Grant, Richard 1952–

PERSONAL: Born 1952; married Elizabeth Hand (a writer).

ADDRESSES: Home—Lincolnville Beach, ME. Agent—c/o Author Mail, HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd St., 7th Fl., New York, NY 10022.

CAREER: Writer. Previously worked as columnist.

AWARDS, HONORS: New England Journalism Award, for best column in a weekly publication; Philip K. Dick Award, for Through the Heart, and special citation for best North American paperback novel, both for Saraband of Lost Time; Maine Newspaper Award, for best column.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Saraband of Lost Time (science fiction), Avon Books (New York, NY), 1985.

Rumors of Spring (science fiction), Bantam Books (New York, NY), 1987.

Views from the Oldest House, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1989.

Through the Heart (science fiction), Bantam Spectra (New York, NY), 1991.

Tex and Molly in the Afterlife (fantasy), Avon Books (New York, NY), 1996.

In the Land of Winter (fantasy), Avon Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Kaspian Lost (science fiction), Spike (New York, NY), 1999.

OTHER

Also contributor of short stories to anthologies, including Full Spectrum and The Ascent of Wonder. Contributing editor, Down East.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Another Green World

SIDELIGHTS: Richard Grant has written several novels, primarily in the science-fiction and fantasy genres. In several of his stories, the author focuses on the fate of the world following a collapse of civilization as we know it; he speculates on the types of technology and institutions that might survive or be adapted for a new society and how they might combine with ancient, pre-industrial technologies. Rather than approaching his subject from a serious, or even a melancholy, viewpoint, he employs humor to address these questions. His first novel, Saraband of Lost Time, depicts precisely this sort of amalgam of old and new societies while relating a quest for the ancient power or machine that can rescue the world from its post-collapse situation.

Grant's second novel explores similar themes. Rumors of Spring also takes place several centuries after an ecological collapse of modern society. The collapse was the result of a mysterious project that was being conducted in the Carbon Bank Forest. The protagonists of the story go on a crusade of sorts, intent on stopping whoever was responsible for the metamorphosis of the original research from doing more damage.

In Kaspian Lost Grant turns his attention to other-worldly phenomena. Fifteen-year-old Kaspian Aaby disappears from summer camp for four days. When he returns, he has memories of an extraordinary adventure involving leprechauns, his dead father, and an angel. Already a troublemaker, Kaspian finds his story sufficiently bizarre for his mother to ship him off to boarding school, where he spends his time trying to keep his experiences from the many adults intent on "helping" him. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly noted that "Grant's acute ear for adolescent angst and a plot a step or two left of reality lift this coming-of-age tale a few inches out of the [ordinary]." Margaret A. Smith remarked in Library Journal that the book provides "equal amounts of humor and pathos, with events and characters often suggesting Holden Caulfield in a Kurt Vonnegut yarn."

With In the Land of Winter Grant creates a modern fairy tale about a single working mother who just happens to be a practicing witch. Pippa Rede soon learns there is a price to pay for witchcraft; she loses custody of her daughter, Winterbelle, and then loses her job and her home. In order to go up against the town's powers that be, she rejects the notion of displaying supposedly normal behavior and instead embraces her skills. Her journey involves a wolf, a wise woman, and a young prince, as well as a measure of personal growth. A contributor to Publishers Weekly wrote that "despite patches of self-conscious, coy prose, Grant delivers an entertaining fairy tale." In a review for the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Michelle West wrote that the author's "phrasing, the tenor of the language, the small but completely apt descriptions, the dance of words across the interior landscape of Pippa's … life—they're luminous. They glow." Library Journal contributor Michele Leber described the book as "a wonderful, witty feminist fable … suffused with the supernatural yet grounded in morality."

Tex and Molly in the Afterlife reveals more of Grant's naturalist leanings. The story follows the adventures of hippies Molly and Tex after they fall down a well and die. Their earthly lives as members of a theater troop interested in raising environmental awareness prove a good foundation for their activities in the afterlife, where they take on a corporation responsible for repopulating the Great North Woods with manmade trees. Molly and Tex encounter various people and creatures during their quest, including elfin children and a tree sprite. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly remarked that "the book's whimsical format … sometimes leans too far into eccentricity," but also stated that the work "combines the literate but gonzo artistry of Tom Robbins with the obsessive spirituality of dedicated New Agers."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

St. James Guide to Science-Fiction Writers, fourth edition, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1996.

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, October 15, 1997, Michele Leber, review of In the Land of Winter, p. 92; July, 1999, Margaret A. Smith, review of Kaspian Lost, p. 131.

Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, July, 1998, Michelle West, review of In the Land of Winter, p. 45.

Publishers Weekly, August 12, 1996, review of Tex and Molly in the Afterlife, p. 64; September 8, 1997, review of In the Land of Winter, p. 55; May 24, 1999, review of Kaspian Lost, p. 73.