Previous SFF Author: David Ramirez
Marta Randall’s first story was published in 1972 in Michael Moorcock’s New Wave anthology, NEW WORLDS 5. Since that time she has written 8 novels (one a Nebula nominee), over 20 pieces of short fiction (one a Nebula nominee), and various pieces of non-fiction. She has taught writing since the early 1970’s at the University of California Extension and various Clarion workshops. She served one term as Vice-President and two terms as President of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and has become a highly-skilled cat-herder.
Born in Mexico City, she grew up in Berkeley, California, and lived most of her life in the San Francisco Bay Area. Finding life on earthquake faults tedious, she now lives on the side of an active volcano on the Big Island of Hawai’i with two dogs and four cats. She was asked to promise not to turn into a Crazy Cat Lady but is still thinking about that.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE STORIES BY MARTA RANDALL.
In honor of Women’s History Month, I’m sharing my interview with a writer, friend and mentor I’ve known and admired for years.
As a writer, editor, teacher and activist, Marta Randall has a long and influential career in the SFF world. A leading voice in the New Wave movement, Randall saw her 1976 novel Islands nominated for a Nebula. She went on to write several novels, including THE KENNERIN SAGA and, most recently, Mapping Winter and The River South.
Mapping Winter by Marta Randall
Mapping Winter (2019) is Marta Randall’s reworking of her 1983 novel, The Sword of Winter. (Randall talks more about the story behind the book here.) Its release as Mapping Winter was followed shortly by the all-new sequel The River South, with the two novels making up the RIDERS GUILD series. It’s a secondary-world fantasy, but without magic; I was about two-thirds of the way through the book when I realized,
Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Marta Randall | SFF Reviews | 11 comments |
The River South by Marta Randall
Iset, nicknamed Shrug, is the daughter of Kieve Rider, the heroine of Marta Randall’s Mapping Winter. Please note that this review contains some spoilers for Mapping Winter.
The River South (2019), the second RIDERS GUILD book, picks up Iset’s story starting when she is thirteen. This isn’t a warm and fuzzy mother-daughter relationship. Kieve left Iset with the Guild as an infant,
Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4.5 | Marta Randall | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Previous SFF Author: David Ramirez
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.
COMMENT Was I hinting that? I wasn't aware of it. But now that you mention it.... 🤔
So it sounds like you're hinting Fox may have had three or so different incomplete stories that he stitched together,…