CARDS OF GRIEF Ace Books 1984 ISBN# 0-441-09166-0 Ace paperback ISBN# 0-7088-8206-4 Orbit Book paperback (British) Published for adults.

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My first adult novel, this is the story of the Anthropologists Guild who travel across galaxies in ships and study other planets' peoples. It was based on two of my short stories, ""In the Hall of Grief" ("Elsewhere, Vol. 3, edited by Terri Windling and Mark Arnold, Ace Books) and "Cards of Grief" (from Tales of Wonder) about a world in which grieving is the highest form of art. I had never written a sustained narrative of that length before and when I asked my friend, sf writer Joan Vinge, for words of wisdom, she said "Follow one character until he/she has nothing left to say, then have that character meet someone else." I'm not sure I followed her instructions to the letter! The book had both a German and a British edition (the British cover was especially lovely). It won the 1985 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for best fantasy novel. Of course the book is science fiction; it even has a rocketship crew. But it smells like a fantasy novel!

       Out of print.

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