Jay Lake (1964–2014)
Author of Mainspring
About the Author
Jay Lake was born in Taiwan on June 6, 1964, and was raised there and in Nigeria. He graduated from the University of Texas in 1986. During his lifetime, he published over 300 short stories and nine novels including Kalimpura, Calamity of So Long a Life, and The Last Plane to Heaven. He received show more several awards including the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in Science Fiction in 2004. He was also the subject of a documentary called Lakeside - A Year with Jay Lake, which follows his fight against cancer, and is scheduled for release in 2014. He died from colon cancer on June 1, 2014 at the age of 49. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: At Aussiecon IV
Series
Works by Jay Lake
On The Human Plan 8 copies
A Long Walk Home 6 copies
The Big Ice 6 copies
Human error [short fiction] 3 copies
The Goat Cutter 3 copies
Dream of the arrow [short fiction] 3 copies
Torquing Vacuum (short story) 3 copies
To Raise a Mutiny Betwixt Yourselves — Author — 3 copies
Untitled 2 copies
Chain of Stars [short fiction] 2 copies
Skinhorse Goes to Mars 2 copies
West to east [short fiction] 2 copies
Hello Said the Gun 2 copies
Mother Urban's Booke Of Dayes 2 copies
Over The Walls Of Eden 2 copies
White Boyz 2 copies
Chain of Fools [short fiction] 2 copies
Fading Away 2 copies
Dark Flowers Inverse Moon 2 copies
The Hangman isn't Hanging 2 copies
Clown Eggs 2 copies
Those Boiled Bones 2 copies
The Angel's Daughter 2 copies
The American Dead 2 copies
Martyrs' Carnival 2 copies
The God-clown Is Near 2 copies
All Our Heroes Are Bastards 1 copy
The Fly And Die Ticket 1 copy
A Conspiracy of Dentists 1 copy
Loving Julius 1 copy
Rock of Ages (Novella) 1 copy
The Golden Whip 1 copy
Two Stories 1 copy
Feghoot In Uruk 1 copy
You Know What Hunts You 1 copy
The Soul Bottles 1 copy
The Lizard Of Ooze 1 copy
Arrange the Bones 1 copy
Elf Shit 1 copy
Number of the Bus 1 copy
Going Bad [short story] 1 copy
Eating Their Sins And Ours 1 copy
Spendthrift [short fiction] 1 copy
Many-Splendored 1 copy
The Leopard's Paw 1 copy
A Tower To the Sun 1 copy
A Mythic Fear of the Sea 1 copy
You Will Go On 1 copy
Pax Agricola 1 copy
Devil On The Wind 1 copy
Crimson Mud Drying Blood 1 copy
The Bull Dancers 1 copy
The Rose Egg 1 copy
Chewing Up The Innocent 1 copy
The Dying Dream Of Water 1 copy
Grindstone [short fiction[ 1 copy
Testaments [short fiction] 1 copy
Stephenson's Rocket 1 copy
Real North 1 copy
The Trick Of Disaster 1 copy
Water Castle [short fiction] 1 copy
This Is A Story 1 copy
The Scent Of Rotting Roses 1 copy
Smoke 1 copy
Speciation 1 copy
Stars In The Sky 1 copy
Stinkpot's Private Reserve 1 copy
The Symbols At Their Doors 1 copy
Three The Rivals 1 copy
Passive Voices 1 copy
Under The Purplefan Trees 1 copy
Eleven Went To Heaven 1 copy
You Want Candy 1 copy
A Man Falls 1 copy
Dressed All In Green-oh 1 copy
Proud Walkers 1 copy
February 1 copy
Deka Logos 1 copy
Jack's House 1 copy
Gospel Truth 1 copy
Headed West 1 copy
Imago 1 copy
In The Green Jungles Of Envy 1 copy
The Inertia Of Corpses 1 copy
January 1 copy
One Is All Alone 1 copy
June 1 copy
Keel's Mothman Lager 1 copy
Mandrill's Ass Red 1 copy
March 1 copy
May 1 copy
Old Ghengis Two-steppe 1 copy
Hierophant Bridge 1 copy
For The Twelve 1 copy
April 1 copy
The Git 1 copy
Bird Of Leaves 1 copy
Beer Of The Damned 1 copy
Two All Beef Patties 1 copy
The Man with One Bright Eye 1 copy
Alien Dreams 1 copy
Brightly Shining 1 copy
The Future By Degrees 1 copy
Small Magic 1 copy
Apologising to the Concrete 1 copy
G.o.d. 1 copy
The Set Of All Even Primes 1 copy
Mr. Scalpel And Mr. Gloves 1 copy
The Courtesy Of Guests 1 copy
The Passing of Guests 1 copy
The Decline Of Purpose 1 copy
The Dead Man's Child 1 copy
Daddy's Caliban 1 copy
The Cleansing Fire Of God 1 copy
Champy's Monster Bitter 1 copy
Witness to the Fall 1 copy
Fat Man 1 copy
Jesus and the Cowboys 1 copy
Golden Pepper 1 copy
Clean 1 copy
Christmas Season 1 copy
Midnight at Valdosta's 1 copy
Associated Works
The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases (2003) — Contributor — 770 copies
The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities: Exhibits, Oddities, Images, and Stories from Top Authors and Artists (2011) — Contributor — 432 copies
The New Space Opera 2: All-New Stories of Science Fiction Adventure (2009) — Contributor — 322 copies
Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction: How to Create Out-of-This-World Novels and Short Stories (2013) — Contributor — 166 copies
The Final Frontier: Stories of Exploring Space, Colonizing the Universe, and First Contact (2018) — Contributor — 58 copies
Postscripts Magazine, Issue 15: Worldcon 2008 Special (2008) — Contributor, some editions — 13 copies
Best of the Rest 4 — Contributor — 6 copies
Clarkesworld: Issue 005 (February 2007) — Contributor — 5 copies
Subterranean Magazine Summer 2010 — Contributor — 2 copies
Clarkesworld: Issue 018 (March 2008) — Author — 2 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Lake, Joseph E., Jr.
Edwards, Joe (pseudonym) - Birthdate
- 1964-06-06
- Date of death
- 2014-06-01
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Taiwan
- Place of death
- Portland, Oregon, USA
- Cause of death
- advanced case of colon cancer
- Places of residence
- Portland, Oregon, USA
- Education
- University of Texas, Austin (BA ∙ Plan II)
- Occupations
- marketer
business writer
product manager - Organizations
- Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
- Awards and honors
- John W. Campbell Award (2004)
- Agent
- Jennifer Jackson (DMLA)
Members
Reviews
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 220
- Also by
- 125
- Members
- 3,578
- Popularity
- #7,084
- Rating
- 3.5
- Reviews
- 193
- ISBNs
- 82
- Languages
- 6
- Favorited
- 6
Mostly, I found the writing and story absorbing even though I don’t favour first person storytelling, but in parts I found the narrative lagged because of meticulous description, which includes all the training Green goes through. This made the book feel overly long despite much of the training being interesting. When we learn of the planned life path various people have for Green, there’s good reason to feel increasingly sorry for her. None of her choices appear to be wonderful, none of them simple. The sexual content never feels entirely natural or necessary, though perhaps realistic and handled well for those whose companionship is restricted. The details become somewhat vague when dealing with the various deities.
I sometimes found Green’s character vs her age hard to believe despite her training, but it’s nice to see a young lead treated with the same respect an adult character would receive. For so long, the ‘rule’ has been a child lead marks a book for a young audience. That’s plainly not the case here, couldn’t be, and even though Green is in infancy when taken, we are privileged to her inner thoughts as she’s moulded into what others would make of her, while she battles to keep a sense of self. Strongly character driven, wonderful in parts, weaker in others, I’m pleased to have read this, but feel disinclined to read the rest of the trilogy, although Green makes for an interesting and capable female lead.… (more)