Photo courtesy Erin Vollick
Published: April 21, 2017
By
In this next installation of the Book Swap series we turn to Erin Vollick for a dive into science-fiction. Vollick writes young adult science-fiction and fantasy novels under the pseudonym L.E. Sterling. Her latest novel, True North (the second in her True Born Trilogy), was released in stores on Apr. 4. She also oversees communications at the Faculty of Dentistry.
What are you currently reading?
I’m deep into The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson, a novel inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. There’s a beautiful, ethereal instability to Boe’s universe that really plucks at me as characters from the ‘dream world’ cross paths with characters from the ‘waking world’ – essentially, our modern world.
What’s the last book you read that made a big impact on you?
Maggie Stievater’s The Raven King (the fourth book in the Raven Cycle series) is one of the best written, most interesting novels I’ve read in a long time. It’s complex, dark and utterly enchanting. The Raven King is marketed as young adult fiction but don’t let that fool you – this is a novel for everyone.
What genres do you typically read? Any that you avoid?
These days I’m almost exclusively reading science-fiction, fantasy, and young adult fiction (since that’s what I’m writing), spiced up with a bit of contemporary fiction here and there. In past years I’ve been guilty of binge-reading postmodern, modern and contemporary novels: everyone from Susan Sontag, Ishmael Reed and Cristina Garcia to F.Scott Fitzgerald and Edith Wharton.
What book should people read next?
The Enchantment Emporium (the first book in The Gale Women series) by Canadian author Tanya Huff. This is an amazing urban fantasy set in contemporary Ontario and Alberta. What I enjoy most is the novel’s treatment of sexuality and magic – there is so much happening underneath the surface – but it also intersects so well with Canadian contemporary culture. One of the refrains of the book is “there’s something happening in Calgary” – a nod to the oil boom as well as strange magic. As well, the female characters are so strong. In fact, the entire mythos of the novel revolves around incredibly powerful, complex women.