 Cover of first edition (paperback) | |
| Author | R. A. MacAvoy |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Bantam Books |
Publication date | 1983 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardcover & paperback) |
| Pages | 166 |
| ISBN | 0-553-23205-3 |
| OCLC | 12481236 |
| LC Class | CPB Box no. 2920 vol. 1 |
| Followed by | Twisting the Rope |
Tea with the Black Dragon is a 1983 fantasy novel by American writer R. A. MacAvoy. It led to a sequel, Twisting the Rope.
Martha Macnamara is called west to San Francisco by a message from her daughter Elizabeth, a computer programmer. When she arrives, however, Elizabeth has disappeared. Mayland Long, an Asian gentleman who is skilled in both human and computer languages—and who may be a transformed 2,000-year-old Chinese dragon—aids Martha in her search for her daughter. As they search for clues to Elizabeth's disappearance, they discover hints that Elizabeth is involved in a dangerous crime.
David Langford has called it a "pleasant little novel" and "engaging", while qualifying it as "only just fantasy". [1] James Nicoll has cited it as an example of how perception of a book can be affected by historical context, noting that when he reread it in 2014, it was "still an often charming period piece, just not as charming" as it was when he originally read it in 1983; in particular, he emphasizes that it "isn't quite" an example of the "white savior" trope, but "this book can see ["white savior"] from where it is standing". [2] Similarly, Jo Walton—while praising MacAvoy's approach to the novel's central philosophical questions—states that she "remember(s) being excited by what seems to me today [in 2010] to be charming, but quite slight", and posits that "a great deal of the popularity and acclaim came from how lovely it is, and the rest of it came from how amazingly unusual it was in 1983 to have a fantasy novel using Chinese mythology and with a Chinese protagonist". [3]
Greg Costikyan reviewed Tea with the Black Dragon in Ares Magazine #16 and commented that "Tea with the Black Dragon is a book mystery lovers, computer people, and fantasy fans will all enjoy. In a way, it is a shame that Bantam's packaging is so oriented toward the fantasy market, as this is the kind of book that could do very well in the mainstream." [4]
It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel of 1983, [5] the 1984 Hugo Award for Best Novel [6] and the 1984 Locus Award for Best First Novel in 1984; [7] it also earned MacAvoy the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.[ citation needed ] It also found a place in David Pringle's Modern Fantasy: The Hundred Best Novels (1988). [8]
Job: A Comedy of Justice is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein published in 1984. The title is a reference to the biblical Book of Job and James Branch Cabell's book Jurgen, A Comedy of Justice. It won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 1985 and was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1984, and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1985.
Anne Inez McCaffrey was an American writer known for the Dragonriders of Pern science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction and the first to win a Nebula Award. Her 1978 novel The White Dragon became one of the first science-fiction books to appear on the New York Times Best Seller list.
Roberta Ann MacAvoy is an American fantasy and science fiction author. Several of her books draw on Celtic or Zen themes. She won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1984.
David Rowland Langford is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science-fiction fanzine and newsletter Ansible and holds the all-time record for most Hugo Awards, with a total of 29 wins.
Sundiver is a 1980 science fiction novel by American writer David Brin. It is the first book of his first Uplift trilogy, followed by Startide Rising in 1983 and The Uplift War in 1987.
Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern is a science fiction novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey. It is the seventh book in the Dragonriders of Pern series.
The Best Science Fiction of the Year #13 is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Terry Carr, the thirteenth volume in a series of sixteen. It was first published in paperback by Baen Books in July 1984, and in hardcover and trade paperback by Gollancz in December of the same year.
The Planet on the Table is a collection of science fiction stories by American writer Kim Stanley Robinson, published in hardcover by Tor Books in 1986. A British paperback edition appeared in 1987, as well as a Tor paperback reprint; a French translation was issued in 1988. The collection was republished in the 1994 Tor omnibus Remaking History and Other Stories. The collection takes its title from a poem by Wallace Stevens, which provides the book's epigraph.
Wheels Within Wheels is a novel by F. Paul Wilson published in 1978.
Ariosto is a novel by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro published in 1980.
A Rose for Armageddon is a novel by Hilbert Schenck published in 1982.
Lyonesse is a novel by Jack Vance published first in 1983.
Nifft the Lean is a fantasy novel by Michael Shea published in 1982.
The Complete Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy Lists is a book written by Malcolm Edwards and Maxim Jakubowski and published in 1983.
Superluminal is a novel by Vonda McIntyre published in 1983.
In Viriconium is a novel by M. John Harrison published in 1982. It is the third novel in the Viriconium series.
Against Infinity is a novel by Gregory Benford published in 1983.
The Glamour is a novel by Christopher Priest published in 1984.
Damiano is a fantasy novel by R. A. MacAvoy published in 1984.
Damiano's Lute is a fantasy novel by R. A. MacAvoy published in 1984.