Feeling stuck? It happens to the best of us.

The characters in this gem by Patricia McKillip are all stuck in their own ways.

Aaron, a cop, has been searching for an answer to why Terra Veridian opened fire with a laser rifle and took out 1509 people, including Aaron’s wife. He is sure that her twin sister, Michelle must have the answer but Michelle went underground after her sister’s arrest, and he can’t find her anywhere. Yet he still keeps looking…

The band, Nova, with their strangely clairvoyant leader, The Magician, are stuck just this side of breaking big, they just need that nudge. When they are offered a chance for the big off-world tour that will push them over that edge, they lose their drummer, the Gambler (“Me… earth. We like each other.”) although luckily their previous drummer, the Queen of Hearts with her distinctive and ever-present face paint, steps in to rescue them.

Jason Klyos, warden of the orbiting space prison, where Terra Veridian is kept, is a prisoner of his own success – all his transfer requests keep getting shut down – keeping, Nilson, who would be the perfect warden stuck as his second in command.

And Terra Veridian herself is stuck in a strange vision that makes no sense to anyone, to the jailers, to the research scientist testing his new machine on her, making her thoughts into pictures…

It isn’t until each of these characters takes a step out of their usual orbit, and tries something new, that they become unstuck. It’s messy and risky, and they don’t get it right – but they get unstuck, each in their own way.

The way these stories all weave together – and then unstick – is beautiful, classic McKillip, well-plotted, visually evocative, and linguistically magical. The theme of music runs through the book, linking everything together. Despite the fact that this is true, futuristic science fiction by any definition, it is quintessential McKillip.

You may, however, have to read this on e-. Which is a crime – to read such beautifully written words in an electronic medium. Studies have shown that we read faster on e- and retain less, more like watching television than truly reading. This is okay for Patricia Cornwell, or for true crime, or for many non-fiction books – although I made the mistake of reading Diane Ackerman on e- once… shudder – but for McKillip’s powerful language, you must read on paper.

So keep an eye out at used book stores and book sales, or maybe your local library. You won’t find Fool’s Run in bookstores because it was published by Warner’s Questar – Questar! Questar? What? Did she lose a bet? Face a balloon mortgage payment on the family ranch? Do this as a favor for a beloved editor who needed a boost after getting their big break… Questar… Go figure. (And, now that I Google it, I discover that Cherryh and Bear and Vinge also published things with Questar – including The Summer Queen, which went on to have legs long after Questar fizzled out.

So maybe McKillip just wanted to try something new; anyway, this will live on as her one science fiction book, quintessential McKillip, and successful SciFi, too. The main difference – aside from the futuristic setting and themes – is that it reads like a Greek myth (the Orpheus and Eurydice references are rife) instead of fairy tales like the rest of her works.

Anyway, it’s a good book to read when you’re feeling stuck.

If you can get your hands on it.