Scan barcode
A review by nelsonminar
Memoirs of a Spacewoman by Naomi Mitchison
3.0
What an odd book! It's basically a collection of short stories, musings on different forms of sentient life and the challenge of communicating with it. Very alien, improbable forms of existence, with an idea of what intelligence is much broader than most sci-fi. Loved the speculative nature of all that.
Also appreciated the perspective of the woman narrator (and author). There's a lot of writing here about motherhood, both a relatively-normal human kind and then this bizarre grafting technology that the story keeps returning to. It's quite moving and unusual and I am glad for it.
Also a bit unsettling. I don't think this was the author's intent but some of the alienness verges into the body horror that Octavia Butler was so great at writing. At least, I imagine Butler got some ideas from here and then ran with them. Neat to see that thread of sci-fi explored, I wish more authors would do it.
(As many reviewers have noted; the synopsis of this book is a weirdly sexist thing that inappropriately highlights erotic elements. There's a bit of that but it's a very minor theme, and most of it is in service to a sci-fi exploration of an interesting form of communication.)
Also appreciated the perspective of the woman narrator (and author). There's a lot of writing here about motherhood, both a relatively-normal human kind and then this bizarre grafting technology that the story keeps returning to. It's quite moving and unusual and I am glad for it.
Also a bit unsettling. I don't think this was the author's intent but some of the alienness verges into the body horror that Octavia Butler was so great at writing. At least, I imagine Butler got some ideas from here and then ran with them. Neat to see that thread of sci-fi explored, I wish more authors would do it.
(As many reviewers have noted; the synopsis of this book is a weirdly sexist thing that inappropriately highlights erotic elements. There's a bit of that but it's a very minor theme, and most of it is in service to a sci-fi exploration of an interesting form of communication.)