Tanith Lee?

[Enforcer]

So Exalted 2e (White Wolf game) says her books are a huge inspiration for the game, and I love the game. But, at Barnes & Noble last night I was embarassed to be escorted by a sales associate over to the teen fiction section upon asking for her books.

So what gives? Does she write adult books? Are they any good? 'Cause I gotta admit that I'm skeptical.

 

[WayneLigon]

So Exalted 2e (White Wolf game) says her books are a huge inspiration for the game, and I love the game. But, at Barnes & Noble last night I was embarassed to be escorted by a sales associate over to the teen fiction section upon asking for her books.

So what gives? Does she write adult books? Are they any good? 'Cause I gotta admit that I'm skeptical.

No need to be embarassed; there's a lot of good stuff that gets filed there. Garth Nix's necromancer series is usually there and I wouldn't really call it a YA title. Tanith Lee has been writing adult books for decades, though.

I think the majority of her adult titles are probably going to be either out of print or backlisted. Check out Amazon for her Secret Books of Venus and Secret Books of Paradys series. I'm guessing Exalted, though, was referring to her Flat Earth books: Night's Master , Death's Master, Delusion's Master, Delirium's Mistress and Night's Sorceries. Those might take some digging to find, but they are bizarre dream-like tales of demons, gods, princes and the various spirit folk. Tales of the Flat Earth, I think, collects all of those but I'm not sure.

 

[Enforcer]

Thanks for the help, looks like the Flat Earth books are going to be tough to find though.

 

[Wolv0rine]

I actually picked this up in a secondhand bookstore about 14 years ago, and while it's pretty surreal, it was worth the read for sure. Tanith Lee's depiction of gods and the way they operate in her world are very interesting, and she does a fantastic job of giving them mindsets that are just alien enough that they're weird and kind of disturbing, but not so alien that they're just Out There. I've recommended the book to people on the strenth of the depiction of those gods alone.

 

[Starman]

I've only read Night's Master, but I really enjoyed it. I intend to pick up more of her books when I have a chance.

 

[Wombat]

I love most of Tanith Lee's writings, from her Flat Earth series to Tales of Paradys to her historical novel The Gods Are Thirsty (dealing with The Terror period of the French Revolution). In certain ways, I find her writings similar to Gene Wolfe, another writer I deeply admire.

 

[Endur]

So what gives? Does she write adult books? Are they any good? 'Cause I gotta admit that I'm skeptical.

Your joking, right? Tanith Lee writes stories that are so adult that I'd be afraid to let teens read them. The flat earth series, her stories set in Thieves World (Ischade and Roxane), etc.

On the serious side, if you can't find books of hers that you are looking for, I might be willing to part with some of mine. Although I'm traveling for the next month, so it'd be a month until I can ship them.

 

[Toscadero]

Her first book "The Birthgrave" is one of my all time favorites. I'm also surprised that you were led to the children's section, unless she has written something specific for that audience.

 

[LiKral]

Tanith Lee writes both adult and YA fantasy books. Hence the confusion. I'd very much recommend the Flat Earth series of novels (adult).

 

[WayneLigon]

I think a lot of her more recent works have been YA; YA fantasy has taken off with the success of harry Potter and it seems publishers are encouraging writers to create more titles for that slot.