ZEDDIES, Ann Tonsor

(1951-)

   US writer whose sf novel, Deathgift (1989), though not technically a POCKET-UNIVERSE tale, embodies a fundamental rhythm of constriction and release through the story of a young boy abandoned to the Native-American-like tribes that mediate among the medieval cities whichsurround them, and who only later discovers that his "world" is a "neutral zone" on a planet torn by interstellar strife. The story unfolds constantly, is very competently managed, and the sequel, Sky Road (1993), intriguingly mixes sf hardware (there are several setpiece battles between natives and the invasive enemy) and a move toward reconciliation (after the revenge-choked thinning of the narrative in volume one) more typical of fantasy.

   JC