NOM

One of my favorite authors, Douglas Thayer, died this week.

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900 ... at-88.html

You know how LDS-themed fiction is notoriously terrible and often seems to be simply trying to cash in on Mormon audiences? Thayer is the opposite of that. His books are thoughtful and engaging and just happen to be about Mormons.

"Thayer is the father of contemporary Mormon fiction and one of its major voices," wrote the late Eugene England, who also said Thayer "conveys the tragic in American experience that comes from what people and the wilderness have done to each other as well as any contemporary writer."

Another Mormon author, John Bennion, said: "Thayer taught us how to explore the interior life, with its conflicts of doubt and faith, goodness and evil, of a believing Mormon."

I've read most of his published novels and stories. My favorite is probably The Tree House.

88 is a good run.

I hate losing a favorite author. I was similarly saddened when Sara Douglass died. Though I'm not a huge fan of fantasy, she mostly wrote demonic fiction in an almost Lovecraftian vain but much more visceral, which I found to be riveting.

I'm not trying to hijack the thread, rather trying to illustrate that I similarly know how when a unique author dies, it means their creations end. And though one can always enjoy their previous work, looking forward to the next book is no longer something one can do. And there's a piece missing as a result.

Yes, another of my favorite writers died unexpectedly about a year ago, with one or two books in progress.

At least there is no shortage of good books out there. I'd never make it through my existing list of things I'd like to read even if I stopped adding to it now.