Sydney J. Van Scyoc

Sydney J. Van Scyoc (July 27, 1939 – June 17, 2023) was an American science-fiction writer known for short stories and novels published from the 1960s through the 1980s. Her first story appeared in Galaxy in 1962; her debut novel Saltflower was published in 1971. She wrote both standalone novels and series (notably the Darkchild/Daughters of the Sunstone books) and was noted for themes of coming-of-age, human evolution, and character-driven speculative fiction. After a lengthy publishing career she temporarily left fiction in the 1990s to make and sell jewelry before returning to publish occasional stories in the 2000s.