Reviews

Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology by Jeff VanderMeer, Ann VanderMeer

kbuchanan's review

4.0

A fascinating and diverse collection highlighting both new and established female writers of speculative fiction. Of particular note were Kelly Barnhill's " The Men Who Live in Trees," Octavia Butler's "The Evening, the Morning, and the Night," Eleanor Arnason's "The Grammarian's Five Daughters," and Kit Reed's "The Mothers of Shark Island." Also included are stories by stallwarts Angela Carter, Ursula K. LeGuin, and some fantastic material by writers not known to me before, such as Finnish author Leena Krohn. This is a great jumping-off point to explore several new writers whose work I now know to seek out. Ranging from the profoundly weird, to the disturbing, to the heartbreaking and back again, this collection of short stories comes highly recommended.

dernhelms_bag's review

dark inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

jveevers's review

4.0

This collection balances diversity and cohesiveness perfectly. So many interesting explorations of gender and of gendered violence.

Some favourites:
- "The Mothers of Shark Island" by Kit Reed
- "The Grammarian's Five Daughters" by Eleanor Arnason
- "The Perfect Married Woman" by Angelica Gorodischer
- "The Glass Bottle Trick" by Nalo Hopkinson
- "The Men Who Live in Trees" by Kelly Barnhill
- "Love and Sex Among the Invertebrates" by Pat Murphy
- "Boys" by Carol Emshwiller

eyelit's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

sheeprustler's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

shelleyanderson4127's review

5.0

This is a very substantial collection of sci-fi (and occasional sword and sorcery) short stories, written by some 29 writers. The masters are here: Octavia Butler; James Tiptree, Jr.; Pamela Sargent, Ursula K. LeGuin; and Tanith Lee (represented by her clever gem "Northern Chess"), along side newer masters like Nalo Hopkinson and Nnedi Okorafor. And while it is overwhelmingly American writers, there are women like the Japanese-Canadian Hiromi Goto; the Swedish Karin Tidbeck; Englishwoman Angela Carter and British surrealist Leonora Carrington; and the Indian Vandana Singh.

What is astonishing is how well the stories published in the 1970s and 1980s have aged. Tiptree's "The Screwfly Solution" and Sargent's "Fears" are still chilling; Eileen Gunn's "Stable Strategies for Middle Management" still satirically pertinent; Eleanor Arnason's The Grammarian's Five Daughters" still clever; and Joanna Russ's classic "When It Changed" still a game changer.

These stories are all classics but not dated. read them to learn about ground breaking sci-fi women writers; teach them in sci-fi classes; read them to feel disturbed; but most of all rad them to be entertained.

yggdrusill's review

5.0

One of the best books I've read recently, the storied of which will haunt me for a long time to come. Highly recommend.

sabrina_lin's review

4.0

Sometimes it can be really hard to rate an anthology; a lot of these were 5 star stories, but then there were quite a few that weren't at that level. Overall though, a solid 4 star read.

cgcpoems's review

4.0

A well put-together anthology, with a wide range of writers. A great place to begin (in my opinion) with feminist sci-fi.

salama_assata's review

4.0

I will admit that I was not used to reading such large anthologies and near the end it was hard to get through due to just the volume. However, I deeply enjoyed the variety of authors and narratives offered under this work. There were stories that were easily digestible, others that I had to sit with longer, and still some that I don't think I will ever understand. The stories were global in nature and themes of gender roles, violence against women, freedom, and history were all handled uniquely by each author. I must say near the end I was getting tired of the themes surrounding reproduction/birth. I believe there were not enough (or any) trans/enby centered stories to balance the stories stressing on birth as it connects to womanhood. There were some stories that I found problematic like "Then Who Live in Trees" or "And Salome Danced" (I am still wrestling with the latter) but they did not take away from the overall body of work. Future anthologies would benefit from more authors of color, cultural work from the Global South, and insights from trans and enby women. This is a firm and enjoyable start to feminist speculative fiction and I hope to read some of these stories again in the future