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ruththereader's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
This is what science fiction should be
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
tullyndmom's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
HUGE trigger warnings for on-page, often detailed rape and sexual violence in just about every story. This is a major theme of Tiptree’s/Sheldon’s work.
Most of the stories here are incredibly interesting and well written, and I was struck many times by the multiple layers - bits that can be interpreted in several ways depending on how you view gender roles and attitudes (which is why I gave this 4 stars despite the sexual violence).
Several stories were built around common science fiction tropes, but given that most were written in the early 1970s I wondered if I was actually reading the origin stories of those tropes.
Really interesting and thought provoking stories but be prepared.
Most of the stories here are incredibly interesting and well written, and I was struck many times by the multiple layers - bits that can be interpreted in several ways depending on how you view gender roles and attitudes (which is why I gave this 4 stars despite the sexual violence).
Several stories were built around common science fiction tropes, but given that most were written in the early 1970s I wondered if I was actually reading the origin stories of those tropes.
Really interesting and thought provoking stories but be prepared.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Sexual violence, Incest, Body shaming, Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Misogyny, Death, and Slavery
James Tiptree, Jr was a pseudonym used by Alice Sheldon.jakobvongunten's review against another edition
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Rape, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Ableism, Homophobia, Racism, and Transphobia
nannahnannah's review against another edition
4.0
Wow, I was definitely not prepared for this. Picking this up, all I knew about it was that the author used a male pseudonym (which was why it qualified for my reading challenge). That's literally it. I was in for one hell of a ride. :S
Okay, short intro: Alice Sheldon is the woman behind the pseudonym, James Tiptree Jr., born in Chicago, 1915. Throughout her life, she traveled to many countries, including India, Switzerland, some in Central Africa, and some in Southeast Asia, which contributed to her short stories. In WWII she became America's first female photo-intelligence officer; she joined the CIA; she was a painter, an art critic, a graphic artist; she earned a Ph.D in experimental psychology; her sci-fi writings won the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award (more than once), and the World Fantasy Award. And as a side note: she also had a literal river going through her house in which she had three desks set up to write as her three pseuds.
She was one heck of a person.
Oh, and relevant to me (a wlw) and relevant to many of her stories, which contain multiple sexualities, there's this:
"I like some men a lot, but from the start, before I knew anything, it was always girls and women who lit me up."
- It's a nice thing to know, that her writings aren't necessarily fetishizing.
This collection contains eighteen of Alice Sheldon's game-changing short stories. Usually short story collections are a grab bag sort of deal: some are good, some aren't, and overall you're not sure how to feel about it.
This collection is a bit different. It felt as if it had been arranged in a way that warmed the reader up to her extreme ... creativity when it comes to sci-fi, I guess, for lack of a better phrasing. The first third is pretty tame (when it comes to sci-fi extremes), though I remember a lot of it went over my head. The middle third is where (I felt) the stories really peaked when it comes to a balance of sci-fi, beauty, storytelling, and a level of weirdness. These were my favorites, with "With Delicate Mad Hands" taking the top title. And then the last third of the collection ... is just weird (maybe not to more regular sci-fi readers). There's random incest, very intense sexual images, and more. I think I can do without these stories when I reread her stuff. I can definitely do without them, haha. But to each their own!
I think though, largely, I am very, very glad I read these stories, that I basically stumbled upon them. I'm so glad I go to learn about this woman. I think I can learn a lot about sci-fi, what the genre can mean beyond what I've ever read or imagined, and even about writing in general, through her.
Okay, short intro: Alice Sheldon is the woman behind the pseudonym, James Tiptree Jr., born in Chicago, 1915. Throughout her life, she traveled to many countries, including India, Switzerland, some in Central Africa, and some in Southeast Asia, which contributed to her short stories. In WWII she became America's first female photo-intelligence officer; she joined the CIA; she was a painter, an art critic, a graphic artist; she earned a Ph.D in experimental psychology; her sci-fi writings won the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award (more than once), and the World Fantasy Award. And as a side note: she also had a literal river going through her house in which she had three desks set up to write as her three pseuds.
She was one heck of a person.
Oh, and relevant to me (a wlw) and relevant to many of her stories, which contain multiple sexualities, there's this:
"I like some men a lot, but from the start, before I knew anything, it was always girls and women who lit me up."
- It's a nice thing to know, that her writings aren't necessarily fetishizing.
This collection contains eighteen of Alice Sheldon's game-changing short stories. Usually short story collections are a grab bag sort of deal: some are good, some aren't, and overall you're not sure how to feel about it.
This collection is a bit different. It felt as if it had been arranged in a way that warmed the reader up to her extreme ... creativity when it comes to sci-fi, I guess, for lack of a better phrasing. The first third is pretty tame (when it comes to sci-fi extremes), though I remember a lot of it went over my head. The middle third is where (I felt) the stories really peaked when it comes to a balance of sci-fi, beauty, storytelling, and a level of weirdness. These were my favorites, with "With Delicate Mad Hands" taking the top title. And then the last third of the collection ... is just weird (maybe not to more regular sci-fi readers). There's random incest, very intense sexual images, and more. I think I can do without these stories when I reread her stuff. I can definitely do without them, haha. But to each their own!
I think though, largely, I am very, very glad I read these stories, that I basically stumbled upon them. I'm so glad I go to learn about this woman. I think I can learn a lot about sci-fi, what the genre can mean beyond what I've ever read or imagined, and even about writing in general, through her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Incest
Moderate: Racism and Murder
Minor: Misogyny
also: cissexismsamdalefox's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
I adored every single story. I adore Tiptree's insight and writing style. She was truly a trailblazer in fusing “hard” science fiction (physics, technology, biology) with the sociological and psychological ideas of “soft” science fiction. Tiptree was also a master in exploring the vantage point of the other, the female, and the alien. Her work is insightful and prophetic and we can continue to learn from her.
Tiptree’s science fiction stories tend to be dark and pessimistic, often exploring the inexorable force of biological determinism and the futility of existence as self-aware individuals. Her tales force me to wonder: Are we as human beings ultimately slaves to our biology? Despite our intelligence, are we doomed to behave like other creatures, to overwhelm the carrying capacity of our surroundings until we experience precipitous plunges in population as a species? Her stories carry consistent themes exploring climate crisis, human exceptionalism, and feminism and is intersectional in surprising ways for the time period Tiptree was writing in.
Each short story is completely unique, and I can see direct influences upon more recently written science fiction stories. No matter their length, I always feel like I've been dropped right into the middle of a complete and vivid world, and I'm just trying to catch up and understand what I'm witnessing. Many stories I was shocked at, a few I cried, all were impactful and will stay with me in some way. They are certainly not easy reads, each have several points that prompt thought and discussion.
I won't bore everyone with my extensive notes list on each short story, I'll merely post a list of the titles included in this collection. I can't specify my favourites because they truly all are spectacular. If you love science fiction and/or feminism, I beg you to read this collection.
Her Smoke Rose up Forever collection includes the following short stories:
Tiptree’s science fiction stories tend to be dark and pessimistic, often exploring the inexorable force of biological determinism and the futility of existence as self-aware individuals. Her tales force me to wonder: Are we as human beings ultimately slaves to our biology? Despite our intelligence, are we doomed to behave like other creatures, to overwhelm the carrying capacity of our surroundings until we experience precipitous plunges in population as a species? Her stories carry consistent themes exploring climate crisis, human exceptionalism, and feminism and is intersectional in surprising ways for the time period Tiptree was writing in.
Each short story is completely unique, and I can see direct influences upon more recently written science fiction stories. No matter their length, I always feel like I've been dropped right into the middle of a complete and vivid world, and I'm just trying to catch up and understand what I'm witnessing. Many stories I was shocked at, a few I cried, all were impactful and will stay with me in some way. They are certainly not easy reads, each have several points that prompt thought and discussion.
I won't bore everyone with my extensive notes list on each short story, I'll merely post a list of the titles included in this collection. I can't specify my favourites because they truly all are spectacular. If you love science fiction and/or feminism, I beg you to read this collection.
Her Smoke Rose up Forever collection includes the following short stories:
- The last flight of Doctor Ain
- The screwfly solution
- And I awoke and found me here on the cold hill's side
- The girl who was plugged in
- The man who walked home
- And I have come upon this place by lost ways
- The women men don't see
- Your faces, O my sisters! Your faces filled with light!
- Houston, Houston, do you read?
- With delicate mad hands
- A momentary taste of being
- We who stole the dream
- Her smoke rose up forever
- Love is the plan, the plan is death
- On the last afternoon
- She waits for all men born
- Slow music
- And so on, and so on
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Classism, Slavery, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Rape
flaweddimension's review against another edition
I hit my sexual assault reading limit. Some stories here were very good, some started with something turgid, one ended in an utterly brutal assault. I don't feel like starting the novellas, as I don't trust the author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Rape
katie_greenwinginmymouth's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Incest, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault
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