Mary Gentle

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Mary Rosalyn Gentle (born 1956) is a UK science fiction and fantasy author.

Contents 1 Literary career 2 Bibliography 2.1 Novels 2.2 Novellas 2.3 Collections 2.4 Trivia 3 References 4 External link

[edit] Literary career

Mary Gentle's first published novel was Hawk in Silver (1977), a young adult's fantasy. She came to prominence with the Orthe duology consisting of Golden Witchbreed (1983) and Ancient Light (1987).

The novels Rats and Gargoyles (1990), The Architecture of Desire (1991) and Left to His Own Devices (1994), together with several stories in her 1989 collection Scholars and Soldiers form a loosely linked series (collected in White Crow in 2003), about an alternate history version of 17th century and later England where a form of Renaissance Hermetic magic has taken over the role of science. This sequence is very much informed by historically existing ideas about magic, alchemy and such and the stories are rife with allusions to real history and literature.

Grunts (1992) is a grand guignol parody of mass-market high fantasy novels—with orcs as heroes, murderous halflings and racist elves.

Gentle formed part of the Midnight Rose collective in the early 1990s.

In general, Mary Gentle's writing is somewhat cynical about human nature and does not flinch away from the darker side of human behaviour.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Novels

• A Hawk in Silver. London: Gollancz, 1977. ISBN 0-575-02386-4
• Orthe series
  • Golden Witchbreed. London: Gollancz, 1984. ISBN 0-575-03332-0
  • Ancient Light. London: Gollancz, 1987. ISBN 0-575-03629-X
  • Orthe (omnibus edition). London: Gollancz, 2002 (paper). ISBN 0-575-07287-3
• White Crow series
  • Rats and Gargoyles. London: Bantam, 1990. ISBN 0-593-01948-2
  • The Architecture of Desire. London: Bantam, 1991. ISBN 0-593-01952-0
  • Left to His Own Devices. London: Orbit, 1994 (paper). ISBN 1-85723-203-8
  • White Crow (omnibus edition). London: Gollancz, 2003 (paper). ISBN 0-575-07519-8
• Grunts!. London: Bantam, 1992. ISBN 0-593-01956-3
• First History series
  • Ash: A Secret History. London: Gollancz, 2000. ISBN 0-575-06900-7
  • Ilario: The Lion's Eye. London: Gollancz, 2006. ISBN 0-575-07661-5
• 1610: A Sundial in a Grave (vt US A Sundial in a Grave: 1610). London: Gollancz, 2003. ISBN 0-575-07250-4

[edit] Novellas

• Under The Penitence. Harrogate: PS Publishing, 2004. ISBN 1-904619-10-X

[edit] Collections

• Scholars and Soldiers. London: Macdonald, 1989. ISBN 0-356-17893-5
• Cartomancy. London: Gollancz, 2004 (paper). ISBN 0-575-07532-5

[edit] Trivia

• Played in roleplaying games run at sci-fi conventions.^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ Celebrity Gamers. Forbeck.com.

[edit] External link

• Mary Gentle at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database