The Science Fiction and Fantasy of Lois McMaster Bujold

CALL FOR PAPERS:

Forward Momentum:

The Science Fiction and Fantasy of Lois McMaster Bujold

Edited by Janet Brennan Croft

Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy Series, McFarland Press

Purpose:

Lois McMaster Bujold has a shelf full of awards – Hugos, Nebulas, and others – for both her science fiction and
fantasy writing. She is one of the most respected names in the field, always delivering polished, thoughtful, and
well-crafted writing and dealing with important issues. Yet there is a dearth of serious critical writing about her
output, and certainly no book-length collection. This collection aims to begin to correct that situation by gathering
essays from a variety of critical perspectives addressing many aspects of her writing. Attention will be given to
both her Miles Vorkosigan science fiction series and her Chalion and Sharing Knife fantasy series, as well as the
books that fall outside these series. Also included will be a bibliography and list of awards. This anthology is under
contract with McFarland Press.

Abstracts:

Please send an abstract of 250-500 words to jbcroft@ou.edu. Deadline for abstracts is September 1, 2011.

Potential topics:

· The contrasting theological systems of the Chalion and Sharing Knife fantasy series

· The role of female characters and “codedly feminine” characters in both the SF and fantasy series

· The fantastic/familiar North American landscape of the Sharing Knife series

· An examination of the “Grateful Dead” folklore motif inThe Spirit Ring

· Bujold’s tendency to deliberately combine and subvert genre divisions

· Bujold’s influences:Star Trek, J.R.R. Tolkien, Dorothy L. Sayers, etc.

· The theme of finding and losing one’s life’s work

· Doppelgangers, reintegration of split personalities, psychic links, and other issues of identity, doubling, and
splitting

· Bujold’s depiction of the effects of accelerated technological change on individuals and society, including both
military and medical technology

Timeline:

Deadline for abstracts: September 1, 2011

Deadline for finished papers: February 1, 2012

Manuscript to publisher: May 1, 2012

About the Editor:

Janet Brennan Croft is Head of Access Services and Associate Professor of Bibliography at the University of
Oklahoma libraries. She earned her Master of Library Science degree at Indiana University in 1983. She is the

author ofWar in the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien (Praeger, 2004; winner of the Mythopoeic Society Award for Inklings
Studies) and several book chapters on the Peter Jackson films; has published articles on J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K.
Rowling, and Terry Pratchett inMythlore, Mallorn, Tolkien Studies, and Seven; and is editor of two collections of
essays:Tolkien on Film: Essays on Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings (Mythopoeic Press, 2004) andTolkien and
Shakespeare: Essays on Shared Themes and Language (McFarland, 2006). She has also written on library issues
forCollege and Undergraduate Libraries, Interlending and Document Supply, Journal of Access Services, Collection
Building,and Journal of Interlibrary Loan and Document Supply, and is the author ofLegal Solutions in Electronic
Reserves and the Electronic Delivery of Interlibrary Loan(Haworth, 2004). She is currently the editor of Mythlore
(for which she complied a book-length annotated index) and book review editor ofOklahoma Librarian, and serves
on the board of the Mythopoeic Press, for which she has indexed and annotated several titles.

Janet Brennan Croft

Associate Professor
Head of Access Services
University of Oklahoma Libraries
Bizzell 104NW
Norman OK 73019
405-325-1918
Fax 405-325-7618
jbcroft@ou.edu
http://ou.academia.edu/JanetCroft/CurriculumVitae
http://libraries.ou.edu/
Editor of Mythlore http://www.mythsoc.org/mythlore.html

Book Review Editor of Oklahoma Librarianhttp://www.oklibs.org/oklibrarian/current/index.html

"Humans need fantasy to be human. To be the place where the rising ape meets the falling angel." -Terry Pratchett