Jo Clayton died the day before Valentine's Day, 1998. I feel very disappointed - I had been hoping that she would recover from her illness and write again; it seemed that a writer of her strength should have been spared. Only yesterday I was browsing the shelves in Borders to look for anything by her that I'd missed.
Since hearing about her death, I've decided to see what her last book was like. I found Drum Calls in hardback. Since I've also recently read the first seven books of the Robert Jordan "Wheel of Time" series I found the resemblance between the two fantasy worlds quite remarkable. Made me wonder if Clayton has been reading Jordan's stuff.
Clayton's worlds are remarkable for their strange names, and Drum Calls is no exception. Since I read it before reading the earlier book in the "Drums of Chaos" series, keeping the various people and places straight in my mind was sometimes quite a chore. However, after going back and reading Drum Warnings as well, I think that the series could have been fun to read. It's no "Diadem" series, but Clayton was a very entertaining story teller.
- Diadem from the Stars series: Diadem from the Stars (1977),
- Ghosthunt,
- Irsud,
- Maeve,
- Star Hunters (1980),
- The Nowhere Hunt,
- The Snares of Ibex - There are actually about four series of these: the original of seven books, and at least three spin-off series from that. Most of her protagonists are women, which is a refreshing change from many authors who can't seem to be able to envision a strong female character. Jo Clayton's women are not bullet proof super heroines, but rather women who often have to struggle to survive in a male dominated world. Somehow they manage to do this without losing their identity, or their self respect.