I'm sitting here, right on that road to hell. Interesting paving - hard on the wheels. I have intended to write for weeks and weeks and in one case months, about a couple books/authors that I think folks should read, or reread. Patti Abbott's "Forgotten Books Friday" blog is a winner and I keep trying to get her something in time to post and Friday seems to creep up on me more and more. sneaky little damn day. (see her great stuff at http://pattinase.blogspot.com/)

So I'm just going to blab on a little. Not the cogent essay/blog entry I had hoped with analysis and enthusiasm and depth, but just at least let me get thse out there for us to discuss. At least there's enthusiasm, right?

First, let's talk about George Alec Effinger. The guy was a friggin' amazing writer and we lost him too soon. His books brought you heart and soul into a world he created, brilliantly. Effinger died in 2002, leaving behind a life of lots of pain and struggle. The works I know best of his were the books featuring Marid Audran - the work which offered an alternative world with more knowledge of middle eastern customs, styles, and religion than I've read elsewhere. And presented it by showing, not telling. He invented (I think that's right and if not, was one of the creators of) cybernetic implants - you could become whomever you wanted, celebrity, hero, able to speak Swedish. Sure it's a science fiction conceit, and I don't know how began it but Effinger did it seamlessly and you believed. Dead on.

The books are just amazing. The three he finished were When Gravity Fails, A Fire in the Sun and The Exile Kiss. There weer suppoesd to be more, but only two completed chapters exist, apparently. Those two chapters were reprinted in the anthology Budayeen Nights. It was that book that started me thinking "I gotta reread Effinger". And it's still there, that thought.

Although oh man, Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson was outstanding and witty and funny. Effinger didn't do a lot of knee-slapping funny, but when he did, you slapped. I'm tone deaf to a lot of irony and satire, but he did it lightly. Dive in somewhere and see what you think.

The other work I want to draw attention to is that of my long-time friend Lee Killough. Lee's written a lot and I've found her work all good, but specifically I want to talk cross-over since Lee's science fictional police procedurals are really entertaining and smart. Look for them. They feature cops Mama Maxwell and Janna Brill. Only recently did I find a copy of Spider Play but i've read Doppleganger Gambit and Deadly Silents repeatedly for their creativity. That latter title offers a murder on a planet where most people are telepathic. (Always a fascinating topic - look at Alfred Bester's Demolished Man.

What works in these books by these two disparate authors is the imagination. Of course fiction requires imaginative thinking. But sf requires more, because it must work - the world you invent. it must be consistent and if you add something, or change something you must color within the lines. You drew those lines to start with, but you have to honor them just the same. Not always easy to do. These are good books by talented authors. Spend some time.