WHITE JENNA
Tor Books 1989
ISBN# 0-312-93195-6 Tor hardcover
ISBN# 0-812-50907-2 Tor paperback
ISBN# 0-765-34358-4 Tor Teen paperback
Published originally for adults.

The sequel to Sister Light, this actually contains the chapter based ona short story of the same name written for Jessica Amanada Salmonson's anthology "Heroic Visions." Published in 1989, White Jenna and its companion Sister Light comprise one single book. In the late 90s, the two would be put together as The Book of Great Alta. (My husband always contended it was a single book and I had had a crisis of faith about writing such a long piece.) The book is broken into sections: the story, the ballad, the history, the tale, etc. Each part goes toward telling the story of the young white-haired Jenna who is a child of prophecy called upon to reunite the broken kingdom of the Dales. The book is feminist and humanist at its core. The major magic set piece is that the women who live cloistered in Hames can call forth their shadow sisters, that Other side that makes them whole. All artfully (I hope) disguised as a novel of sword and sorcery. Eventually I wrote a third book (I thought killing off all the main characters would keep me from committing a trilogy, but those pesky critters have their own ideas!) Called The One Armed Queen, it takes the story one step further. There are Spanish and Japanese editions, and the book was a Nebula nominee. The Science Fiction Book Club pblished its own version of The Book of Great Alta. It was a nominee for the Utah Young Adults' Award in 1993.

       Available in Tor paperback and as part of The Book of Great Alta in trade paperback.

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