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sucreslibrary's review
3.75
this one took me a bit to get through, but that doesn't mean it was bad. i enjoyed quite a lot of the stories, and there were very few i disliked (a rare thing for me with anthologies!). these stories span many decades, and since a lot of them focus on gender, that means there's quite a bit of transphobia and cissexism throughout. that, on top of a lot of misogyny (used to make a point, not just sprinkled in for no reason), could make it a little difficult to pick up the collection and get through a bunch of stories at once. honestly, after i read 'gestella' by susan palwick i had to take a short break simply because of how much it effected me emotionally.
my fave stories were 'the palm tree bandit' by nnedi okorafor, 'and salome danced' by kelley eskridge (warning for transphobia in this one), 'their mother's tears: the fourth letter' by leena krohn, 'gestella' by susan palwick and 'stable strategies for middle management' by eileen gunn.
'the fall river axe murders' by angela carter, 'boys' by carol emshwiller and 'thirteen ways of looking at space/time' by catherynne m. valente were the weakest for me (though there were portions of the latter that i really enjoyed, half of it was near impossible for me to read and it wore out its welcome very quickly). 'fears' by pamela sargent could have been great but the transmisogyny in it was so extreme that it really soured the whole story. i really thought i'd like 'the evening and the morning and the night' by octavia e. butler but some of the themes present in it didn't sit well with me even if i enjoyed several aspects of it.
it's overall a solid collection and gave me quite a few new authors to look into! i really appreciated the blurbs before each story that gave background on the author as well as the time period the stories were published. it's a solid way of framing an anthology like this and gave good context for each story. i'd definitely be up to reading more anthologies curated by the vandermeers if their subjects caught my interest.
my fave stories were 'the palm tree bandit' by nnedi okorafor, 'and salome danced' by kelley eskridge (warning for transphobia in this one), 'their mother's tears: the fourth letter' by leena krohn, 'gestella' by susan palwick and 'stable strategies for middle management' by eileen gunn.
'the fall river axe murders' by angela carter, 'boys' by carol emshwiller and 'thirteen ways of looking at space/time' by catherynne m. valente were the weakest for me (though there were portions of the latter that i really enjoyed, half of it was near impossible for me to read and it wore out its welcome very quickly). 'fears' by pamela sargent could have been great but the transmisogyny in it was so extreme that it really soured the whole story. i really thought i'd like 'the evening and the morning and the night' by octavia e. butler but some of the themes present in it didn't sit well with me even if i enjoyed several aspects of it.
it's overall a solid collection and gave me quite a few new authors to look into! i really appreciated the blurbs before each story that gave background on the author as well as the time period the stories were published. it's a solid way of framing an anthology like this and gave good context for each story. i'd definitely be up to reading more anthologies curated by the vandermeers if their subjects caught my interest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Transphobia
pizza_mariinara's review against another edition
4.0
Un'antologia interessante e piena di spunti.
Non leggevo fantasy e fantascienza da molto tempo, e sono molto contenta di aver iniziato di nuovo grazie a questa raccolta tutta al femminile: anche se molte storie sono state scritte più di trent'anni fa, sono incredibilmente originali. Una vera boccata d'aria fresca! Finalmente ho letto della narrativa che sento mia in quanto donna in cui posso riconoscermi e poter ragionare su temi che caratterizzano il mondo femminile in contesti fantastici.
Molto bella anche la sequenza con cui sono state elencati i racconti: delineano un viaggio attraverso vari temi, come la libertà, il rapporto con il proprio corpo e con le altre donne, il concepimento e la nascita.
Recupererò sicuramente in futuro altri scritti delle autrici presentate in questo volume.
Non leggevo fantasy e fantascienza da molto tempo, e sono molto contenta di aver iniziato di nuovo grazie a questa raccolta tutta al femminile: anche se molte storie sono state scritte più di trent'anni fa, sono incredibilmente originali. Una vera boccata d'aria fresca! Finalmente ho letto della narrativa che sento mia in quanto donna in cui posso riconoscermi e poter ragionare su temi che caratterizzano il mondo femminile in contesti fantastici.
Molto bella anche la sequenza con cui sono state elencati i racconti: delineano un viaggio attraverso vari temi, come la libertà, il rapporto con il proprio corpo e con le altre donne, il concepimento e la nascita.
Recupererò sicuramente in futuro altri scritti delle autrici presentate in questo volume.
literatehedgehog's review
5.0
Incredible collection! Some stories shine brighter than others, but most dive deep, cut to the quick, slice your heart and brain right open and burrow right in. That kind of visceral, heart punch writing. Ugh. So damn good. But if it's for Ursula K LeGuin, Octavia Butler, and James Tiptree Jr - to name my favorite heavy hitters, at least - how could it not be incredible?
Give yourself time to read and digest each story, they are not light reading or easy page turners.
Give yourself time to read and digest each story, they are not light reading or easy page turners.
colinmeldrum's review
4.0
A really worthwhile collection. But like with most anthologies, there were only a handful of stories that were a 5-star experience for me:
The Screwfly Solution, James Tiptree, Jr.
The Evening and the Morning and the Night, Octavia Butler
When it Changed, Joanna Russ
The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet, Vandana Singh
Thirteen Ways of Looking at Space/Time, Catherynne M. Valente
The Screwfly Solution, James Tiptree, Jr.
The Evening and the Morning and the Night, Octavia Butler
When it Changed, Joanna Russ
The Woman Who Thought She Was a Planet, Vandana Singh
Thirteen Ways of Looking at Space/Time, Catherynne M. Valente
errada's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
bdorf's review
3.0
A few standout stories, but most I thought were mediocre or disappointing (one was downright transphobic, and I have no idea how it got included). Plus this anthology was just real depressing. I know there are feminist sf/f stories out there that are not just about woman being brutalized, but this collection includes few of them, and makes for a grim read.
My top stories from this collection:
The Forbidden Words of Margaret A. by L. Timmel Duchamp
The Grammarian's Five Daughters by Eleanor Arnason
Runners up:
The Screwfly Solution by James Tiptree Jr.
Gestella by Susan Palwick
Thirteen Ways of Looking at Space/Time by Cat Valente
My top stories from this collection:
The Forbidden Words of Margaret A. by L. Timmel Duchamp
The Grammarian's Five Daughters by Eleanor Arnason
Runners up:
The Screwfly Solution by James Tiptree Jr.
Gestella by Susan Palwick
Thirteen Ways of Looking at Space/Time by Cat Valente
geenween's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
carolynf's review
4.0
I normally don't get into short stories very much, but the pieces in this collection all complement each other very well. Most are sci-fi although there are some fantasy stories. In pretty much all of them, women in general or a woman in particular is being oppressed by men in general or a man in particular. It seems like this would get old, but each story looks at gendered society from a different angle. In some stories women come out on top in the end, but usually they don't.
I was the least interested in the first piece in the collection, about a constitutional amendment that was created just for the silencing of one particular woman, whose words have long since been forgotten. The story about the woman who was a werewolf was terribly sad, even sadder than the various stories about societies which have forced women to go into hiding for one reason or another.
I was the least interested in the first piece in the collection, about a constitutional amendment that was created just for the silencing of one particular woman, whose words have long since been forgotten. The story about the woman who was a werewolf was terribly sad, even sadder than the various stories about societies which have forced women to go into hiding for one reason or another.