Tanith Lee
Encyclopedia
Tanith Lee is a British writer of science fiction, horror
and fantasy
. She is the author of over 70 novels and 250 short stories, a children's picture book (Animal Castle) and many poems. She also wrote two episodes of BBC
science fiction series Blake's 7
. She was the first woman to win the British Fantasy Award
best novel award (also known as the August Derleth Award
), for her book Death's Master (1980).
She also writes under the pseudonym
Esther Garber.
in September 9, 1947. She is the daughter of two ballroom dancers. Despite a persistent rumour, she is not the daughter of Bernard Lee
(actor who played "M" in the James Bond
series of films of the 1960s). Tanith Lee married author John Kaiine in 1992.
Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant and a waitress before becoming a full time writer. Her first short story, Eustace, was published in 1968. Her first novel (for children) was The Dragon Hoard, published in 1971. Her career really took off with the acceptance in 1975 by Daw Books
USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave – a mass-market paperback. Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.
, children's fantasy, science fiction, horror
, Gothic
horror, Gothic romance, and the historical novel. Her series of interconnected tales called The Flat-Earth Cycle
, beginning with Night's Master and Death's Master, is similar in scope and breadth to Jack Vance
's The Dying Earth
.
Lee's style is frequently remarked upon for its use of rich poetic prose, striking imagery, and nonconformist interpretations of fairy tales, vampire stories, myths, and the fantasy
genre. Her stories often feature themes of feminism
and sexuality
. She also writes lesbian fiction
under the pseudonym Esther Garber.
Night's Master contains allegorical tales involving Azhrarn, a demonic prince who kidnaps and raises a beautiful boy and separates him from the sorrow of the real world. Eventually, the boy wants to know more about the earth, and asks to be returned, setting off a series of encounters between Azhrarn and the Earth's people, some horrific, some positive. Later tales are loosely based on Babylonian mythology. In the science fiction Four-BEE series, Lee explores youth culture and identity in a society which grants eternally young teenagers complete freedom. They are even killed and receive new bodies, gender and/or identity over and over again. Lee has also dabbled in the historical novel with The Gods are Thirsty, set during the French Revolution
.
A large part of her output is children's fantasy, which has spanned her entire career from The Dragon Hoard in 1971 to the more recent The Claidi Journals containing Wolf Tower, Wolf Star, Wolf Queen and Wolf Wing in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Lee has been published in various imprints, particularly depending on whether she is offering adult fiction or children's fantasy. Her earlier children's fantasy novels were published in hardcover by MacMillan UK and subsequently printed as paperbacks in the US often by DAW, with occasional hardcovers by St. Martin's Press. Some of her work was only printed in paperback, mainly in the US by DAW in the 1970s to the early 1980s. She has received some small press treatment, such as the Arkham House edition of short stories Dreams of Dark and Light: The Great Short Fiction of Tanith Lee in 1986, and in the first "Night Visions" instalment published by Dark Harvest. Some of her work has been released exclusively in the UK with US publications often pending.
World Fantasy Awards
British Fantasy Awards
Nebula Awards
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
and fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
. She is the author of over 70 novels and 250 short stories, a children's picture book (Animal Castle) and many poems. She also wrote two episodes of BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
science fiction series Blake's 7
Blake's 7
Blake's 7 is a British science fiction television series produced by the BBC for its BBC1 channel. The series was created by Terry Nation, a prolific television writer and creator of the Daleks for the television series Doctor Who. Four series of Blake's 7 were produced and broadcast between 1978...
. She was the first woman to win the British Fantasy Award
British Fantasy Award
The British Fantasy Awards are administered annually by the British Fantasy Society and were first awarded in 1971. The membership of the BFS vote to determine recommendations, short-lists and winners of the awards...
best novel award (also known as the August Derleth Award
August Derleth Award
The August Derleth Award is an annual award given out by members of the British Fantasy Society for best novel of the year. The award is named after American writer and editor August Derleth.-Winners of the August Derleth Award:...
), for her book Death's Master (1980).
She also writes under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Esther Garber.
Personal life
Lee was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in September 9, 1947. She is the daughter of two ballroom dancers. Despite a persistent rumour, she is not the daughter of Bernard Lee
Bernard Lee
John Bernard Lee was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven James Bond films.-Life and career:...
(actor who played "M" in the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
series of films of the 1960s). Tanith Lee married author John Kaiine in 1992.
Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant and a waitress before becoming a full time writer. Her first short story, Eustace, was published in 1968. Her first novel (for children) was The Dragon Hoard, published in 1971. Her career really took off with the acceptance in 1975 by Daw Books
DAW Books
DAW Books is an American science fiction and fantasy publisher, founded by Donald A. Wollheim following his departure from Ace Books in 1971. The company therefore claims to be "the first publishing company ever devoted exclusively to science fiction and fantasy." The first DAW Book published was...
USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave – a mass-market paperback. Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.
Works
Tanith Lee's 1971 debut was the children's book The Dragon Hoard; her first adult book was The Birthgrave in 1975. Lee's prolific output spans a host of different genres, including adult fantasyFantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
, children's fantasy, science fiction, horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
, Gothic
Gothic fiction
Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Gothicism's origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled "A Gothic Story"...
horror, Gothic romance, and the historical novel. Her series of interconnected tales called The Flat-Earth Cycle
Tales from the Flat Earth
Tales From The Flat Earth is a fantasy novel series by Tanith Lee.Novels*Night's Master *Death's Master *Delusion's Master...
, beginning with Night's Master and Death's Master, is similar in scope and breadth to Jack Vance
Jack Vance
John Holbrook Vance is an American mystery, fantasy and science fiction author. Most of his work has been published under the name Jack Vance. Vance has published 11 mysteries as John Holbrook Vance and 3 as Ellery Queen...
's The Dying Earth
The Dying Earth
The Dying Earth is a 1950 collection of fantasy short stories by author Jack Vance. It is the first book in the Dying Earth series. It was nominated for the Retro Hugo in 2001.-Stories:*Turjan of Miir*Mazirian the Magician*T'sais...
.
Lee's style is frequently remarked upon for its use of rich poetic prose, striking imagery, and nonconformist interpretations of fairy tales, vampire stories, myths, and the fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
genre. Her stories often feature themes of feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
and sexuality
Human sexuality
Human sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
. She also writes lesbian fiction
Lesbian fiction
Lesbian fiction is a subgenre of fiction that involves one or more primary female homosexual character and lesbian themes. Novels that fall into this category may be of any genres, such as, but not limited to, historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and romance.-History:The first...
under the pseudonym Esther Garber.
Night's Master contains allegorical tales involving Azhrarn, a demonic prince who kidnaps and raises a beautiful boy and separates him from the sorrow of the real world. Eventually, the boy wants to know more about the earth, and asks to be returned, setting off a series of encounters between Azhrarn and the Earth's people, some horrific, some positive. Later tales are loosely based on Babylonian mythology. In the science fiction Four-BEE series, Lee explores youth culture and identity in a society which grants eternally young teenagers complete freedom. They are even killed and receive new bodies, gender and/or identity over and over again. Lee has also dabbled in the historical novel with The Gods are Thirsty, set during the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
.
A large part of her output is children's fantasy, which has spanned her entire career from The Dragon Hoard in 1971 to the more recent The Claidi Journals containing Wolf Tower, Wolf Star, Wolf Queen and Wolf Wing in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Lee has been published in various imprints, particularly depending on whether she is offering adult fiction or children's fantasy. Her earlier children's fantasy novels were published in hardcover by MacMillan UK and subsequently printed as paperbacks in the US often by DAW, with occasional hardcovers by St. Martin's Press. Some of her work was only printed in paperback, mainly in the US by DAW in the 1970s to the early 1980s. She has received some small press treatment, such as the Arkham House edition of short stories Dreams of Dark and Light: The Great Short Fiction of Tanith Lee in 1986, and in the first "Night Visions" instalment published by Dark Harvest. Some of her work has been released exclusively in the UK with US publications often pending.
Awards
Nebula Awards- 1975: The Birthgrave (nominated, best novel)
- 1980: Red As Blood (nominated, best short story)
World Fantasy Awards
- 1979: Night's Master (nominated, best novel)
- 1983: "The Gorgon" (winner, best short story)
- 1984: "Elle Est Trois, (La Mort)" (winner, best short story)
- 1984: "Nunc Dimittis" (nominated, best novella)
- 1984: Red As Blood, or, Tales From The Sisters Grimmer (nominated, best anthology/collection)
- 1985: Night Visions 1 (nominated, best anthology/collection)
- 1987: Dreams Of Dark And Light (nominated, best anthology/collection)
- 1988: Night's Sorceries (nominated, best anthology/collection)
- 1999: "Scarlet And Gold" (nominated, best novella)
- 2006: "Uous" (nominated, best novella)
British Fantasy Awards
- 1979: Quest For The White Witch (nominated, best novel)
- 1980: Death's Master (winner, best novel)
- 1980: "Red As Blood" (nominated, best short story)
- 1981: Kill The Dead (nominated, best novel)
- 1999: "Jedella Ghost" (nominated, best short story)
- 2000: "Where Does The Town Go At Night?" (nominated, best short story)
Nebula Awards
- 2010: Disturbed by Her Song (nominated, best LGBT speculative fiction)
Further reading
- Barron, Neil, ed. Anatomy of Wonder: A Critical Guide to Science Fiction (5th ed.). (Libraries Unlimited, 2004) ISBN 1-59158-171-0.
- Clute, JohnJohn CluteJohn Frederick Clute is a Canadian born author and critic who has lived in Britain since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part of science fiction's history."...
and Grant, John. The Encyclopedia of FantasyThe Encyclopedia of FantasyThe Encyclopedia of Fantasy is a 1997 reference work on fantasy, edited by John Clute and John Grant. Other contributors include Mike Ashley, Neil Gaiman, Diana Wynne Jones, David Langford, Sam J. Lundwall, Michael Scott Rohan, Brian Stableford and Lisa Tuttle.The book was well-received upon...
(2nd US edition). New York: St Martin's Griffin, 1999. ISBN 0-312-19869-8. (PaperbackPaperbackPaperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
) - Clute, JohnJohn CluteJohn Frederick Clute is a Canadian born author and critic who has lived in Britain since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part of science fiction's history."...
Science Fiction: The Illustrated Encyclopedia. London: Dorling Kindersley, 1995. ISBN 0-7513-0202-3. - Clute, JohnJohn CluteJohn Frederick Clute is a Canadian born author and critic who has lived in Britain since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part of science fiction's history."...
and Peter NichollsPeter Nicholls (writer)Peter Nicholls is an Australian literary scholar and critic. He is the creator and a co-editor of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ....
, eds., The Encyclopedia of Science FictionThe Encyclopedia of Science FictionThe Encyclopedia of Science Fiction is an English language reference work on science fiction.- Publication history :The first edition, edited by Peter Nicholls with John Clute and Brian Stableford appeared in 1979, published by Granada. It was retitled The Science Fiction Encyclopedia in the US...
. St Albans, Herts, UK: Granada Publishing, 1979. ISBN 0-586-05380-8. - Clute, JohnJohn CluteJohn Frederick Clute is a Canadian born author and critic who has lived in Britain since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part of science fiction's history."...
and Peter NichollsPeter Nicholls (writer)Peter Nicholls is an Australian literary scholar and critic. He is the creator and a co-editor of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ....
, eds., The Encyclopedia of Science FictionThe Encyclopedia of Science FictionThe Encyclopedia of Science Fiction is an English language reference work on science fiction.- Publication history :The first edition, edited by Peter Nicholls with John Clute and Brian Stableford appeared in 1979, published by Granada. It was retitled The Science Fiction Encyclopedia in the US...
. New York: St Martin's Press, 1995. ISBN 0-312-13486-X. - Disch, Thomas M.Thomas M. DischThomas Michael Disch was an American science fiction author and poet. He won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book – previously called "Best Non-Fiction Book" – in 1999, and he had two other Hugo nominations and nine Nebula Award nominations to his credit, plus one win of the John W...
The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of. Touchstone, 1998. - Reginald, Robert. Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, 1975-1991. Detroit, MI/Washington, DC/London: Gale Research, 1992. ISBN 0-8103-1825-3.
- Westfahl, Gary, ed. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders (three volumes). Greenwood Press, 2005.
- Wolfe, Gary K. Critical Terms for Science Fiction and Fantasy: A Glossary and Guide to Scholarship. Greenwood Press, 1986. ISBN 0-313-22981-3.
External links
- Daughter of the Night: The premier annotated Tanith Lee bibliography
- Tanith Lee on the Silver Metal Lover
- Biography on the Internet Book List