Aliette de Bodard

Must read

I love Great Expectations--I read it as a teenager and the way it pulls the rug out from under the reader (but in a totally thematically consistent way) is brilliant. Of course Miss Havisham doesn't want Pip to rise in the world. Of course Estella isn't capable of loving him.

I highly recommend reading "A Paradise Built in Hell" by Rebecca Solnit, which shows that most disasters actually show an uptick in community bonds and help (from in and out of community)