Douglas, Carole Nelson
Entry updated 30 October 2023. Tagged: Author.
(1944-2021) US author who began her career as a feature writer 1967-1984 for the St Paul Pioneer Press, and whose first books, like Amberleigh (1980), were historical romances. In Fantastika she is best known for energetic, layered high-fantasy tales like Six of Swords (1982), the first volume in her Kendric and Irissa sequence, which continues with Exiles of the Rynth (1984) and segues into the Sword & Circlet sequence with Keepers of Edanvant (1987) and its sequels. Her long Midnight Louie detective sequence, though narrated in part by a Cat named Midnight Louie, is in fact nonfantastic – though for Talking Animals [see The Encyclopedia of Fantasy under links below] – and is not listed below; the same applies to the Irene Adler suspense novels centred on the titular Sherlock Holmes character.
Though Nelson was an infrequent author of sf, the Probe sequence – Probe (1985) and Counterprobe (1988) – is of some interest for its slow unfolding of the mystery behind the Amnesia afflicting a young woman who has Psi Powers and who turns out to be what the title says she is: a probe inserted by Aliens into the human world to gather data. But love intervenes. Nelson's sf is strongly plotted, and it was long hoped that she might one day return to the genre. [JC]
see also: Superman.
Carole Nelson Douglas
born Everett, Washington: 5 November 1944
died Texas: 20 October 2021
works
series
Kendric and Irissa/Sword and Circlet
- Six of Swords (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 1982) [Kendric and Irissa: pb/Darrell K Sweet]
- Exiles of the Rynth (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 1984) [Kendric and Irissa: pb/Darrell K Sweet]
- Keepers of Edanvant (New York: Tor, 1987) [Kendric and Irissa/Sword & Circlet: hb/Stephen Hickman]
- Heir of Rengarth (New York: Tor, 1988) [Sword & Circlet: hb/Maren]
- Seven of Swords (New York: Tor, 1989) [Sword & Circlet: hb/Luis Royo]
Probe
- Probe (New York: Tor, 1985) [Probe: pb/Jael]
- Counterprobe (New York: Tor, 1988) [Probe: pb/Jael]
Taliswoman
- Cup of Clay (New York: Tor, 1991) [Taliswoman: hb/Darrell K Sweet]
- Seed Upon the Wind (New York: Tor, 1992) [Taliswoman: hb/Darrell K Sweet]
individual titles
- Fair Wind, Fiery Star (New York: Jove, 1981) [pb/]
- Fair Wind, Fiery Star (New York: Tor, 1993) [much exp: pb/Deborah Chabrian]
links
- Carole Nelson Douglas
- Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- The Encyclopedia of Fantasy: Talking Animals
- Picture Gallery
previous versions of this entry