Broad Knowledge

Women Up To No Good

by Joanne Merriam (Editor), Charlotte Ashley (Contributor), R.S. Benedict (Contributor)

Broad Knowledge: 35 Women Up To No Good is a feminist anthology of dark fiction and darker knowledge, edited by Joanne Merriam. Containing 35 stories of “bad” women, and “good” women who just haven’t been caught yet, it features 35 fearless writers who identify as female, non-binary, or a marginalized sex or gender identity. It’s the second in the Women Up To No Good series, and is forthcoming in winter 2018.

Genres: Fantasy

365 pages, Paperback

First published November 20, 2018

About the author

Joanne Merriam is a writer, poet, and editor. Her poetry collection The Glaze from Breaking , was originally published by Stride Books and re-released by Upper Rubber Boot. Her poetry and fiction has appeared in dozens of magazines and journals, including Astropoetica, The Baltimore Review, Escape Pod, Pank, Per Contra, Pictura, and Strange Horizons . A complete list is at her website. Her novel, Aether and Ego, will be released by Inanna in autumn 2026.

From 2011 to 2020, she was the Publisher at Upper Rubber Boot Books, which is now on permanent hiatus and has only one book still in print: the first English-language anthology of solarpunk, Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk & Eco-Speculation (eds. Phoebe Wagner and Brontë Wieland).

Reviews

[Frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not slip; that's five stars. And yes, this means this anthology has hit my "I don't care if you don't usually check out the genre, I really think you should check out this book" threshhold. This latest entry in the series is fantastic; dark, weird, hopeful, and funny by turns. Highly, highly recommended.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Broad Knowledge is an anthology of short stories from the Upper Rubber Boot "Women Up To No Good" collection, edited by Joanne Merriam. It contains 35 speculative fiction stories with female protagonists who get into or out of trouble because of their esoteric, scientific or other knowledge.

As with most short story collections, I enjoyed some contributions a lot more than others. There was an excellent one about a sex robot engineering a better life for herself, an atmospheric one about a group of women obtaining their perfect mates from the sea, a tragic one about two sisters trying to recover the essence of their dead mother, and an entertaining one about two deaf girls rescuing themselves from abduction via the medium of explosives.

The range was broad, I liked the thematic concept and I would say about 60% of the stories landed solidly for me.

[Rosemary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and often dark. My favorite stories are:

Your Life Will Look Perfect From Afar by Audrey Hollis (yes, close relation, but no prejudice here)

Viva La Muneca by Ezzy G. Languzzi

Three Days, Two Nights by Therese Pieczynski

First mouse model of Innsmouth Fishman Syndrome draft 2 USE THIS VERSION - edits by MK.doc
by Megan Chaudhuri

[Estel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this short story collection. I have been reading these in reverse order and this one is much stronger than the third. Several of these stories will be staying with me for quite a while.

[Standback]

ummm HELLO anthology with stories by R.S. Benedict and Charlotte Ashley AND Angela Slatter!

::smashes the PREORDER button::

[V.L. Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was drawn to this compilation because I greatly enjoy the writing of Minghao Xu. After reading her previous short story, "Mr. Kim" I was excited to read her next offering. The author did not disappoint with her present story, "Think, Baby Turtle," and again I was immersed in a story that made me invested in the characters and the outcome of their lives. The depth of feeling evoked by the author's character development is what keeps me wanting to read more from her.