Return to Table of ContentsWho is Tanith Lee?
Q: Who is Tanith Lee?
A: Tanith Lee is a prolific British author of science fiction, fantasy, and horror
whose first published work appeared in 1968. Amongst her earliest publications were books
for children, and she has continued to produce work for younger readers throughout her
career. To date, she has published over 100 novels and more than 250 short stories. (Top)
Q: How can I contact Tanith Lee? Can you tell me where she lives,
or give me her e-mail address?
A: If you want to contact her (or any other author), you'll have to do the
same thing we did: write to her in care of the publisher of one of her recent books. Check
the copyright page for the address. (Top)
Q: Is this an "official" website?
A: No. Tanith Lee does have her own site, located at www.tanithlee.com. This site has no official
connection with Tanith Lee, aside from the fact that she reviewed an early draft of this
bibliography and contributed some corrections and additions. Allison Rich is solely
responsible for the content and maintenance of this site. (Top)
Q: What awards has Tanith Lee won or been nominated for?
A: Lots. The Birthgrave was nominated for the 1975
Nebula Award for best novel. Night's Master was
nominated for the 1979 World Fantasy Award for best novel. Death's
Master won the 1980 British Fantasy Award for best novel. (Also known as the August
Derleth Award). The Gorgon won the 1983 World Fantasy Award
for best short story. Elle Est Trois, (La Mort) won the
1984 World Fantasy Award for best short story, the same year that Nunc Dimittis was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for
best novella, and Red As Blood, or, Tales From The Sisters
Grimmer was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for best anthology/collection. Night Visions 1 was nominated for the 1985 World Fantasy Award
for best anthology/collection. The Spanish-language edition of Volkhavaar
won the 1986 Gilgamés Award for best fantasy novel, while the Spanish-language edition of
Night's Master won the 1987 Gilgamés Award for best
fantasy novel. Dreams Of Dark And Light was nominated for
the 1987 World Fantasy Award for best anthology/collection. Jedella
Ghost was nominated for the 1999 British Fantasy Award for best short fiction. Law Of The Wolf Tower was shortlisted for the Guardian
Children's Fiction Award. Scarlet And Gold was
nominated for the 1999 World Fantasy Award for Best Novella. Where
Does The Town Go At Night? was nominated for the 2000 British Fantasy Award for best
short fiction. La Vampiresse was nominated for the 2000
British Science Fiction Award for best short fiction. (Top)
Q: What's the title of Tanith Lee's next book, and when
is it coming out?
A: In general, we list forthcoming books, when we know about them, at the end of the
Chronology with the notation "forthcoming" after the
title. If there are no forthcoming titles listed, that just means that we're not
currently aware of any. (Top)
Q: What do you know about The Betrothed?
A: Everything we know about the book can be found in the listing, and in the Author Biography page. The data in the listing is based on an
examination of the copy in the collection of the British Library. This information was
provided by Jim Fields, who has made a number of contributions to this bibliography. (Top)
Q: What does "nunc dimittis" mean?
A: These are the first words of the Song of Simeon in Luke 2:29-32, nunc
dimittis servum tuum, Domine [Latin]: "thy servant depart now, Lord." To
sing one's nunc dimittis is to declare oneself willing or delighted to depart
from life or from some occupation. We stumbled across this in Dean King's A Sea Of
Words, an excellent companion volume to Patrick O'Brian's wonderful
Aubrey-Maturin novels. (Top)
Q: Which book should I read first (or next)?
A: We don't know. With a body of work as large and varied as Tanith
Lee's, it's more than likely that you'll like a certain book more than we
do, and vice versa. One place to start may be to simply look through the bibliography and
note which books and stories have been published or reprinted the greatest number of
times. These will probably be the easiest to find, and are almost certainly the most
popular with the majority of readers. (Top)
Q: Some of Tanith Lee's books are hard to find. Where can I
get copies?
A: Wherever you find them. Check your local bookstore, and ask if they can order
in-print titles that they don't have in stock. Haunt your local used bookstores. Go
to science fiction conventions and check the tables in the dealer's room. Check out
the mail-order dealers specializing in sf who advertise in
Locus. Go to our Links To
Related Sites page, and check out the links we've provided to mail-order and
antiquarian booksellers. And if you find someone with a lot of Tanith Lee books for sale,
please let me know. (Top)
Q: How much are copies of Tanith Lee's out-of-print books
worth?
A: It depends. Prices on Tanith Lee books can range from a few dollars for a used
paperback, to a few hundred dollars for a copy of one of her early hardcovers. Prices for
out-of-print books in general are determined by any number of factors, including (but not
limited to) condition, scarcity and demand. As with most collectibles, prices vary widely,
so shop around. (Top)
Q: Why don't you put a picture of the author on your website?
A: We don't have one, and requests to her publishers and agent for publicity
photos have fallen on (apparently) deaf ears. We can't just scan a picture from the
dustwrapper of one of her books because that's a violation of copyright laws.
It's OK to reproduce the cover art, as long as you reproduce the entire cover and
credit the original publisher. And it's OK to quote the text that appears on the
cover. But you can't reproduce the author photographs because the publisher of the
book doesn't own the copyright on those. (Top)
Q: Is Tanith Lee's father the actor who played "M"
in the James Bond films?
A: No. Although the name of Tanith Lee's father was Bernard Lee, he was not
the actor who played "M." The biographical note in Interzone No 128 which
claims that her father was the well-known actor is incorrect. (Top)
Q: Why did you compile this bibliography?
A: There's no easy answer to that question. It all began with a simple list of
book titles that Paul assembled one day, and just sort of grew from there. If you look
through the bibliography, you'll notice that some of the books have been published
only in the US, while others have appeared only in the UK. You'll also notice that a
lot of the books, no matter where they first appeared, are now out of print. For the
shorter works, some have never been reprinted after their initial publication, and many
have never appeared in one of the author's short story collections. All these facts
combine to make life difficult for fans and collectors of Tanith Lee's work. So there
seemed to be a need for some sort of guide showing just what was published, when and
where. Besides, as Neil Barron once pointed out, "science fiction fans are inveterate
list makers," which may be the only answer this question requires. (Top)
Q: I think I found a mistake. Should I tell you about it?
A: Yes, please. We've included a form which allows you to Submit
Additions and Corrections, or you can simply send an e-mail message to me, Allison, alysoun@cox.net (Top)
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