Sarah Monette

(Photo taken from here.)I've wanted to post something about Sarah Monette for awhile now. I'll focus on her short fiction because, shamefully, I've only read one novel by her (hope to rectify this soon).What is it I like about Monette's short fiction? It's a combination of things. There's a dark vision, a voice and tone, inhabiting each that tells me there's not just passion behind Monette's work, but also intellect.In stories like "Draco Campestris", she displays a talent for telling the reader just enough to provide adequate context. A lesser writer would have felt the need to explain more, and would not have been content to let the haunting images at the end keep the story open-ended.Other stories, like "A Light in Troy", have an underlying strangeness but also what I could describe as an essential cruelty--which is to say that even as you must love all your characters, no matter how moral or immoral, you cannot allow your love for them to deform the story in their favor.Even in a minor story by Monette, like "A Night in Electric Squidland", there's a voice that carries you through: "Some days, Mick Sharpton was almost normal. Those were the good days, the days when he did his job and went dancing after work, days when he enjoyed eating and slept well and sang in the shower. Days when flirting with a good-looking man was fun, even if it didn't lead to sex, and he didn't lose his temper with anyone unless they deserved it. Those were the days when he liked himself and liked his life, and some months there were more of them than others."Monette appears to have been a published writer since about 2002 or 2003, and it seems she is poised to simply get better and better. I would not be surprised if in the next few years she becomes recognized as one of our better short story writers....And now I just need to find the time to read more of her novels.Jeff