Palimpsest is one of my favorite words. (I even managed to work it into my thesis, which — given the research had absolutely nothing to do with palimpsests — I admit gave me some joy at the time.) It’s also the title of Catherynne Valente’s newest novel, which has a premise so amazingly cool that I ache with envy.
And, just to rub it in for the rest of us mortals, she writes some of the most amazing prose I’ve ever read. She is seriously the most stone-cold talented writer I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. I realized this about 2 pages into her submission at Rio Hondo last spring. Oh, and she tops it off by being nice. The nerve!
Anyway, enough of my envy. So, Palimpsest.
Check out her website for all sorts of Palimpsest goodies, including a trailer that makes me want to have the book in my hands right now. If you’re looking for more details, John Joseph Adams chatted with Cat about the book over at Tor.com. And you can find a more complete interview with the amazingly-talented and critically-acclaimed author of the Orphan’s Tales here. (Thanks, Sam. I’m lazy.)
Catherynne Valente rocks. That’s pretty much the bottom line.
And, speaking of people who rock, Charlie Finlay (whose FREE BOOK I wrote about here) has a story on the Nebula ballot this year. Charlie’s short fiction garners a sickening number of award nominations. (In fact, I think he’s the only person to be nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, Sidewise, and Campbell awards all in the same year. Pfff. What an overachiever.) As if you needed another reason to go download The Patriot Witch right now.