Scarborough, Elizabeth Ann
Entry updated 13 November 2023. Tagged: Author.
(1947- ) US author whose work has long properly been read as fantasy, but some of whose later novels transcend genre boundaries in interesting ways. Her early novels – like her first, Song of Sorcery (1982), which begins the Songs from the Seashell Archives sequence, tend to lightweight effects; a little later, in tales like The Drastic Dragon of Draco, Texas (1986), the first volume of the Drastic Dragon sequence, a more humane note can be detected; and in her finest single novel to date, The Healer's War (1988), which won the Nebula Award, an altogether more complex kind of storytelling unfolds. The protagonist of the book is a nurse in Viet Nam; Scarborough's descriptions of events there are of a piece with those found in the work of Bruce McAllister and Lucius Shepard; and the central premise – and in this too The Healer's War shares preoccupations with those other writers's work – is that it is possible to access a deeper reality, in this case via an amulet given her by a holy man, and to cure the maimed. The protagonist of the Nothing Sacred sequence, comprising Nothing Sacred (1991) and its sequel, Last Refuge (1992), is also a woman haunted by the distress of the world, this time a century hence, who discovers that the Prison camp in Tibet to which she is sent is in fact Shangri-La (see James Hilton; Keep), and that the Buddhist doctrine of Reincarnation is not simply a belief. Because of their detailed setting in a recognizable world, and because the supernormal elements in each book are argued as being truly integral to that recognizable world, it is hard to pigeonhole Scarborough's mature novels as either sf or fantasy, though she does not engage in Equipoisal challenges to her readers perceptions. The Petaybee Universe tales, all with Anne McCaffrey and beginning with Powers That Be (1994) are, on the other hand, romantic sf in the McCaffrey mode. [JC]
Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
born Kansas City, Missouri: 23 March 1947
works (selected)
series
Songs from the Seashell Archives
- Song of Sorcery (New York: Bantam Books, 1982) [Songs from the Seashell Archives: pb/Segrelles]
- The Unicorn Creed (New York: Bantam Books, 1983) [Songs from the Seashell Archives: pb/Pauline Ellison]
- Songs from the Seashell Archives Vol 1 (New York: Bantam Books, 1987) [omni of the above two: Songs from the Seashell Archives: pb/E T Steadman]
- Bronwyn's Bane (New York: Bantam Books, 1983) [Songs from the Seashell Archives: pb/John Berkey]
- The Christening Quest (New York: Bantam Books, 1985) [Songs from the Seashell Archives: pb/Kevin Eugene Johnson]
- Songs from the Seashell Archives Vol 2 (New York: Bantam Books, 1988) [omni of the above two: Songs from the Seashell Archives: pb/E T Steadman]
- The Dragon, the Witch, and the Railroad (Lockhart, Texas: Gypsy Shadow Publishing Company, 2015) [Songs from the Seashell Archives: pb/Karen Gilmore]
Drastic Dragon
- The Drastic Dragon of Draco, Texas (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1986) [Drastic Dragon: pb/Rowena Morrill]
- The Goldcamp Vampire; or, The Sanguinary Sourdough (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1987) [Drastic Dragon: pb/E T Steadman]
Nothing Sacred
- Nothing Sacred (New York: Doubleday Foundation, 1991) [Nothing Sacred: pb/Keith Parkinson]
- Last Refuge (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1992) [Nothing Sacred: pb/Keith Parkinson]
Songkiller Saga
- Phantom Banjo (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1991) [Songkiller Saga: pb/Pauline Ellison]
- Picking the Ballad's Bones (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1991) [Songkiller Saga: pb/Pauline Ellison]
- Strum Again? (New York: Bantam Spectra, 1992) [Songkiller Saga: pb/Pauline Ellison]
Petaybee
- Powers That Be (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 1993) with Anne McCaffrey [Petaybee: hb/Rowena Morrill]
- Power Lines (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 1994) with Anne McCaffrey [Petaybee: hb/Rowena Morrill]
- Power Play (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 1995) with Anne McCaffrey [Petaybee: hb/Rowena Morrill]
Petaybee: Twins of Petaybee
- Changelings (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2005) with Anne McCaffrey [Petaybee: Twins of Petaybee: hb/Terese Nielsen]
- Maelstrom (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2006) with Anne McCaffrey [Petaybee: Twins of Petaybee: hb/Chris Spollen]
- Deluge (London: Bantam Press, 2008) with Anne McCaffrey [Petaybee: Twins of Petaybee: hb/Fred Gambino]
Acorna
- Acorna's People: Further Adventures of the Unicorn Girl (New York: HarperPrism, 1999) with Anne McCaffrey [Acorna: hb/John Ennis]
- Acorna's World (New York: HarperCollins/Eos, 2000) with Anne McCaffrey [Acorna: hb/John Ennis]
- Acorna's Search (New York: Eos, 2001) with Anne McCaffrey [Acorna: hb/John Ennis]
- Acorna's Rebels (New York: Eos, 2003) with Anne McCaffrey [Acorna: hb/John Ennis]
- Acorna's Triumph (New York: Eos, 2004) with Anne McCaffrey [Acorna: hb/John Ennis]
Acorna's Children
- Acorna's Children: First Warning (New York: Eos, 2005) with Anne McCaffrey [Acorna's Children: hb/Chris McGrath]
- Acorna's Children: Second Wave (New York: Eos, 2006) with Anne McCaffrey [Acorna's Children: hb/Chris McGrath]
- Acorna's Children: Third Watch (New York: Eos, 2007) with Anne McCaffrey [Acorna's Children: hb/Chris McGrath]
Godmother
- The Godmother (New York: Ace Books, 1994) [Godmother: hb/Tara McGovern]
- The Godmother's Apprentice (New York: Ace Books, 1995) [Godmother: hb/Tara McGovern]
- The Godmother's Web (New York: Ace Books, 1998) [Godmother: hb/Tara McGovern-Benson]
Cleopatra
- Channeling Cleopatra (New York: Ace Books, 2002) [Cleopatra: hb/Scott Grimando]
- Cleopatra 7.2 (New York: Ace Books, 2004) [Cleopatra: hb/Scott Grimando]
Tales of the Barque Cats
- Catalyst: A Tale of the Barque Cats (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2010) with Anne McCaffrey [hb/Jennifer Reagles]
- Catacombs: A Tale of the Barque Cats (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey, 2010) with Anne McCaffrey [hb/Kathleen Lynch]
individual titles
- The Harem of Aman Akbar; or, The Djinn Decanted (New York: Bantam Books, 1984) [pb/Steve Hickman]
- The Healer's War (New York: Doubleday Foundation, 1988) [hb/Braldt Bralds]
- Carol for Another Christmas (New York: Ace Books, 1996) [hb/Doron Ben-Ami]
- The Lady in the Loch (New York: Ace Books, 1998) [hb/Jean-Yves Kervevain]
- The Tour Bus of Doom (Lockhart, Texas: Gypsy Shadow Publishing Company, 2012) [pb/Karen Gilmore]
collections
- Scarborough Fair and Other Stories (Waterville, Maine: Five Star, 2003) [coll: hb/Ursula Vernon]
- Nine Tales O' Cats (Lockhart, Texas: Gypsy Shadow Publishing Company, 2011) [coll: pb/Karen Gilmore]
- Shifty: Nine Tales of Shape-Shifting and Transformation (Lockhart, Texas: Gypsy Shadow Publishing Company, 2013) [coll: pb/Karen Gilmore]
- Mummies of the Motorway & Scarborough Fair: Short Stories (New York: Open Road Integrated Media, 2014) [coll: ebook: na/]
works as editor
- Space Opera (New York: DAW Books, 1996) with Anne McCaffrey [anth: pb/Jim Burns]
- Warrior Princesses (New York: DAW Books, 1998) with Martin H Greenberg [anth: pb/Tristan Elwell]
- Past Lives, Present Tense (New York: Ace Books, 1999) [anth: pb/Diane Fenster]
- Vampire Slayers: Stories of Those Who Dare to Take Back the Night (Nashville, Tennessee: Cumberland House, 1999) with Martin H Greenberg [anth: pb/]
links
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