Comments on: Tanith Lee 19 September 1947 - 24 May 2015

Tanith Lee 19 September 1947 - 24 May 2015

MartinWisse — Tue, 26 May 2015 08:27:14 -0800

Lee was the author of over 90 books and 300 short stories, as well as four BBC Radio plays, and two highly-regarded episodes of the BBC's SF series Blake's 7 (Sand and Sarcophagus). She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the World Fantasy Convention in Brighton in 2013 and the Horror Writers Lifetime Achievement Award this year, which joined her British Fantasy Award from 1980 for Death's Master, and her World Fantasy Award for her short story "The Gorgon".

The Sci-Fi Bulletin reports the passing away of Tanith Lee, who had been ill for some time.

Tanith Lee first adult novel was The Birthgrave, published by DAW Books in 1975, after an earlier children's book. She would publish some twenty books, mostly fantasy but also science fiction through that publisher in the seventies and eighties. Her fantasy often had horror elements to them, as well as an erotic undertone best articulated by Michael Swanwick in his appreciation of her writing:

There is more to these stories than the sexual impulse. But I mention its presence because its treatment is never titillating, smirking, or borderline pornographic, as is so much fiction that purports to be erotic. Rather, it is elegant, languorous, and feverish by turns, and always tinged with danger. Which is to say that it is remarkably like the writing itself.

In an 1998 interview with Locus Magazine, she herself said of her writing:

Writers tell stories better, because they've had more practice, but everyone has a book in them. Yes, that old cliché. If you gave the most interesting (to the person who's living it) life to a great writer, they could turn it into something wonderful. But all lives are important, all people are important, because everyone is a book. Some people just have easier access to it. We need the expressive arts, the ancient scribes, the storytellers, the priests. And that's where I put myself: as a storyteller. Not necessarily a high priestess, but certainly the storyteller. And I would love to be the storyteller of the tribe!

For an interview with Nightmare Magazine she wrote about her writing process:

I write in a sort of (so occasional observers, mother and husband, tell me) trance. As the story comes, even if it ever sticks (this one certainly didn't; most don't luckily) I'm there more as transcriber than participant. Although sometimes I am the participant—male, female, old, young, nice or nasty—and then it's like being an actor immersed in the role, and too, to some extent, I imagine, strangely protected. However, it's only a reading through, post writing, that I think/say, "My God, how awful/wonderful/disgusting," etc. Or merely, "Eeeek!"

Unfortunately in recent years Lee has had problems getting published:

Now though most of the so-called big publishers are unwilling even to look at a proposal. They aren't interested in seeing anything from me, not even those houses I've worked with for many years. Where any slight interest in my turning in a book exists, I find I must work inside certain defined formulae. And to me that's one of the arch inspiration-stranglers. I have at this time no new book, adult or Y.A, either out or due to come out, let alone any contract to produce a book for any of the main companies. And besides that only a couple of things are scheduled to appear from small, if reputable and elegant houses.

As the news just came out, the sci-fi corner of Twitter is predictably abuzz with reminiscing about Lee and her work. For a comprehensive and annotated bibliography of Tanith Lee, Daughter of the Night is essential. The Free SF Online site has links to several of her stories available online.

By: Zarkonnen

Zarkonnen — Tue, 26 May 2015 08:30:53 -0800

Ack, she just got added to my "should actually try out her work" list. Time to do that then. Thank you for the thorough obit post, MartinWisse. .

By: Renoroc

Renoroc — Tue, 26 May 2015 08:31:37 -0800

By: mfoight

mfoight — Tue, 26 May 2015 08:31:38 -0800

By: Gelatin

Gelatin — Tue, 26 May 2015 08:32:22 -0800

By: Kitteh

Kitteh — Tue, 26 May 2015 08:34:24 -0800

. Oh. Now that's an unexpected gut punch. Her beautiful and sparsely weird vampire novels from the early 90s were so everyday and yet so strange; they made a not -inconsiderable impact on teenage me. Her short stories were equally divine.

By: MCMikeNamara

MCMikeNamara — Tue, 26 May 2015 08:36:58 -0800

By: thegirlwiththehat

thegirlwiththehat — Tue, 26 May 2015 08:37:29 -0800

. I remember reading the black unicorn book in the used bookshop and then buying it, as I could not bare to be parted with it. And the Snow White revisitation, heard on the radio, loved before even knowing she was the author.

By: selfnoise

selfnoise — Tue, 26 May 2015 08:37:38 -0800

. One of the few well-regarded fantasy authors from that slim-paperback era that I haven't gotten to read yet. I'll make that a goal this year. What little I read of 'Night's Master' was really evocative. Now though most of the so-called big publishers are unwilling even to look at a proposal. They aren't interested in seeing anything from me, not even those houses I've worked with for many years. Where any slight interest in my turning in a book exists, I find I must work inside certain defined formulae. And to me that's one of the arch inspiration-stranglers. I have at this time no new book, adult or Y.A, either out or due to come out, let alone any contract to produce a book for any of the main companies. And besides that only a couple of things are scheduled to appear from small, if reputable and elegant houses. Ugh.

By: King Sky Prawn

King Sky Prawn — Tue, 26 May 2015 08:37:40 -0800

Goodbye. Thanks for being a bright & fierce part of my reading, back in the day. [However, it's only a reading through, post writing, that I think/say, "My God, how awful/wonderful/disgusting," etc. Or merely, "Eeeek!" ] Yeah, thinking back, I can definitely recall some Eeeek! moments.

By: tdismukes

tdismukes — Tue, 26 May 2015 08:39:26 -0800

By: dinty_moore

dinty_moore — Tue, 26 May 2015 08:39:47 -0800

By: suelac

suelac — Tue, 26 May 2015 08:41:00 -0800

. I suspect that either Tanith Lee will be remembered as enormously influential, or she will be "written out" of SF/F history the way so many other women writers have been. But it should be the first, if there is any justice in the world.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Tue, 26 May 2015 08:41:11 -0800

Oh man I came across Red As Blood by accident in a used book store growing up and basically memorized it. Here's her (murderous, satanic) take on Cinderella. I've always loved that framing device, it's so ...old fashioned and Poe-ish

By: Foosnark

Foosnark — Tue, 26 May 2015 08:53:31 -0800

By: maxsparber

maxsparber — Tue, 26 May 2015 08:54:57 -0800

When I was a teenager, I read "KIll the Dead," and was struck by how seemingly effortless she blended fantasy with traditional horror elements. Years later, in Twilight Zone magazine, I read her short story "Because Our Skins Are Finer," a sort of brutal folk tale about a sailor and a selkie, and I couldn't believe it was the same writer. I've always been impressed by how strong her voice was, and how flexible it was; it could form itself to sound just right for whatever story she was telling.

By: rewil

rewil — Tue, 26 May 2015 08:57:30 -0800

By: nubs

nubs — Tue, 26 May 2015 09:00:43 -0800

. I haven't read much of her stuff, but what I did I liked.

By: happyroach

happyroach — Tue, 26 May 2015 09:00:53 -0800

The avoidance fiction and fantasy field is lesser because of this loss. One of fthe singular, poorly appreciated greats, whose work is not nearly as well known as it should be.

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Tue, 26 May 2015 09:01:56 -0800

Damn. She was one of the greats, and a flawless rebuttal to the old "women can't/don't write horror" canard. If you haven't read "When the Clock Strikes" (thanks for finding that, Whelk!) then go read it right now. Fuck the big publishers. Long live the "small, if reputable and elegant houses."

By: the turtle's teeth

the turtle's teeth — Tue, 26 May 2015 09:06:40 -0800

I stumbled on her books by accident in the dusty stacks of a university library when I was just sixteen years old and a burgeoning baby SF writer. Electric Forest. The Silver Metal Lover. They changed my world. I really hadn't known how to be a girl and a science fiction writer at the same time. And then suddenly I did. These lush, eerie, unsettling, erotic, enthralling books, both transcendently feminine and utterly new to me. Her voice was her own voice, totally original. I felt like someone had opened a door and invited me to step through. It's a tragic loss, and it will be so much more tragic if her work continues to fade into obscurity, as it has over the past years. I feel like... they've already begun writing her out of SF/F history. But that shouldn't happen, and it can't happen, and it won't. She really was royalty, and to some of us, she meant so much. .

By: Etrigan

Etrigan — Tue, 26 May 2015 09:13:06 -0800

The lack of a pile of Tanith Lee books right next to the Fifty Shades and Laurell K. Hamilton books is evidence that booksellers don't really want to sell books, as far as I'm concerned. .

By: Kitty Stardust

Kitty Stardust — Tue, 26 May 2015 09:15:16 -0800

Oh no. I've always found tremendous pleasure in her fiction. Sad day.

By: offalark

offalark — Tue, 26 May 2015 09:20:39 -0800

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Tue, 26 May 2015 09:34:26 -0800

By: Dip Flash

Dip Flash — Tue, 26 May 2015 09:35:55 -0800

I am surprised that a writer of her prominence and commercial success was having trouble getting published. Maybe I am showing my ignorance, but I would have thought that her books would be reliable profit-makers for a publisher -- perhaps not blockbusters, but certainly able to sell enough to justify publication.

By: kyrademon

kyrademon — Tue, 26 May 2015 09:43:33 -0800

Aw, man. My K-L shelves are right next to my desk. It's a little comforting right now to turn to my right and see the Claidi Journals, the Tales from the Flat Earth, the Secret Books of Paradys, and the Silver Metal Lover, all still right there. She is literally the one author I ever asked my parents about as a child and got told, "... Maybe wait until you're a bit older." I'm actually not sure why, there was racier and scarier stuff that I read off my parents' shelves. Most likely I simply never bothered to ask about those. I dutifully waited until I was 13 and then read The Silver Metal Lover. This time without asking about it first. I cried. I can remember exactly two books from my adolescence that made me cry, actual tears running down my face. That was one of them. I imprinted on that book. I'm pretty sure I formed a number of my ideas about love and what a good relationship should look like from that book. That book is indelibly seared into my memories. .

By: GenjiandProust

GenjiandProust — Tue, 26 May 2015 09:55:50 -0800

Oh no. Her books were so wonderfully lush, it was like Maldoror offering you a plate of the most pretty poisoned candies. I hope she will be missed.

By: GenjiandProust

GenjiandProust — Tue, 26 May 2015 10:02:38 -0800

It just occurred to me that Lee was the spiritual heir of Jack Vance, a purveyor of slyly wicked stories in frankly unbelievable settings that got you to suspend your dis disbelief with the promise of pure delight.

By: eriko

eriko — Tue, 26 May 2015 10:03:16 -0800

. #FuckCancer

By: Lynsey

Lynsey — Tue, 26 May 2015 10:04:06 -0800

So sorry to read of her passing. I enjoyed many of her books so much! RIP Ms. Lee.

By: doctornemo

doctornemo — Tue, 26 May 2015 10:05:27 -0800

So sad. .

By: tavella

tavella — Tue, 26 May 2015 10:06:16 -0800

suelac: I suspect that either Tanith Lee will be remembered as enormously influential, or she will be "written out" of SF/F history the way so many other women writers have been. Note that she was never made an SFWA grandmaster. James Gunn is an SFWA grandmaster, and Tanith Lee isn't. They actually went for no award in 2011, so while Tanith Lee was still alive they decided 'naaaaw, there's no one worthy of this'. and .

By: trunk muffins

trunk muffins — Tue, 26 May 2015 10:17:19 -0800

Rest well Ms. Lee. Biting the Sun is one of my very favorite novels ever, an overlooked modern classic. The Silver Metal Lover is one of the most brutally honest, moving accounts of being a teenage girl ever written.

By: TheophileEscargot

TheophileEscargot — Tue, 26 May 2015 10:22:37 -0800

By: lord_wolf

lord_wolf — Tue, 26 May 2015 10:35:42 -0800

By: immlass

immlass — Tue, 26 May 2015 10:37:50 -0800

Loved her books and wondered what had happened to her. I'll pour one out for her tonight, particularly for Tales of the Flat Earth and Cyrion, which were among my favorites.

By: cass

cass — Tue, 26 May 2015 10:39:27 -0800

By: Lyn Never

Lyn Never — Tue, 26 May 2015 10:42:51 -0800

I am surprised that a writer of her prominence and commercial success was having trouble getting published. I saw Samuel Delany comment earlier that she and he, along with many others, were blacklisted by the bookstore chains in the 80s for having gay content in fantasy. I can see where that would be very hard on a writer's momentum and sales history, 10-15 years before it would be truly easy to get/find out about online.

By: drezdn

drezdn — Tue, 26 May 2015 10:53:19 -0800

By: Ik ben afgesneden

Ik ben afgesneden — Tue, 26 May 2015 11:13:00 -0800

By: emmet

emmet — Tue, 26 May 2015 11:14:00 -0800

She was remarkable, unique, fiercely herself, and I am grateful for her presence in this world. She's missed.

By: corb

corb — Tue, 26 May 2015 11:16:32 -0800

oh man. I remember she was also the racy stuff I had to hide. But..I don't think it was all about the sex. I just know it made parents at the time flip.

By: mixedmetaphors

mixedmetaphors — Tue, 26 May 2015 11:20:29 -0800

By: Fizz

Fizz — Tue, 26 May 2015 11:32:58 -0800

By: nikitabot

nikitabot — Tue, 26 May 2015 11:45:13 -0800

So saddened. She was one of the writers who started me on the path of love for fantasy and feminist fiction. Tales of the Flat Earth is wonderful and so are her dark reimaginings so fairy tales as well as her stories about the parallel world cities of Paradys and Venus. A truly, singular talent, and it is a travesty that she is not recognized and lauded like she deserves.

By: Kitty Stardust

Kitty Stardust — Tue, 26 May 2015 11:47:10 -0800

Ok, now that I'm not responding on my phone, I can write something a little longer. I started reading Lee about the same time I got into Anne Rice, Clive Barker and Lovecraft. Her prose struck me as the apotheosis of what I'd been seeking in fiction. It's like she took everything I liked about those other authors and distilled them into a heady elixir. I started with Personal Darkness and devoured the rest of that series, and then on to her short story collections, the Secret Books of Paradys, The Secret Books of Venus, White as Snow, Mortal Suns, etc. I went back and read Sabella, The Electric Forest and more. Her work was so steeped in a female perspective; something I hadn't encountered in the horror fiction and vampire books I read as a young adult. I'd still consider her books unique in the SFF canon for portraying such a variety of female experience. Far beyond the "Strong Female Character" trope that has come to dominate so much SFF, Lee wrote women who often dared to grasp any sort of agency they could. In the recent talk of how Game of Thrones treats female characters, I often think about how Lee portrayed women in similar straits. Her books depict rape, patriarchal oppression, violence; but usually shown from the woman's perspective, informed by her thoughts and feelings. If you ask me, Daenerys Targaryen wandered away from the Tanith Lee novel in which she is the badass misandrist dragon-queen of all our Tumblr dreams. Reading so much work that centralizes female experience at an age when my perspectives were forming really sparked my interest in feminism. She was far ahead of her time in her commitment to queer and female characters. She imparted every story she wrote with a compelling atmosphere. I heard many rumors among the mansplainers I connected with as a wannabe kid horror writer that Lee was a diva; arrogant, un-editable and cold. I really didn't fucking care. Her work spoke for itself. In retrospect, I'm sure there was at least an element of sexism to the attitude that a female writer in the male space of horror/SFF should be appropriately deferential. I'm saddened to learn how much trouble she was having getting her work published. Over the years, I'd idly wondered why she didn't seem to be putting out new books, but I had grad school and other things to attend to. Every once in a while, when I wanted to indulge myself, I'd pull down one of her novels and read it in one long session. Her worlds were always fascinating places. I still aspire to her prose style.

By: New England Cultist

New England Cultist — Tue, 26 May 2015 11:47:16 -0800

Dammit. I was lucky enough to interview here years ago. A giant. .

By: magstheaxe

magstheaxe — Tue, 26 May 2015 11:48:34 -0800

A true master of the craft. .

By: Monsieur Caution

Monsieur Caution — Tue, 26 May 2015 11:56:17 -0800

By: subdee

subdee — Tue, 26 May 2015 12:01:18 -0800

Huh. I thought Tanith Lee was one of those writers who had enough of a following to always publish at least one book a year, until she died. And a couple years down the line you'd see collectors in used bookstores looking for a book to complete a set and getting excited about it... her writing just had that quality, it seemed esoteric but in a timeless way. It's not right to ask someone like that to follow the latest trend in fantasy publishing. Put me down as another fan of the Unicorn books and the Secret Books of Paradys. .

By: cybercoitus interruptus

cybercoitus interruptus — Tue, 26 May 2015 12:25:56 -0800

By: LobsterMitten

LobsterMitten — Tue, 26 May 2015 12:30:21 -0800

By: bonehead

bonehead — Tue, 26 May 2015 13:01:02 -0800

Note that she was never made an SFWA grandmaster. Which is the sort of thing someone should be up on charges for, frankly. She'd never been lucky enough to win a Hugo---two Nebulas though. In my view, this is exactly the sort of thing the the SFWA grand master category was supposed to be for. Her books are also surprisingly hard to find in print or electronically. I went looking earlier this year, after mention in a previous thread, and found some surprising gaps. The Tales of the Flat Earth, in particular seem to be in some sort of limbo. Perhaps the best thing to serve her memory would be some creative publisher to put her major works up for sale again.

By: bonehead

bonehead — Tue, 26 May 2015 13:04:01 -0800

It just occurred to me that Lee was the spiritual heir of Jack Vance Without a doubt. If you know a Vance fan, press the books of Paradys or Death's Master into their hand.

By: Kitty Stardust

Kitty Stardust — Tue, 26 May 2015 13:10:06 -0800

Tales from the Flat Earth seems to be available on Audible.

By: bonehead

bonehead — Tue, 26 May 2015 13:11:31 -0800

If it's available anywhere as an ebook, I'd greatly appreciate a pointer.

By: tavella

tavella — Tue, 26 May 2015 13:27:20 -0800

The SFWA Grand Master award has an amazing history of ignoring female SFF writers. I'll repeat: They decided that James Gunn was a worthier grandmaster than Tanith Lee. Or CJ Cherryh. Hell, they decided a *blank space* was a worthier grand master candidate. In the first 27 years, they named *one* woman. In the last 12 they've managed a not that much more impressive 3. I like Harry Harrison fine, but by what standard is he a more important SF writer than CJ Cherryh? For all the improvements in the SFWA in the last few years, this is one area that has not improved at all.

By: bonehead

bonehead — Tue, 26 May 2015 13:32:56 -0800

There was a gap in 2002 as well.

By: Etrigan

Etrigan — Tue, 26 May 2015 13:50:24 -0800

I'll repeat: They decided that James Gunn was a worthier grandmaster than Tanith Lee. James Gunn has done a tremendous amount of work in legitimizing genre fiction as a scholarly pursuit, and ran the organization that awards the Campbell and Sturgeon awards and administers the SF Hall of Fame. It's possible to point out that Lee (and several other women) have been hosed without denigrating Gunn's contributions to the field.

By: jadepearl

jadepearl — Tue, 26 May 2015 14:17:21 -0800

Loved her books and still have many copies, in fact. I seduced a man, once, reciting a story from the Flat Earth. Dark fairy tales and inverted beliefs; I adored each word and will miss them. The cover art done by Michael Whelan for DAW books were beautiful, too. .

By: runincircles

runincircles — Tue, 26 May 2015 14:18:12 -0800

. Another fan of Silver Metal Lover, but I mainly loved her short story collections Women as Demons and Forests of the Night. Some fabulously beautiful vivid imagery that is now part of my permanent mental wallpaper.

By: twidget

twidget — Tue, 26 May 2015 14:57:31 -0800

By: Strass

Strass — Tue, 26 May 2015 14:59:52 -0800

By: chaosys

chaosys — Tue, 26 May 2015 15:08:02 -0800

By: motty

motty — Tue, 26 May 2015 15:49:14 -0800

By: Deoridhe

Deoridhe — Tue, 26 May 2015 16:56:54 -0800

By: batbat

batbat — Tue, 26 May 2015 18:05:06 -0800

. She was one of my favorites.

By: jenkinsEar

jenkinsEar — Tue, 26 May 2015 18:11:30 -0800

Nulgrave. .

By: Athanassiel

Athanassiel — Tue, 26 May 2015 19:01:52 -0800

Ah, it was Red as Blood for me, too, which opened my mind to the world of retelling fairy tales, often with brutal twists. I would love to read that again. I always had trouble tracking down her works and as a result haven't read as much as I'd like. Anyone with a Kobo, looks like there are quite a lot available as ebooks, with more to come. No Tales from the Flat Earth as yet, but who knows? .

By: Countess Elena

Countess Elena — Tue, 26 May 2015 20:09:43 -0800

. I didn't like everything of hers that I read, but I did not forget any of it. You know, I used to stress about getting stories published in the right markets to be a SFWA member, but you know what? The hell with the SFWA.

By: Countess Elena

Countess Elena — Tue, 26 May 2015 20:16:14 -0800

okay no, that was a dumb thing to say, it can always get better. Be missed, Tanith.

By: PussKillian

PussKillian — Tue, 26 May 2015 20:26:11 -0800

I'm so saddened by this. I've only read a small fraction of her incredible output (and am not really a horror reader) but the books of hers I liked, I cherished. Tales from the Flat Earth in particular, and also Don't Bite the Sun/Drinking Sapphire Wine and The SIlver Metal Lover. So many strange moments that worked within the context of her prose...killer flamingos, for one. Her stuff seemed genuinely timeless and mythic and you could just roll around in her language and luxuriate.

By: fearfulsymmetry

fearfulsymmetry — Wed, 27 May 2015 03:19:28 -0800

Those two episodes she wrote for Blake's Seven were very strange and very different to the rest of the series, but in many ways really get to the essence of the programme and especially its character relationships and are very much stand-outs now.

By: bonehead

bonehead — Wed, 27 May 2015 07:22:09 -0800

I used to stress about getting stories published in the right markets to be a SFWA member I know nothing of the details of this, but she was eligible enough to be nominated* for the SFWA Nebula, twice. The GM is given out in the same ceremony every year. If she was good for the main awards, I wouldn't have thought there would have been too many administrative barriers to giving her a GM. *got this wrong previously.

By: koucha

koucha — Wed, 27 May 2015 07:40:23 -0800

By: Autumn Leaf

Autumn Leaf — Thu, 28 May 2015 02:22:22 -0800