantasy and Science Fiction Magazine, “The Fullness of Time” is a wonderful gem of a tale, full of the adroit scheming and thrilling twists she is known for.

A good place to start for the Wilhelm novice is her Hugo winning novel Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang. It’s the rare classic science fiction novel that is better written  and deeper than you remember. The characters are fully formed and the apocalypse happens in such lush detail that it’s impossible to resist getting swept away by this book. A moving tale about clones that explores the idea of identity and self in a world that has self-destructed in slow motion. Also, check out that awesome M.C. Escher cover art!

The lesser known, classic-to-me novel Welcome, Chaos is another favorite of mine. It takes the simple setup of the discover of an anti-aging serum and marries it to a spy thriller to create one mind-bendingly awesome read. But it’s not all action and intrigue. It shows a true emotional depth as it explores the political and social ramifications of a scientific discovery that would forever alter the world we live in.

Kate Wilhelm will join us at Library on Friday, June 29th at the Central Library. The event will take place on Level 4 in Room 1 at Noon. See the Library calendar for more information.