Meluch, R M
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1956- ) US author whose first novel, Sovereign (1979), shows a competent grasp of the conventions and venues of sf adventure while at the same time refracting traditional material through an unusually complex protagonist, who is the precarious culmination of a Genetic Engineering programme haunted by the continuing image of his first enemy: his own father. There are, perhaps, too many additional enemies for plausibility – as the protagonist defeats them all, whether on Earth, on his own planet Arana, or in space – but the relative inwardness of the tale is convincing throughout. The Wind series – Wind Dancers (1981) and Wind Child (1982) – comes close to sentimentality in its depiction of a Shapeshifters species oppressed by an evil corporation intent on exploiting their planet. Jerusalem Fire (1985) more bracingly depicts a Planetary Romance Arab culture with roots deep in Earth's history, but War Birds (1989) again veers towards sentiment. Chicago Red (1990), which returns to Meluch's somewhat high-blown but energetically conceived best, is a tale of a USA which has reverted to eighteenth-century models of kingship, with revolution inevitable against the Kingdom of America (see History in SF), with the eponymous leader in rousing fettle; and The Queen's Squadron (1992) opposes – in the foregrounded manner which has become a stylistic feature of her work – free mortals and their immortal oppressors (see Immortality).
After a period during which she published rarely, and only in shorter forms, Meluch began a new series, the Tour of the Merrimack sequence of Military SF adventures set in farflung Space Opera venues, beginning with The Myriad (2005). [JC]
Rebecca M Meluch
born Ohio: 24 October 1956
works
series
Wind Dancers
- Wind Dancers (New York: New American Library/Signet Books, 1981) [Wind Dancers: pb/Paul Alexander]
- Wind Child (New York: New American Library/Signet Books, 1982) [Wind Dancers: pb/Paul Alexander]
Tour of the Merrimack
- The Myriad (New York: DAW Books, 2005) [Tour of the Merrimack: hb/Romas Kukalis]
- Wolf Star (New York: DAW Books, 2006) [Tour of the Merrimack: hb/Romas Kukalis]
- Tour of the Merrimack: Volume One (New York: DAW Books, 2013) [omni of the above two: Tour of the Merrimack: pb/Shutterstock]
- The Sagittarius Command (New York: DAW Books, 2007) [Tour of the Merrimack: hb/Stephan Martinière]
- Strength and Honor (New York: DAW Books, 2008) [Tour of the Merrimack: hb/Stephan Martinière]
- Tour of the Merrimack: Volume Two (New York: DAW Books, 2013) [omni of the above two: Tour of the Merrimack: pb/Stephan Martinière]
- The Ninth Circle (New York: DAW Books, 2011) [Tour of the Merrimack: hb/Stephan Martinière]
- The Twice and Future Caesar (New York: DAW Books, 2015) [Tour of the Merrimack: hb/Stephan Martinière]
individual titles
- Sovereign (New York: New American Library/Signet Books, 1979) [pb/Dean Ellis]
- Jerusalem Fire (New York: New American Library/Signet Books, 1985) [pb/Paul Alexander]
- Jerusalem Fire (New York: DAW Books, 2016) [rev of the above: pb/Paul Young]
- War Birds (New York: New American Library/Signet Books, 1989) [pb/]
- Chicago Red (New York: Penguin Books/Roc, 1990) [pb/Tim Jacobus]
- The Queen's Squadron (New York: Penguin Books/Roc, 1992) [pb/]
links
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