Marion Zimmer Bradley? (Since it's not hyphenated, I put her under "Bradley," but you might not.)

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"

No, not Marion Zimmer Bradley. It wouldn't have been possible for her to have won a Locus Award for best first novel, as they have only been awarded since 1981, and MZB started turning out novels in the late 1950s. Also, MZB is dead, and this author is very much alive.

Another clue: one of the main characters in this novel is a Muslim woman.

Sarah Zettel, Fool's War?

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"Illuminati's Razor - The most complicatedly evil answer is usually the most correct answer."
-- Fazor

You've got it, AndreasJ.

"Fool's War" is an excellent space opera with a very interesting setting and some fascinating characters.

According to her website, Sarah Zettel will be returning to science fiction next year with a new novel under the pen name of "C.L. Anderson", which is apparently derived from C.L. Moore and Poul Anderson. I'm not quite sure I understand the marketing thinking of switching to a pen name. Does switching to a new name potentially attract new readers? Do authors with last names beginning with A do better than authors whose last names begin with Z?

I realize I don't actually own much in the way of SF - most of what I've read having been from the library. Well, this is probably quite easy:

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"Illuminati's Razor - The most complicatedly evil answer is usually the most correct answer."
-- Fazor

That's from 'Children of the Mind', by Orson Scott Card.

Feel a bit guilty, since I wasn't able to finish it.

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

You're quite correct, mike.

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"Illuminati's Razor - The most complicatedly evil answer is usually the most correct answer."
-- Fazor

Son of a gun. Thanks.

No, I haven't forgotten. But I've got a clear night and a chance to get the ol' Lx200 aligned in its new dome, so I apologize putting getting the wedge aligned over a story. Tomorrow morning, I promise.

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

OK:

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

Something by P.K. Dick?

No, not Dick. But I would say the author (living) has much less interest in the science than in the fiction.

This is a novel, fairly early in the author's career.

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

Hint: check Prospero's dialog at the end of the Masque in The Tempest, Act 4, Scene 1.

Rereading that, I wonder if the author got the idea for the story from there.

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

That Fowl Conspiracy by F. Leghorn? er, nevermind. Too much smoke in the air, can't figure this one out.

Hint: the story is set in Portland, Oregon. So is the author, for that matter.

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

Another quote:
This story was made into a television movie. The title comes from a phrase in Taoist writings. While a great title, it apparently arose from a mistranslation of the original Chinese.

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

Oh, my! Is it "The Lathe of Heaven", by Ursula LeGuin?

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"All your bias are belong to us." Ara Pacis
"A witty saying proves nothing." Voltaire

Yay! It is, it is!

D.A. makes his case!

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The Devil offered me power. I told him I preferred aperture.

I thought of another quote, but it was not Google-proof. So here's one that's from a story arguably on the border between science fiction and fantasy:

Protector?

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"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it." — Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

441!!!! :)

No.

Ooooh, I'm sure I've heard that one before. Damn.

WAG: Magician: Master?

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[Foot mouth in put]
Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses.