Ian Sales’ SF Mistressworks blog is continuing to use some of my old reviews from Emerald City. Yesterday Ian posted my review of Kathleen Ann Goonan’s Queen City Jazz. This is the first in what I understand Kathy calls the “Nanotech Quartet”, but I prefer to call the “Flower Cities Quartet” because that reminds the reader of the most dramatic imagery from the books.
Re-reading the review, I am reminded that Goonan’s books are just the sort of thing that ought to be winning major awards, and not just in SF&F. Queen City Jazz works on many levels. It is a great story with well realized characters. It is an interesting exploration of the possible implications of futuristic technology. And it is so much more as well. If I was asked to provide a definition of great literature I’d say something along the lines that it isn’t enough to just be great fiction, you want a book where the more you know, the more you think about it, the more you get out of it. That’s absolutely true to Goonan’s work.
As I say in the review, there is an argument about literature being made in the book (and it shouldn’t surprise you to know that Gary Wolfe is also a great fan of Goonan’s work). The books are also deeply steeped in American history and culture. They are full of Mark Twain references, and each one focuses on a different variety of popular music. Sadly this probably got them marked out as “too American” for publishers over here to take a risk on, but if you have any interest in US culture they are well worth a read. I said at the end of the review that the book “had enough literary references in it to leave me feeling as ill-educated as I do after reading a Kim Newman novel”. I can’t put it any better than that, really.
I remember meeting her in the Glasgow Worldcon in 1995 and having the briefest of talks with her. She was quite serious, but very considerate, and I remember that I went right out from that panel to buy Queen City Jazz – and couldn’t found any copy (they were all sold out – we were almost at the end of the con, if I recall correctly).
Time passed, and I still haven’t read her quartet. Shame on me. Thank you for reminding me of her!
PS: I went straight to Amazon.com and couldn’t find the quartet on Kindle. Are they available anywhere else for sale in digital copy?
I can only see them pirated. In War Times is available, though.
Yeah, I saw In War Times – but is it set in the same universe? (I read the synopsis and didn’t think it was.)
Re: piracy. Am trying to support her by official channels. The problem is, her books are becoming harder and harder to find. Will have to resort to used book stores in the end, I guess – unless Tor (or some other publisher) eventually offers digital copies. I hope that’s not too far ahead in the future.
What a lovely post! Thanks, Cheryl. My friend (and marvelous writer who won a Nebula for “Goddesses”) Linda Nagata pointed it out to me.
Queen City Jazz is available online from Tor in trade paperback. It has been taught at MIT, UCR, Georgia Tech, and other universities, and the hardcovers are so depleted as to be exceedingly rare.
I sell Mississippi Blues, Crescent City Rhapsody, and Light Music from my web site. I plan to put out ebooks of these, but what with being a professor at Georgia Tech and working on publicity for THIS SHARED DREAM (Tor, July 19 2011–go to http://www.goonan.com/blog to see the cover, with blurbs from Ursula Le Guin and Connie Willis), I’m not sure how soon the ebooks will be out.
Anyone who would like a copy of these books can contact me via my web page, http://www.goonan.com. If you mention Cheryl’s post, I will give you a discount.