Book Review: Grail and the Jacob's Ladder Trilogy by Elizabeth Bear

Grail, by Elizabeth Bear, is the concluding book in her trilogy about the Jacob's Ladder, a generation spaceship traveling to colonize a world around a distant star.  I became interested in Bear when I picked up Dust, the first book of the series.  Dust amazed me with its unusual depictions of high technology, genderqueer characters, and epic queer romance set at an action-adventure pace.  Chill suffered only slightly from middle book syndrome, delivering solid plot progress and character development with plenty of suspense and conflict to keep the reader engaged.  With Grail, Bear wraps up the story well, while providing a fascinating outsider's view of the generation ship's crew and characters.

22nd Annual Lambda Literary Awards

By Tony Adams

On Thursday, May 27, 2010, in Manhattan, the Lambda Literary Foundation recognized excellence in LGBT writing  at their 22nd annual Lambda Literary Awards. The best parts of the evening are always the socializing before the ceremony, the speeches of the Pioneer Award winners and the afterparty. Before entering the School of Visual Arts Theatre on 23rd Street, I crashed into the most spirited group in attendance, the ladies of Bold Strokes Books, an independent LGBTQ publishing house. (L to R: Collette Moody, Paula Tige, Carson Tate, Trinity Tam, Nell Starke, Radclyffe,  Polly Earnest, Lee Liggett. Hope I haven't butchered the names too badly)

Eddie Sarfaty (rare combination of handsome and hilarious) was The Master of Ceremonies. (Photo below) This year's Pioneer Award went to Larry Kramer and Kate Clinton. Larry surprised everyone by delivering a touching speech about his love of writing and appreciation of a good editor. Not a drop of vitriol. Kate said that she and Larry represent comedy and tragedy - and that it is up to us to make the correct assignments. She also stated that she and her partner are the last lesbian unmarried petless couple of 20+ years  east of the Mississippi. 

At the afterparty held at the gracious home of David McConnell and Darrell Crawford, I met a man from Seattle who is partner to an ex-Dominican monk. They both appear in fisting videos. He showed me some stills kept on his phone.

Here is a set of photos from the evening that does not include the above mentioned images. You'll see that the author of the shocking and now vintage Mad Man, Samual Delaney, is now looking like Santa Clause. He said he actually played Santa last December and we laughed about him bouncing small children on his disreputable knees. This set also contains pictures of pretty Kate and charmant Larry.

After the jump, you'll find a complete list of the winners by category. A great way to structure your summer reading list!