Locus is reporting that author Terry Bisson has died at the age of 81. He's probably best known for his 1990 story, "Bears Discover Fire", which won the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus awards, but he wrote many excellent novels and published several story collections.
A few years ago, I read his novel, Fire on the Mountain, which is one of the few books that have made me weep. I wrote this in my blog at the time.
I have just been blown away by a novel – Terry Bisson’s Fire on the Mountain, which is an alternate history novel in which John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry was successful, leading to the establishment of a black nation in the south. Finishing the book was an interesting experience – I was enjoying the book a lot and came to the end, read the last line, and found myself sitting on the couch weeping. Spoiler alert: the last line was. “Plus such beautiful shoes.”
I was not expecting that. And it was the last line that did it. It just snuck up behind me and smacked me upside the head when I wasn’t expecting it.
That is the mark of a true master. And it was such an innocent last line. Just four words – but just exactly perfect words.
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