And I wanted to tell a story based in the idea that Loki might just arrange for them to survive into the reborn world that appears in prophecies of a new earth arising after Ragnarok.Īlso, I had the character of Muire in my head, and it seemed fascinating to me to write about the experiences of a non-martial Valkyrie, somebody more interested in culture and science and history, who manages to be the sole survivor of the end of the world. They’re basically there to be the boogeyman, and kill everybody at the end of the world. And in Norse mythology, that’s Loki’s monstrous children: Hel, Fenrir, Sleipnir, Jormungandr. What inspired you to write it?ĮB: I always find myself wanting to talk about the underdog, the outsider, the character whose worldview is erased. Thinking of one of your poly-sexual characters, I’ve been reading (and loving!) your Edda of Burdens series lately. SK: That’s very true, and I’m sure many of your readers thank you for feeling that way. If I can read a book by and about a straight white man and gain something from the experience, then it stands to reason that I can also gain something from the experience of reading a book by and about a black transwoman.Įvery human experience is valid. Gay, bisexual, asexual, poly, intersexed, and trans people deserve to be the heroes of stories as much as anybody else does, and it shouldn’t be any barrier to entry for anyone else to read them. It’s 2015 same-sex marriage is more or less legal in 36 states and yet queerness is still a marked state. What attracts you to their stories?ĮB: I feel like the question itself is its own answer, really.

This isn’t the first time you’ve written about a queer character. The main character, Karen Memery, is a queer woman. SK: That sounds like a lot of fun! Do the women get to fight using the mechs? It involves derring-do, brave lawmen, high adventure, dirty politics, mind control, mecha fights, and a bordello full of women who are nobody’s fool and who aren’t about to take injustice lying down. What can you tell me about it?Įlizabeth Bear: Karen Memory is a steampunk thriller set in the American West, in the fictional Gold Rush town of Rapid City, which is loosely inspired by the cities of that era in the Pacific Northwest, notably Seattle and San Francisco. You can find her online at Shauna Kosoris: Your newest book, Karen Memory, just came out this month. Cambell Award for Best New Writer (2005), and a Locus Award for her Jenny Casey trilogy. She’s won many awards including two Hugos, the John W. Elizabeth Bear is the author of many short stories and novels, including the Jenny Casey trilogy ( Hammered, Scardown, and Worldwired), the Edda of Burdens ( All the Windwracked Stars, By the Mountain Bound, and The Sea Thy Mistress), and the Eternal Sky trilogy ( Range of Ghosts, Shattered Pillars, and Steles of the Sky).

Hammered by Elizabeth Bear