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Reviews
Women Destroy Science Fiction!: Lightspeed Magazine Special Issue; The Stories by Christie Yant
pandoozled14's review against another edition
3.0
TIL: short stories are pretty hit or miss and this time there were more hits than misses, but flash fiction is very much a miss for me.
kypo's review against another edition
Only read, Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death by James Tiptree Jr. It is written in a interesting, out of human body, way.
pezski's review against another edition
5.0
A worthwhile concept - fighting for recognition against the male-centred manocracy* - and, as it turns out, a bloody good book. The stories are of a consistently high standard and a diverse reach. I didn't read the novel extract (I've never really seen the point of novel extracts included in collections) but everything else was great.
As well as sections broken into original fiction, reprinted fiction and flash fiction (most of which was perfectly adequate short story length, so the only point to it I can see is if you wanted to dip in knowing you can burn through a few tales if you're in that mood without hitting something longer) there is a non-fiction section beginning with a superb artists' gallery, a collection of essays which are superb and then a bunch of short 'personal essays', which are individual writers' views on the subject of Women Destroying Science Fiction - their influences and their own experiences or backgrounds - many of which are great, all of which are interesting although some are obviously tossed-off-in-an-hour filler.
All the 'proper' essays are excellent, one of my favourite being a round-table type discussion between Ursula le Guin, Pat Cadigan, Ellen Datlow & Nancy Kress on being a women within SF, being a feminist and on the changes over the recent decades - in the field in general, as well as the particular feminist slant. So it was bound to be brilliant, really.
From le Guin:
"Long ago, my children, in the days of my youth, our tribe was small and poor, skulking in exile on the margins of the rich kingdom of Literaturia. When we attempted to approach we were driven back with execrations and the throwing of fecal matter by the armed Critics with their battle cry of "Genre! Kill!". We found, however, that many readers so loved us that they came into exile to join us, calling their settlement Fandom, and even in Literaturia, many secretly welcomed us into the their hearts and homes. Over the years, we have grown in number and strength, and there is much intercourse of various kinds and exchange of mental goods. Nowadays, blue-blooded Literaturians, believing they understand our simple customs, often imitate them, badly. Some of our tribe have become somewhat respectable in the streets of Literaturia and pass, at times, almost unscathed among the Critics, The heights of the cities, however, and the great prizes to be found there, are still closed to us. I urge you to continue on the way if your tribal Elders, my children; Ignore execrations, seduce critics, infiltrate curricula, and keep on truckin'."
Damn, but I adore Ursula le Guin.
*I probably don't need to invite discourse of the value of feminism but am more than happy to do so. Bring it on.
As well as sections broken into original fiction, reprinted fiction and flash fiction (most of which was perfectly adequate short story length, so the only point to it I can see is if you wanted to dip in knowing you can burn through a few tales if you're in that mood without hitting something longer) there is a non-fiction section beginning with a superb artists' gallery, a collection of essays which are superb and then a bunch of short 'personal essays', which are individual writers' views on the subject of Women Destroying Science Fiction - their influences and their own experiences or backgrounds - many of which are great, all of which are interesting although some are obviously tossed-off-in-an-hour filler.
All the 'proper' essays are excellent, one of my favourite being a round-table type discussion between Ursula le Guin, Pat Cadigan, Ellen Datlow & Nancy Kress on being a women within SF, being a feminist and on the changes over the recent decades - in the field in general, as well as the particular feminist slant. So it was bound to be brilliant, really.
From le Guin:
"Long ago, my children, in the days of my youth, our tribe was small and poor, skulking in exile on the margins of the rich kingdom of Literaturia. When we attempted to approach we were driven back with execrations and the throwing of fecal matter by the armed Critics with their battle cry of "Genre! Kill!". We found, however, that many readers so loved us that they came into exile to join us, calling their settlement Fandom, and even in Literaturia, many secretly welcomed us into the their hearts and homes. Over the years, we have grown in number and strength, and there is much intercourse of various kinds and exchange of mental goods. Nowadays, blue-blooded Literaturians, believing they understand our simple customs, often imitate them, badly. Some of our tribe have become somewhat respectable in the streets of Literaturia and pass, at times, almost unscathed among the Critics, The heights of the cities, however, and the great prizes to be found there, are still closed to us. I urge you to continue on the way if your tribal Elders, my children; Ignore execrations, seduce critics, infiltrate curricula, and keep on truckin'."
Damn, but I adore Ursula le Guin.
*I probably don't need to invite discourse of the value of feminism but am more than happy to do so. Bring it on.
c_bulin's review against another edition
5.0
This was so much better than I expected. In comparison to the other women sci-fi anthology I just read this was significantly better. Some of my favorite authors knocked it out of the park, but I also found some great new authors.
serena_dawn's review against another edition
3.0
The sad end of the Radigund is seen up close and personal by the crew of the Iris.
macthekat's review against another edition
5.0
I highly recommend the story. I think it is the best Seanan McGuire story I have read this year, and as you know by now I read a lot of those. Well written. Great world building. Really crunchy.
Read my full review: http://www.mackat.dk/book/2014/06/each-to-each/
Merged review:
This story was deeply touching and very humanizing. It gave a view into life on a spaceship and a glimpse into psyches of the crew.
To say much more requires me to put a spoiler tag here.
I really thought the story was going to be a horror story somehow. That was what Vaughn set my up to think. And it really wasn't! The horror wasn't of the kind that comes of eat your face off, but of the more creeping kind. The crew realises that it might as well have been them out there dead in space.
The mood of the story is just so great for what the story is trying to do. Bravo! Once again Carrie Vaughn is convincing me to seek out more of her fiction.
Merged review:
This might sound like the title of a self help book. It's not, it really isn't. Such a sweet story about time travel and grief.
Read my full review: http://www.mackat.dk/book/2014/06/each-to-each/
Merged review:
This story was deeply touching and very humanizing. It gave a view into life on a spaceship and a glimpse into psyches of the crew.
To say much more requires me to put a spoiler tag here.
The mood of the story is just so great for what the story is trying to do. Bravo! Once again Carrie Vaughn is convincing me to seek out more of her fiction.
Merged review:
This might sound like the title of a self help book. It's not, it really isn't. Such a sweet story about time travel and grief.
jmmd's review against another edition
5.0
If you love science fiction, you should read this. No matter who you are. It boggles my mind, but even today there are some dudebro SF authors who think that women are "destroying" SF by, you know, writing it. This issue is a response to that - it's women-written, women-illustrated, and women-edited, and it is DAMN good. That's the number one reason to read it, because this is some seriously good fiction regardless of who wrote it. But you should also read it to support women who are struggling to make it in a genre that's less than fair to them. And if you didn't know (or don't believe) that gender is a serious issue in SF, read it to learn a bit about that, too.
relliem08's review against another edition
4.0
Military mermaids.
Who else but Seanan McGuire could make that even remotely believable...and actually pull it off?
Who else but Seanan McGuire could make that even remotely believable...and actually pull it off?