Elizabeth A. Lynn

Elizabeth A. Lynn (born 1946) is a US writer most known for fantasy and to a lesser extent science fiction. She is particularly known for being one of the first writers in science fiction or fantasy to introduce gay and lesbian characters; in honor of Lynn, the GLBT bookstore "A Different Light" took its name from her novel.

Literary biography

Lynn's best-known series, The Chronicles of Tornor, comprises three novels: Watchtower (1979) (which won the World Fantasy Award); The Dancers of Arun (1979); and Northern Girl (1980). The series is a fantasy trilogy of loosely connected stories. Watchtower is the story of a young man; The Dancers of Arun similarly is the story of a love relationship between two men; and Northern Girl is the story of a young woman, whose lover is an older military woman.

Lynn's early science fiction novels were similarly ground-breaking in their treatment of sexual themes. In The Sardonyx Net (1981), one of the primary characters is a sexual sadist. The novel A Different Light (1978) featured a same-sex relationship between two men, and inspired the name of the LGBT bookstore, "A Different Light". Both these novels featured the science fiction concept hyperspace.

Lynn more recently began a new fantasy series, again featuring gay relationships: Dragon's Winter (1998) and Dragon's Treasure (2004).

Bibliography

Novels and novella

• A Different Light (1978)
• Watchtower (1979)
• The Dancers of Arun (1979)
• The Northern Girl (1980)
• The Sardonyx Net (1981)
• The Woman Who Loved the Moon and Other Stories (1981)
• The Silver Horse (1981)
• "The Red Hawk" (novella, 1984)
• Dragon's Winter (1998)
• Dragon's Treasure (2004)

Short stories

• "Jubilee's Story" (in Millennial Women, 1978)

Reference

• The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, page 743

• Elizabeth A. Lynn entry at the Feminist SF wiki

External links

• Elizabeth A. Lynn at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• scifan

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