They're not men. (But that won't stop them from writing SF like men.) That's the premise of this highly original collection of new short stories-written from the viewpoint of the opposite sex.
When an anthology is titled Women Writing Science Fiction as Men, readers expect either stories on the cutting edge of feminist/gender theory, or a tribute to the late James Tiptree, Jr., the female author everyone thought was male. However, the anthology meets neither expectation. It has a different mandate.
In his introduction, editor Mike Resnick states, "there is a difference in writing about a male and writing as a male." The all-female contributors were charged to write "as a male," with "each story...told in the first person of a man, and...if changing the narrator from Victor to Victoria invalidated the story we didn't want it." However, the anthology doesn't follow two-thirds of its own rules. Neither sex "change" nor biosex has had a discernable effect. The narrators tend to hold "traditionally male" jobs like astronaut, cop, soldier, engineer, superspy, and messiah, but females in these roles are hardly unusual (except messiah, a role also rare for males, and superspy, a role that doesn't exist in reality). Further, four of these sixteen original stories present Victors that cannot readily be turned into Victorias: a rapist, a James Bond parody, and two fellows fighting near-future paternity suits. Additionally, one story is narrated by a Victoria!
The contributors include some big names and hot up-and-comers, among them Kay Kenyon, Mercedes Lackey, Susan R. Matthews, Terry McGarry, Severna Park, Laura Resnick, Jennifer Roberson, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Karen E. Taylor, and singer-songwriter Janis Ian. --Cynthia Ward
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Some interesting stories, but unsuccessful in its own terms.:
In his introduction, Mike Resnick set up two rules: 1. The story was to be narrated in the first person by a male character;
2. The story would be unworkable if the main character were changed into a woman; The goal was for the female authors to write like a man, i.e., getting into the mindset of a man. I think that only five of the sixteen stories actually succeeded. Of these five, I liked "All My Children" by Leslie What, and Leah A. Zeldes grotesquely funny "Big" the best. I thought... more info
Amazing debut:
Janis Ian has got to be one of the most underrated voices in the world today. From her earliest record ("Society's Child, written and recorded at age 14) to her seminal "At Seventeen", Ian has chronicled our times with a verve and bravery that sometimes border on desperation. Her contribution to this anthology, "Prayerville", is admittedly her first story. The first story she ever wrote alone?! Given that, it is stunning. Borrowing a leaf from Tennessee Williams, she begins the story with "I took the... more info
Good premise for this fine anthology:
The title misled this reviewer and will probably do likewise for many readers who will believe that the collection consists of works by female authors using male pseudonyms. Instead, women with no gender disguises write the tales, but the lead character is supposed to be a man providing a male's first person narrative.
That aside, the anthology is fun to read though there is little gender bending in most of the stories (no pregnant Mork from Ork). In fact the jobs, with one Holy exception, tilt in... more info
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