Elizabeth A. Lynn

Elizabeth A. Lynn's books are A Different Light, (1978), The Chronicles of Tornor trilogy (consisting of Watchtower, (1979; winner of the World Fantasy Award) The Dancers of Arun, (1979) and The Northern Girl (1980), The Sardonyx Net, (1981) The Woman Who Loved the Moon and Other Stories,(1981), and The Silver Horse (1981). After a long hiatus from writing, she returned in 1998 with the first two books about Karadur Atani (two more are planned): Dragon's Winter (1998) and Dragon's Treasure (2004). In addition, her novella, "The Red Hawk" was published as a small-press chapbook in 1984.

Lynn was one of the first genre writers to deal openly with homosexual themes. A Different Light describes the romantic relationship between two men, one a starship pilot and the other an artist with a fatal disease, in a future where very few people die of anything other than violence or old age. Both Watchtower and The Dancers of Arun also concern relationships between two men; not until The Northern Girl, published three years into her publishing career, did she write about love relationships between two women, in this case a young woman who falls in love with a harder-bitten middle-aged woman. Even when her main characters are male, the books invariably feature strong women in key roles (going all the way back to Tori Lamonica in A Different Light).

The Sardonyx Net, in which most sexual relationships are heterosexual, explores nonconsensual sadism from three points of view, including the sadist and one of his victims.

Lynn's spare prose can be extremely powerful. Her characters tend to experience (and initiate) sequences of extreme violence; she also writes about love, political intrigue, and the mechanics of day-to-day life in the various science-fiction and fantasy cultures she evokes.

Lynn has studied and taught aikido for many years and has attained a 6th degree black belt.

References

• East Shore Aikikai Web Site
• WisCon Web Site