Flying in Place
#5794.01 adjusted 3.96 for sample size in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 1 book Status Complete 1992 Reading commitment Low Susan Palwick Last reviewed 2026-11-03
Overview
Flying in Place is a 1992 fantasy novel by Susan Palwick, published by Tor Books. It follows Emma Gray, a twelve-year-old girl who is abused at night by her father, a respected doctor, while her mother sleeps. Emma escapes into imagined adventures with her dead sister Ginny, in which the two girls fly. It was Palwick's first novel; her second novel, The Necessary Beggar, is a separate book. It won the Crawford Award for best first fantasy novel in 1993.
Urban fantasy · For Adult
Core Canon: Reading Order (1 work) counts toward ranking
Flying in Place Susan Palwick
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Flying in Place | 1992 | 1 | core | 4.01 (438 ratings) |
A standalone 1992 novel about a girl who flies in imagination with her dead sister.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Flying in Place? Flying in Place's Core Canon is 1 book.
- Is Flying in Place finished? Complete (1992).
- How much reading does Flying in Place take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 1 Core Canon book).
- How is Flying in Place ranked? #579 in this site's official ranking, based on 438 reader ratings across 1 Core Canon book. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #579?
Ranked #579 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.01 across 1 core book.
- A smaller readership (438 ratings), so the score carries less weight of numbers.
- Less than 0.01 behind #578, In the Forests of Serre (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.46.
Why explore this universe?
Well rated · 1 book · Complete · 438 ratings · Ranks #579 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment urban fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
A single Core Canon work: no sequencing question to resolve.
Awards (verified)
- Crawford Award (Best first novel), 1993: won: Flying in Place
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Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.01 across 438 ratings on 1 Core Canon book. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon Extension: 19 universes from the candidate register; 7 candidates ruled out accepted 2026-11-03
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: Susan Palwick Tier 2
- Encyclopedia.com: Palwick, Susan Tier 2
- AbeBooks listing Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-11-03
Rule: Core Canon = Flying in Place (1992).