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A review by terrypaulpearce
Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr.
5.0
In places this is hard going, but three-quarters of the best books are. And this is one of the best. I have no idea how people didn't clock sooner that James Tiptree Jr. wasn't a man, because I'm not sure I've read much fiction, let alone sci-fi, that's more staunchly feminist and more obviously borne of having lived experience of being a woman in modern Western society.
But that (although great) is not what makes this collection great. The imagination is the primary thing. Such a great sci-fi mind... the fact that she dreamed these up implies that she has some deep psychic connection with the universe. So many are jaw-dropping twists on humanity's relationship to life, death and the cosmos, but without being twisty for twisty's sake. How more of these are not movies I have no idea. She has better ideas than the much-filmed Dick (on the whole), and her prose is much, much better.
Maybe she's not more filmed because she's so dark, and so sexual. Actually, now I think about it, that really could be it. Every story is more or less about sex, or death, or sex and death. Which is another great thing about this collection.
But that (although great) is not what makes this collection great. The imagination is the primary thing. Such a great sci-fi mind... the fact that she dreamed these up implies that she has some deep psychic connection with the universe. So many are jaw-dropping twists on humanity's relationship to life, death and the cosmos, but without being twisty for twisty's sake. How more of these are not movies I have no idea. She has better ideas than the much-filmed Dick (on the whole), and her prose is much, much better.
Maybe she's not more filmed because she's so dark, and so sexual. Actually, now I think about it, that really could be it. Every story is more or less about sex, or death, or sex and death. Which is another great thing about this collection.