I can’t resist a good story that involves music as a central part of its narrative. I have a particular weakness for speculative fiction—science fiction, fantasy, horror, and all the other subgenres of non-realist fiction—starring music and musicians. As a chronically ill person who is often stuck in bed for days on end, reading musical fiction helps me escape my sick body for a while and keep my feeling of connection to sonic magic even when I’m too unwell to play my own guitar and sing my own songs. Here is a running list of books I’ve found in that vein, with reviews to be linked as I find time to write them:
Borderland: Where Magic Meets Rock & Roll edited by Terri Windling and Mark Alan Arnold
Glimpses by Lewis Shiner
Gossamer Axe by Gael Baudino
Schrader’s Chord by Scott Leeds
Sleep Alone by J.A.W. McCarthy
The Time of the Hawklords by Michael Moorcock
Vampire Weekend by Mike Chen
War for the Oaks by Emma Bull