Women As Demons : The Male Perception of Women Through Space and Time

by Tanith Lee

In this collection of fantasy, science fiction and horror stories, the witch, the vampiress, the femme fatale and the vengeful goddess spring to life.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Fiction, Science Fiction, Literature, Anthologies

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Tanith Lee was a British writer of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. She was the author of 77 novels, 14 collections, and almost 300 short stories. She also wrote four radio plays broadcast by the BBC and two scripts for the UK, science fiction, cult television series "Blake's 7."
Before becoming a full time writer, Lee worked as a file clerk, an assistant librarian, a shop assistant, and a waitress.

Her first short story, "Eustace," was published in 1968, and her first novel (for children) The Dragon Hoard was published in 1971.

Her career took off in 1975 with the acceptance by Daw Books USA of her adult fantasy epic The Birthgrave for publication as a mass-market paperback, and Lee has since maintained a prolific output in popular genre writing.

Lee twice won the World Fantasy Award: once in 1983 for best short fiction for “The Gorgon” and again in 1984 for best short fiction for “Elle Est Trois (La Mort).” She has been a Guest of Honour at numerous science fiction and fantasy conventions including the Boskone XVIII in Boston, USA in 1981, the 1984 World Fantasy Convention in Ottawa, Canada, and Orbital 2008 the British National Science Fiction convention (Eastercon) held in London, England in March 2008. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Master of Horror.

Lee was the daughter of two ballroom dancers, Bernard and Hylda Lee. Despite a persistent rumour, she was not the daughter of the actor Bernard Lee who played "M" in the James Bond series of films of the 1960s.

Tanith Lee married author and artist John Kaiine in 1992.

Reviews

[mark monday · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent collection by one of my favorite writers. The stories range from fantasy to science fiction to horror, often overlapping those genres. Lee's skills within each are admirable. Despite the genre-skipping, her writing style and her themes remain consistent through each of these tales: luscious, overripe prose; stories with a strong sense of place and often dripping with atmosphere; a woman's identity, needs, and challenges always centralized.

The subtitle is silly. The title "Women as Demons" - yes, that idea is there, many times. "The Male Perception of Women Through Space and Time" - well, sometimes. But often not a major part, if at all. The male gaze is certainly present in a handful of stories: in the first story "The Demoness" and the last story "Northern Chess," in the silliest story "The Unrequited Glove" and in the strangest "The Discovered Country," and it is central to the strongest story "Into Gold." But the rest... there are different things going on. And more power to this collection for not straitjacketing itself into examining how women are perceived through male eyes. A collection about women does not have to be about what men think about women. These stories are often about how women think of themselves. Perhaps the subtitle was forced onto the collection by its publisher The Women's Press Ltd. In her amusingly theatrical forward, the author is game to reposition these stories as engaging with the male perception of women. But even in that introduction, Lee recognizes that the Demon Woman archetype is something that she as an author often embraces rather than rejects, a perception shared by women and men alike, one existing as both foolish misconception and resonant mythology. For anyone - publisher, author, or reader - to say that this collection is primarily about "the male perception of women" is to limit the depth and meaning of what these stories are about.

All of these stories fascinated, but a few really stood out and will no doubt be reread. The sneakily humorous (well, as humorous as a story about a mass slaughter could be) "You Are My Sunshine" is set on a spaceship dedicated to wellness; its passengers get a hot surprise when one young lady responds to affection by really lighting up the place. "Gemini" is a claustrophobic psychological study of a lonely woman entrapped by own her own fears, set in a semi-utopian future. Lee pays tribute to classic Asian fantasy with the baroque, wistful "Mirage and Magia" and its remote but predatory anti-heroine, an archetype of that genre. The horror-tinged "Winter White" with its misogynist protagonist getting his just desserts, and the crowd-pleaser "Northern Chess" with its wry and very capable woman warrior getting the job done, are both set in the kinds of perfectly realized medieval-fantasy worlds that Lee once started her career writing about.

"The Lancastrian Blush" puts a supernatural spin on the Wars of Roses; the language in this piece is so gorgeous, strange, opaque - I hung on every sentence, it was such an absorbing experience. The disturbing "The Thaw" starts with an intriguing premise of centuries-old humans unfrozen from suspended animation and ends with humans devoured and an alien invasion. Eek. Perhaps the most original story is "The One We Were" which details the mysterious and perhaps murderous activities of an author who is led astray by a combination of her interest in reincarnation, her jealousy towards any who would claim her past lives, and her own almost psychopathic self-absorption. The most lauded story is probably "Into Gold": this is Tanith Lee creating her own mythology of sorts, a timeless tale of a mysterious foreigner who only means well, only does good, but is entirely misunderstood by the one man who refuses to see beyond his own jealousy.

♀

"The Demoness" - woman as hunger, implacable, mindless, a hunger for love, a love that has fled...

"Deux Amours d'une Sorcière" - woman as sleeper, dreaming of love; a dream that vanishes when woken...

"The Unrequited Glove" - woman as glove, to be worn then taken off, forgotten; beware the glove that returns...

"Gemini" - woman as captive, imprisoned by her past, slave to the inside twin that tells her never again never again...

"Into Gold" - woman as savior, bringer of fertility & fortune & life; a rival to be vanquished, her gold seen as poison...

"The Lancastrian Blush" - woman as betrayer, her powers gone astray, out of control; her blush changes history...

"You are My Sunshine" - woman as a new sun, kissed into life, become an obliterating heat...

"The One We Were" - 'woman' as protean identity; different in each life, sex and gender just costumes...

"The Truce" - woman as alien, a tribe different from man, a tribe apart, and so both tribes die...

"The Squire's Tale" - woman as possessor, taking over the boy's body, changing it into her own, living again...

"The Discovered Country" - woman as mother as tyrant as partner as foe as immortal as the beckoning one...

"Winter White" - woman as ghostly parasite, as spirit paramour, as the mistress who can never be discarded...

"Written in Water" - woman as sole survivor, the last of us; a woman alone needs no starry man, fallen from the sky...

"Mirage and Magia" - woman as revenge, avenging her own broken heart, her enemies all the pretty young men...

"The Thaw" - woman as vessel, a container, a body to be worn; a new soul looking out, with unkind eyes...

"Northern Chess" - woman as warrior, the chessboard queen, vanquishing foes that know only how to fight men...

[Pam Baddeley · Rating 3 out of 5]

After some rather disappointing novels by this writer, this short story collection was a pleasant change. It consists of a mixture of different stories: some straight fantasy, some science fiction, some horror and some off the wall and not so categorisable such as The One We Were. Some have a dry sense of humour, like that story. My favourite was The Northern Chess Game which concludes the collection and stars a believable fantasy heroine in a medieval style world (fantasy because sorcery is real) who has to deal with constant misogyny and worse from men. I would have enjoyed a novel about that character. So 3 stars overall.

[Temucano · Rating 5 out of 5]

En este libro abundan las mujeres malvadas, manipuladoras, vengativas, absorbentes, la gran mayoría de sublime belleza, pero de no tan buen corazón. También existe una amplia variedad de géneros y escenarios: reinos fantásticos, inmensidades estelares, horrores contemporáneos, históricos medievales, etc…donde casi siempre la víctima es el hombre, que claro está, se deja llevar por la pasión, sin saber donde se está metiendo.

Tiene acción y romance en su justa medida, lo qué sumado a la estilizada prosa de Tanith Lee, otorga a los relatos un sello bien particular y una media bien alta para toda la antología.

Acá mis favoritos:

"La mujer demonio": gran cuento de fantasía, sobre sueños románticos de un súcubo implacable.
"Gemelos": el mejor cuento de la serie, terror y locura entremezclados.
"Eres mi sol": divertido cuento de ciencia ficción
"La tregua": el único que conocía pero ya se me había olvidado
"El rubor de Lancaster": el más críptico y extraño pero de mayor poesía.
"El relato del escudero": gran cuento de posesión y brujería.
"El deshielo": relato de ciencia ficción que sorprende.

Es lo mejor que conozco de esta autora.

[Muriel (The Purple Bookwyrm) · Rating 3 out of 5]

More accurate rating: 7/10.

A solidly good and enjoyable collection of (actually) feminist to feminist-adjacent, fantasy and science-fiction short stories, with a decent – and decently well executed, or conveyed – emphasis on horror as well. Said elements, and the elegant, evocative quality of the author's prose, even reminded me – somewhat – of Poe's or Lovecraft's fiction at times.

On the whole, Women as Demons featured well realised, or at the very least interesting elements of world-building, or setting. And delivered engaging bits of, once again actually feminist theming on the 'Dark Feminine' – to put it simplistically. All in all, that gets a thumbs up from me! 👍

PS: I also really enjoyed the author's introduction to the collection.

[Shaitarn · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars.

I originally borrowed this book from the library when my adult library card was still a new and exciting thing; now I have a copy on my own shelves.

Inside the (frankly ghastly) cover is an anthology of 16 stories by British fantasy/sci-fi author Tanith Lee. These were all originally published in other magazines or anthologies (two in The Year's Best Fantasy/Horror , no less) between 1976 - 1986.

These stories cover a wide area of horror to sci-fi to heroic fantasy. I found it an enjoyable (if occasionally slightly disturbing) read, with only two or three stories not to my taste - they weren't bad stories, just not particularly of interest to me. Most were entertaining; a couple made me smile, and two lingered in my mind long after I'd finished the book simply because I found (and still find) them so disquieting (Written in Water and The Thaw). I also found other stories such as The Unrequited Glove, You Are My Sunshine, The One We Were and The Truce particularly enjoyable.

Tanith Lee is, I think, what I would call a 'marmite' author - you're either going to really like her stuff or really dislike it. Readers who expect fast-moving action heavy plots may not enjoy this book. If you like stories that focus on characters and twisting little plots that may draw a chuckle from you at the end, you may enjoy this.

[Laura Gaelx · Rating 3 out of 5]

Por desgracias, la edición es pésima: mala traducción, faltas de ortografía, erratas...

Los 16 relatos que componen el libro se pueden dividir en los de tono fantástico, futurista y realista. Pero todos comparten un alto componente simbólico y una prosa evocadora pero algo forzada (¿problema sólo de la traducción?).

Aunque es interesante adoptar puntos de vista diferentes sobre los arquetipos femeninos, le falta algo de fuerza subversiva.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Preface (Women As Demons) • (1989) • introduction by Tanith Lee


The Demoness (1976)
Deux Amours d'une Sorcière (1979)
Gemini (1981)
Into Gold (1986)
The Lancastrian Blush (1989)
You Are My Sunshine (1980)
The One We Were (1984)
The Truce (1976)
The Squire's Tale (1980)
Discovered Country (1989)
Winter White (1978)
Written in Water (1982)
Mirage and Magia (1982) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Thaw (1979)
Northern Chess (1979)

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another charity store find. This was an interesting collection of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. I enjoyed them, some were very atmospheric, some very sad. And yet somehow I felt something was missing that kept me really loving this. Perhaps it was the light characterisation, stories were told more as myths than reality. But it was still worth reading.

[Aurora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boooring. Less than half of the stories were actually interesting =/

[Sasha Wolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short story collection exploring the stereotype of the femme fatale. There were several of these I really liked, and inevitably one or two I skimread. My favourite was the exquisite The One We Were, which is also one of the few to pass the Bechdel test and, unlike most of the others, provides another woman with power and agency besides the femme fatale to give the story some balance.

[William Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es seductora la manera en que la fantasía describe la realidad con un profundo sentimiento de impotencia. La impotencia, la refiero a hechos perturbadores del pasado en los cuales las mujeres se vieron envueltas en circunstancia delirantes y sanguinarias en materia de derechos, dignidad y ni de sentimientos hablemos.

Es posible, y estoy casi seguro que la intención de la autora no es ponernos en los zapatos de brujas zarrapastrosas y hechiceras de poca monta para sumergirnos en un plano de "la guía para entender a una mujer". En mi papel de hombre interpreto cada renglón como la transcripción de sentimientos profundos hacia un mundo muy lejos de la fantasía en donde la mujer, como amante despiadada asedia murallas de irrespeto, deshonor y machismo con el único recurso heredable por la eternidad, los sueños y la esperanza.

Muy lejos de ser una simple recopilación de cuentos con mucho picadillo por masticar, este ejemplar nos presenta la mente de una soñadora que puede despulgar en el extraño sentir del sufrimiento y convertirlo en un paisaje letra tras letra. Una caminata lenta sobre la página que no requiere una capacidad imaginativa fugaz, pero si un corazón abierto y/o herido para no convertir las palabras en imágenes que no le hagan justicia.

Una frase, dos tres, he llenado mi libro de marcadores para seguir estudiando y analizando a través del tiempo como la madurez de la vida o la visión volátil del alma puede convertir aquello leído alguna vez en un pedazo de palabrería con mucha arquitectura sentimental.

Leíble y releíble, un tomo corto que permite viajar en el tiempo (Cualquier época), creer, analizar y dejar nuestra mente abierta a interpretaciones distintas una para cada estado de ánimo del día.

Nota: Quería llenar de citas esta reseña, pero en definitiva es mejor que cada quien extraiga su pedazo de alma, descubrirán que el espejo al interior reflejara distintos espectros.

P.v

[Rocío · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esta colección fue mi primer libro de Tanith Lee, leído por error hace una década. Por error porque pensaba que iba a leer ensayo. Recordaba algunas secciones clarísimas (sobre todo, de "Deux Amours d'une Sorcière"), algunos cuentos los he releído más tarde en antologías (como el un poquito ya trillado "Northern Chess") y ha habido un par de historias que no me sonaban en absoluto ("The Lancastrian Blush"). "Discovered Country" ha sido la gran relectura, ya que ahora le veo varios temas a los que vuelve de buen agrado (la madre monstruo, Marte como destino exótico y suicidios teatrales). "The Thaw" ha envejecido la mar de bien. 10/10, tendré que releerlo en 2032.

[Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

As good as anything Tanith Lee has written. My favorite collection of her short stories so far, in fact - mostly fantasy, all previously published. Deux Amours D'une Sorciere is beautifully written. I read the entire collection in 1 day.

[Abe Pralle]

No one does fantasy-horror short stories better than Tanith Lee!