CATALOGS
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Thanks to Barbara Louise for an incredible overview of the genre and for her recommendations. Feel free to add your own contributions!
| Add Comments |
Eleanor Arnason
submitted by Audrey
Author of A Woman of the Iron People and Ring of Swords. I can't speak for the first book, but Ring of Swords captivated me. Arnason's exploration of interspecies (interspecial?) relationships will give you lots to think about. Bonus good reading for anyone who's fascinated by squid and cuttlefish. (Really!) (Not trying to be funny!)
Margaret Atwood
submitted by Barbara Louise
Author of The Handmaid's Tale, a terrifying dystopian tale of a very possible future if the Religious Right should ever take power in America.
Loganberry's Women's Words Book Club
Alias Grace by
Margaret Atwood was an autumnal selection. I loved it.
Just ate it up. It works as a kind of mystery-in-reverse. You
know what happened, physically, but you're never quite sure how or why
it happened, or who did it (of course). So here's Grace Marks in
jail for murder (this much we know it true, historically), and through
Atwood's captivating flashbacks and interior monologues we learn more about
Grace. It 's hard to believe anyone you know could be capable of
murder, and by learning about Grace's difficult immigrant life, you come
to respect her and appreciate her silence. But did she do it?
I'll let you read it.
Available now at
Loganberry Books.
Atwood,
Margaret
Alias Grace. Doubleday,
1996. New trade paperback. $12
Bluebeard's Egg. Seal
Books, 1983. Used mass paperback. F. $4
Surfacing. Warner,
1972. Used mass paperback. VG. $5
Life Before Man. Simon
& Schuster, 1979. First edition, ex-library with usual marks.
G+/VG. $12
Cat's Eye. Doubleday,
1988. Hardcover book club edition. VG/VG. $8
Wilderness Tips. Eagle
Large Print, 1991. Hardcover ex-library large print edition.
F/F. $8
Francesca Lia Block
submitted by Audrey
So how many places can I plug her work? Best known for the Weetzie Bat books (collected in Dangerous Angels), Block has written two science fictionish titles. Both Ecstasia and Primavera are out of print, but they're worth finding. Ecstasia's world of youth and beauty has some of the chilling undertone you'll find in Missing Angel Juan's scenes with Cake. Young and beautiful forever--yikes, the implications aren't all that pretty. By the way, Missing Angel Juan is in Dangerous Angels, where you get five books for the price of one, all in a gorgeous trade-sized paperback.
Marion Zimmer Bradley
submitted by Barbara Loiuse
"Discoveror" of the planet Darkover, and the Free Amazons who have found a not-so-unique (but appealing) way of surviving as strong, independent women in an intensely Patriarchal society. She has written nearly twenty novels and edited half that number of short story collections about all eras in Darkover's history, both before and after being rediscovered by the Terran Empire. Best book about the Free Amazons would be The Shattered Chain and its sequel Thendara House. Another novel outside that universe would be The Ruins of Isis, about a world ruled by women, and a woman anthropologist who comes to study that society, masquerading as an archeologist, and with her husband (the real archeologist) in chains, as the laws of Isis require. A brilliant feminist critique of this novel can be found in Feminism and Science Fiction by Sarah Lefanu.
Octavia E. Butler
submitted by Barbara Louise
The only Black woman I know of writing SF, author of Mind of My Mind and Exogenesis, and others.
Loganberry's Women's Words Book Club
Parable of the Sower by
Octavia Butler was the second science fiction choice for this
group. When the boundaries between the haves and have-nots finally
breaks, Lauren must not only fend for herself but for her loyal followers
who recognize her special powers and the promises of a new faith she carries,
Earthseed. A captivating read.
Available now at
Loganberry Books.
Butler, Octavia
Parable of the Sower.
Warner, 1993. New mass paperback, $6
Also available upon request (most in new mass paperbacks, $6)
Adulthood Rites, Bloodchild and Other
Stories, Clay's Ark, Dawn, Imago, Kindred, Lilith's Brood, Mind of My Mind,
Parable of the Talents, Patternmaster, Wild Seed .
Suzy McKee Charnas
submitted by Barbara Louise
Feminist also. The three books of hers I know of, and they are a Trilogy, are angry and painfully realistic: Walk to the End of the World; Motherlines; The Furies. The first two novels are available in one hardback volume from The Women's Press, 34 Great Sutton St., London EC1V0DX. (And I would dearly love to have a copy.) The third, in hardback, is a TOR book. These books should not be read by children or the faint of heart.
A.C. Crispin (Ann)
submitted by Barbara Louise
Author of the Starbridge Series, the best of which are Silent Dancers and Silent Songs (with Kathleen O'Malley) about a Deaf Native American on another planet peopled by sapient birds.
Ellen Datlow
submitted by Audrey
Editor extraordinaire Datlow's name appears on lots and lots of anthologies, sf, horror, fantasy and otherwise. Fabulous works all. She works with Terri Windling on the Year's Best Fantasy and Horror collections and also worked with Windling to edit and produce a few volumes of adult fairy tales.
Debra Doyle & James D. MacDonald
submitted by Barbara Louise
Authors of The Price of the Stars, and others, in a "Cowboys and King Arthur" galactic horse opera, but the woman-characters are very strong and very believable.
.
Tananarive Due
submitted by Audrey
Due's generally considered a horror author, but both My Soul to Keep and The Living Blood have a strong underlying thread of medical science. Due's fictional work also includes The Between, and all three of these books contain some element of her concern with the AIDS epidemic. Her short fiction has been featured in Dark Matter, a collection of horror written by African American authors, and she creates strong characters with strong families. Great stuff..
Harlan Ellison
submitted by Audrey
The great Mr. E. doesn't care for labels, but he does care for people, and much of his writing is indeed feminist work. The Essential Ellison is a good starting place, and Strange Wine is also a must-have.
Ursula Hegi
submitted by Laurie
Another excellent book is by a German writer Ursula Hegi called Stones from the River, about a dwarf girl growing up in pre and post war Germany. Hope you read them and enjoy.
Robert A. Heinlein
submitted by Barbara Louise
His early books, mostly written for teenagers, are good, and he has amazingly strong woman-characters, considering the time (the forties and fifties) when he was writing. Then came the sixties, and Stranger in a Strange Land, and after that he felt free to express his thoughts on human sexuality. Also, while he likes strong (sexy) women, he does not like feminists and feminism. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress was his best later work.
Nancy Kress
submitted by Barbara Louise
An Alien Light; Beggars in Spain; and others.
submitted by David
Just found your site and love it! Scrolled down through your book chat
and found many interesting titles and authors. However, you might let Barbara
Louise know that to call Nancy Kress books feminist sci fi is narrowing
the author's range! Her books are excellent, and have nothing to
do with feminism per se. She write about people and the events that
make them who they are. The whole beggar series is a complex
yet readable story of dna experimentation and its effects on a society
like ours. Her other books are excellent as well. I look forward
to trying your book search!
submitted by Audrey
David, David, David! I look forward to reading Nancy Kress's
work (nice review). I don't think though that all of the books and
authors listed here are supposed to be strident, militant manifestos.
Lots of the stuff I listed has an overtly feminist theme, but lots of stuff
just has a basic underlying assumption that women deserve the same rights
and treatment as do men. Submit some more reading suggestions.
No better way to find new books than recommendations from like-mindeds.
Ursula K. LeGuin
submitted by Barbara Louise
She writes beautifully, not prettily, beautifully. Her best (again in my opinion) are The Left Hand of Darkness (wherein an envoy visits a planet where the human beings are neuter 3/4 of the time, and become sexual beings, women or men, only 1/4 of the time, and there is no predisposition to one gender or the other: they can be women one time, and a month later, a man, or someone who gives birth to several children may father several others, and their "perverts" are people who take drugs to remain one gender all the time and always sexual); The Word for the World is Forest; A Wizard of Earthsea (Fantasy, but I like it.); Always Coming Home; and my favorite, which I would love to have in hardbound, The Dispossessed, about an anarkhist planet and its sister capitalist planet, and a man who goes from one to the other. LeGuin has been writing a long time, and resisted Feminist criticism at first (her unisexual humans, for instance, were referred to by the pronoun "he," even when in their neuter phase). She later listened to feminist writers and fans, and her later novels reflect that.
Available now at
Loganberry Books.
LeGuin,
Ursula
The Left Hand of Darkness.
Ace Books, 1969, 1976. Used mass paperback, F. $3
A Fisherman of the Inland Sea.
Harper Collins, 1994. First edition, F/F. $15
Also available upon request (most in new mass paperbacks)
The Dispossessed, The Eye of the Heron,
The Lathe of Heaven, The Earthsea Tetrology (A Wizard of Earthsea, The
Farthest Shore, The Tombs of Atuan, Tehanu), Steering the Craft.
Elizabeth A. Lynn
submitted by Barbara Louise
Author of the Chronicals of Tornor Trilogy: Watchtower; The Dances of Arun (in which one of the main characters is handicapped); The Northern Girl, all Fantasy novels, but with no fake magic, and three of the best books I have ever read. Lynn doesn't write enough.
Vonda N. McIntyre
submitted by Barbara Louise
Author of Dreamsnake; as well as Starfarers (the first in a trilogy or tetralogy or whatever, about a shipload of scientists exploring the nearer stars, whose society is mostly anarkhist, and whose main characters are in a triad marriage which used to be tetrad, but one spouse died).
Mureen F. McHugh
submitted by Barbara Louise
A remarkable writer, with a unique viewpoint, whose first novel, China Mountain Zhang, won the first Tiptree award for a work which shattered gender roles and expectations. I would love to have this great book in hardback. Half the Day is Night is good SF, with believable, and alien, aliens.
Rebecca Ore
submitted by Audrey
Gaia's Toys is a great story. As a great story, it works on a number of different levels, so it's a harrowing futuristic novel of warning, a societal examination, and a just plain good, haunting read. Highly disturbing. Fascinating take on welfare and welfare reform (or lack thereof).
Marge Piercy
submitted by Barbara Louise
Author of Woman on the Edge of Time, her only SF book, one in which an hispanic woman falsely imprisoned in a mental institution visits a utopian (but imperiled) future, and also, once another possible future, if the present sexist, racist Ruling Class should be allowed to take over completely, destroy the Earth's ecology completely, and retire to space stations to breath clean, recycled air, while the rest of us wallow in slavery.
Available now at
Loganberry Books.
Marge
Piercy.
Woman on the Edge of Time. Ballantine,
1997 reprint. New paperback edition. $13
Vida. Summit, 1979.
Used trade paperback, VG. $7
Mars and Her Children: Poems.
Alfred A. Knopf, 1992, first edition. F/F. $20
Living in the Open: Poems.
Alfred A. Knopf, 1976 first edition. Wraps. VG. $15
The High Cost of Living.
Harper & Row, 1978, first edtion. VG/G. DJ taped, owner's
name in marker. First edition, $20.
Johanna Russ
submitted by Barbara Louise
Author of The Female Man, not to be missed, and others. Very Feminist.
Mary Doria Russell
Loganberry's Women's Words Book Club
We started a bookclub at Loganberry. I mean the reading/discussion group kind of bookclub (as opposed to the book-of-the-month kind of club Loganberry also operates). We call it Women's Words because we're focusing on books written by women, but encompassing all genres of writing. (Gotta love it, a new customer waltzed into the shop one day and asked if I had a bookclub, and I responded that I didn't but always wanted to start one, and so we did, right then and there.) Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell was the first book we read: a science-fiction novel with religious overtones (now that I think of it, a lot of science fiction has religious undercurrents: Madeleine L'Engle, C.S. Lewis, etc.) and a local setting (Cleveland Ohio). Most of the group really liked it, with only a few detractors (the mystery folks didn't dig it), even with its disturbing (and rather hasty) denouement. I won't spoil the book for you, but I will mention that the movie rights have been sold, and the casting was another point of contention for this group!
Whatever happened to the movie they were making of this?!
Available now at
Loganberry Books.
Russell, Mary Doria.
The Sparrow. Fawcett, 1997. New trade paperback. $12
Children of God. Fawcett, 1999. New trade paperback, $13
Melissa Scott
submitted by Barbara Louise
Author of Trouble and Her Friends and others.
Arne Tangherlini
submitted by Audrey
Arne Tangherlini produced one novel, leo@fergusrules.com, before he died. It's worth reading and not lending to people. Leo(nora) doesn't fit in at school, but she fits well in her online gaming community--until it goes haywire. Has been compared to Alice in Wonderland. Lovely. Also has the unforgettable image of people trapped in ice (remember Orlando?), except these unfortunates were Zambonied into the skating surface.
Sheri S. Tepper
submitted by Barbara Louise
A terrific writer, and a feminist whose world view is wonderfully evident in all her novels, both SF and Fantasy. Her best (in my opinion), and most feminist are: Gibbon's Decline and Fall; The Gate to Women's Country; Grass; Raising the Stones; Sideshow; Shadow's End. She has written several others, all good. I can't say much about the fantasy novels, since I am mostly an SF fan. (I prefer fake science to fake magic.)
James Tiptree Jr.
submitted by Barbara Louise
A woman, Alice Sheldon, who wrote incognito as a man for a while, and really had people fooled. A few women insisted Tiptree had to be a woman because no man could have her insight. A few men, notably the famous and prolific Robert Silverberg, said the writing was too "strong" to be that of a woman. She is a genius at the short story (I am fondest of novels, so they have to be great short stories to capture my interest). "Houston, Houston, Do You Read?" is her best, found, I believe, in the collection of hers, Starsongs of an Old Primate. Also "The Women Men Don't See" and "The Screwfly Solution" are excellent short stories. Up the Walls of the World is my favorite novel of hers, but anything by Tiptree (and there is nowhere near enough of it), is gold. In Feminism and Science Fiction by Sarah Lefanu, she writes a totally favorable critique of Tiptree's work, and ends with "In May 1987, when Alice Sheldon's beloved husband was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, she shot him dead and then turned the gun upon herself."
Available now at
Loganberry Books.
Tiptree, James Jr.
Available upon request:
Meet Me at Infinity.
Tor Books, 2000 reprint. New Hardcover, $27
Brightness Falls from the Air.
St. Martin's Press, 1993 reprint. New paperback, $12
John Varley
submitted by Barbara Louise
A man who is a feminist, and a terrific writer. His Gaian Trilogy (Titan, Wizard, Demon) is the "War And Peace" of science fiction. His main character, Captain Cirocco Jones, is more than three-dimensional (rather than "cardboard" and two-dimensional), she is four-dimensional, that is, like a real human being, she changes over time. In this Trilogy, the greatest love-relationship is between two women, and is totally believable. Varley is a man who makes no bones about his womb-envy. In the Gaian Trilogy, he has created the best alien species I've ever read, and both genders can get pregnant. In Steel Beach, he creates a society where transgenderism, back and forth, several times in a long life, is the norm, while remaining one gender is unusual. The main character changes from a male at the beginning of the book, and later becomes a woman, who accidently gets pregnant.
Wilhelm, Kate
submitted by Audrey
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang is a gorgeous sf classic, but don't let that be the extent of your Wilhelm reading.
