"Lace and Blade"

[desperance]

I should of course have posted this, oh, days ago - Valentine's Day, to be specific - but hey. It is important to maintain a barrage until the first casualties are observed among one's own troops.

So: "Lace and Blade" is now out! Featuring Tanith Lee, Catherine Asaro, Diana L. Paxson, Madeleine E Robins, Robin Wayne Bailey, Dave Smeds, Mary Rosenblum, Sherwood Smith - and me. Tales of romantic fantasy, with all - or whatever - that implies.

For me, it was a revisit to the world of Selling Water by the River, to find out quite what my favourite two characters really did get up to when the reader's (or, in this case, author's) back was turned.

This isn't an approach that pleases everyone; neither of the first two reviews I've seen has entirely seen it as an independent story, or a satisfying one. Still, the antho as a whole is going down well. That's really what counts. Yup.

Comments

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

My father used to say there were people who'd complain if they were hanged with a new rope.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

There was some discussion in Vera's sff.net topic about the first of these reviews. I think it's a case of the reviewer Just Not Getting It. Some of the most satisfying stories trust and challenge the reader, and a careless reader, one unaccustomed to participating in the story, will perceive only the most superficial elements, the window dressing. Trust your editor on this; "Night Baths" is complete, complex, and thought-provoking. It asks hard questions and leaves the reader to flesh out the answers.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Oh, help. That is so obviously a book I need to have (swarods! ruffles!). I'm supposed to being good about spending... Wanders off to click the clicky thing on amazon.