Aaron's Book of the Week :: No Enemy But Time by Michael Bishop

BOTW has been on hiatus, I think in part because too many great authors have passed away in recent times, and BOTW's unplanned conversion to an authors' obituary page got depressing. What I've decided is that BOTW will go back to emphasizing authors who are living (or died sufficiently long ago that it's no longer sad) and if we wish to honor a recently departed author we will do that in a supplemental tribute.

With that in mind, the Book of the Week is a recent find, the first edition of No Enemy But Time by Michael Bishop. Published in 1982, No Enemy But Time won the 1983 Nebula Award for Best Novel. First editions of major award winners tend to appreciate significantly in value, so I was delighted to find this copy at a reasonable price. The cover art is by Vincent DiFate, who is one of the all-time top SF/F illustrators, although this cover unfortunately follows an embarrassing genre tradition: the cover obscures the fact that the book's protagonist is African-American.

The Nebula Award is presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, who also honor two authors each years as Grand Master and Author Emeritus. Beginning next week, we will pay tribute to this year's honorees.

Aaron's Book of the Week :: Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

The Book of the Week is Doomsday Book by Connie Willis. This is a signed and inscribed copy of the trade paperback first printing (cover art by Tim Jacobus), issued simultaneously with the extremely rare hardcover edition.

First published in 1992, Doomsday Book won both the Hugo Award and Nebula Award for Best Novel (sharing the Hugo with Vernor Vinge's excellent A Fire Upon the Deep) and has quickly become a classic of the science fiction field. Doomsday Book tells of a young historian who travels in time to England's plague years. It is perhaps the best example of Connie Willis's remarkable ability to write stories that are both very funny and terribly sad.

Connie Willis is a charming person, a delightful public speaker, and absurdly generous with her time. She has twice traveled out from Greeley to meet with our book group - Denver SF & Fantasy Book Club - and last month came out to talk with a group of 4th and 5th graders at my son's school after the students read Doomsday Book. Ms. Willis is always in great demand as a toastmaster at science fiction and fantasy conventions. Last month she hosted the Nebula Awards banquet, presenting the awards voted upon by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. And with that segue, next week's Book of the Week will be in honor of the writer named Author Emeritus at that banquet.