The Evolution of Science Fiction discussion

So today is International women's day so it's only right to start a thread on the best female sci-fi writers.

I'm trying to think who my favourite is. I have a lot of time for Margaret Atwood as I read a lot of her books when I was younger, of which at the time The Handmaid's Tale impressed me. I also liked Joanna Russ The Female Man.

From this group i've discovered and enjoyed Ursula K. Le Guin of which The Dispossessed is still my favourite.

Others include Johanna Sinisalo of which i'm looking forward to reading her new book The Core of the Sun and Marge Piercy and the fantastic Marge Piercy: Woman on the Edge of Time/Readings

Ursula K Le Guin is one of my all time favorite authors, genre or otherwise. Her prose is lyrical. Her books go from good to outstanding.

An up-and-comer is Ann Leckie, author of the Imperial Radch trilogy (the Ancillary books). I read and really enjoyed these books recently. The prose is intense, as are the stories

I've read a couple by Octavia E. Butler. They were good and I'll read more.

I've read and enjoyed a few of Margaret Atwood's books, but I'm not enthralled with her. Her writing seems understated to me, almost as if she were writing in a whisper.

One of the ancestors, Mary Shelley for Frankenstein. Zenna Henderson for her "People" series, which kept me enthralled as a teenager. The People: No Different Flesh, The Anything Box, Pilgrimage: The Book of the People. Connie Willis, perennial award winner and nominee. My fave of her books, the series All Clear and Blackout. But I've also enjoyed a more modest early work, Lincoln's Dreams.

Madeleine L'Engle, Andre Norton, & Anne McCaffrey were a few of my early favorite SF authors. I haven't read anything by any of them in years (decades?), though.

I really liked Octavia E. Butler's early books like Mind of My Mind & Patternmaster. Her later ones haven't looked interesting to me.

I forgot one: James Tiptree Jr.. I haven't read much of her stuff because it's kind of hard to find.

I'd be hard pressed to pick a favorite, I loved Andrea Host (Touchstone Series) for newer sci-fi. Madieline L'Engle for her Wrinkle in Time Quartet and Anne McCaffrey for her Pern Series and her Tower and Hive series.

That's two mentions of Madeliene L'Engle and I really don't know her works. I'm going to have to track down A Wrinkle in Time.

Jo wrote: "That's two mentions of Madeliene L'Engle and I really don't know her works. I'm going to have to track down A Wrinkle in Time."

That's a YA book & I'm not sure how well it would read now. As a kid, the original trilogy was fantastic. I never read anything else by her, though. I wasn't interested in reading the 2 books she added on later, either. Like LeGuin's original EarthSea trilogy, some things are perfect just the way they are. I was very disappointed in the addition to Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy. When authors let too many years go by, their style & points seem to change to much & the new books just don't have the flavor that I loved about them.

Jim wrote: "Jo wrote: "That's two mentions of Madeliene L'Engle and I really don't know her works. I'm going to have to track down A Wrinkle in Time."

That's a YA book & I'm not sure how well it ..."

I would say A wrinkle in time is more a children's book than YA. I read it as an adult and found it to be quite overrated.

Octavia Butler is probably my favorite female SF writer. For those who didn't make it past The Patternist series, I liked the Xenogenesis Trilogy a lot more. It's a great alien contact series. Lilith's Brood

Her novel, Kindred, is not to be missed. It's a time travel novel focused on slavery.

Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents are also quite good. I think it was the second one that won the Nebula Award.

I got to meet her at a convention a few years before she died. She was a very thoughtful and nice person, shy but happy to talk with her fans. It's a tragedy she died so young. She had a lot if good novels left in her we'll never see.

Randolph wrote: "James Tiptree Jr."

Having started next month's group book Her Smoke Rose Up Forever I have to agree with you. I'm normally hard to impress with short stories but i've really enjoyed the first few.

Has anyone read anything by Aliette de Bodard? She's just won two British SF awards and her novel The House of Shattered Wings looks good.

I saw that her novel had won the award, but I've not heard of her before.

out of interest has anyone read much Sheri S. Tepper? I read a while ago The Gate to Women's Country which I thought was OK but owed a lot to The Handmaid's Tale. I picked up Southshore in a second hand bookshop on holiday without realising it's the second so not sure if I can read it as standalone or not.

I really enjoyed Becky Chambers' debut novel The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Ancillary Mercy, third in the trilogy by Ann Leckie just won the Locus Science Fiction Award for 2016

Buck wrote: "I really enjoyed Becky Chambers' debut novel The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
"

I just read this last week and have to agree it was a good debut novel. I liked the mix of characters.

Jo wrote: "out of interest has anyone read much Sheri S. Tepper?..."

Many years ago, I read King's Blood Four & several related books. Really interesting world, IIRC. It got a bit too weird in a spin-off trilogy - something about a dervish. She really spun.

Not sure where the best place to post this is, but this is a thought provoking article on feminist distopias.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...

I'd add to the list Andre Norton for the golden age SF and Linda Nagata for a modern one. I cannot say that everything they wrote is great, but they have quite a few good books

Buck wrote: "I really enjoyed Becky Chambers' debut novel The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet ..."

Everyone in my family did, too. I even bought a copy to keep. Then I bought and enjoyed the sequel, but lost it, and so will have to buy it again to share with my family. But I bet they'll like it even more the first book.

Has anyone read Margaret St. Clair?

Semiosis by Sue Burke is a great newer book, and I also dug out the freely available short works that I could find online by her and enjoyed them, too.

I enjoy Karen Joy Fowler, especially for short stories.

A few weeks ago I met Sylvie Denis, who was giving a talk about translation. They called her "The Queen of French SF". Really she is more the queen of translating SF from English to French. She does write her own work, but apparently translation is easier and pays better!

I stumbled on this series Women of Wonder. Looks like an interesting series of books.

Most interesting to me might be Women of Wonder, the Classic Years: Science Fiction by Women from the 1940s to the 1970s.

Mary Shelley. I’ve always thought of Frankenstein as more of a sci fi than a horror novel. She was also one of the pioneers of sci fi.

Bruce wrote: "Mary Shelley. I’ve always thought of Frankenstein as more of a sci fi than a horror novel. She was also one of the pioneers of sci fi."

I agree. Her story was based on the scientific discovery of galvanism.

I am a fan of series fiction, just like I appreciate a good Netflix television series more than a one-off film. There's deeper you can go with characterization, more involved plots, and more intricate worlds that can be created when you are dealing with a series. To my mind the five greatest series written by women (and maybe men too, for that matter) are Andre Norton's Witch World, Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover, Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders, C. J. Cherryh's Foreigner, and Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan.

I wonder why more and younger women (or men) are not writing science fiction series. Lord knows, from the built-in audience there's easy, big money to be made in doing so.

Becky Chambers
Loved the first two books enough to buy and share with my entire immediate family. Want more.

Emma Newman
Love Planetfall, not sure about more for me, personally.

Lots of urban fantasy and paranormal are series, iiuc.

And let us not forget Elizabeth Moon who recently added Cold Welcome to her Vatta series. I enjoyed Vatta's War enough to get through the whole thing, but am not excited by Vatta's Peace.

I'm more fond of stand-alones that get to the point and then let us move on, myself. And to me it seems that I keep tripping over series. A matter of perspective, I suppose.

I hadn't heard of your first two authors and forgot about Elizabeth Moon's Vatta series, which I only know a little of by reputation. The Vatta series looks right up my alley. Thanks for mentioning these!

Most younger writers are writing are writing YA science fiction. Still technically science fiction though.

Another female author, not mentioned above is the writer of The Stars Are Legion - Kameron Hurley

But as per the topic headline, is she the best? If so, why do you think so? If the topic is open for naming any published female science fiction author, then we can go on in completely meaningless random fashion until all 50,000 to 100,000 or so have been named.

Dan wrote: "But as per the topic headline, is she the best?."

Depends on where you set a cutoff line - top3, top10, top100?
I've read only one book by her and I liked it. Is it on the level with Ursula K. Le Guin? No. Is in on the level of Hugo award nominees? Yes, in the sense that at least in the last few years they nominated I liked less.

Dan wrote: "But as per the topic headline, is she the best? If so, why do you think so? If the topic is open for naming any published female science fiction author, then we can go on in completely meaningless ..."

Edited my previous post to make it more clear why I mentioned those.

Dan wrote: "I wonder why more and younger women (or men) are not writing science fiction series...."

It seems to me like they all are writing series. Or maybe that is just what I'm seeing. I haven't compiled a survey. Another group I'm in is always picking new books that turn out to be part of a series and that turns me off.

I'm more drawn to stand-alone books. I'm addicted to novelty. Love being thrown into a new world and not knowing anything about it.

Another recent trend seems to be series of novellas that could have been published as a single novel instead. Examples: Binti and All Systems Red.

Has anyone read The Blazing World and Other Writings or anything by Margaret Cavendish? I found the book on the Best 100 SF books I posted in another topic. The blurb makes it sound interesting.

An early work of feminist Utopian fiction and proto-science fiction, The Blazing World tells the story of a woman from our earth who travels to another world via a portal at the North Pole, where she becomes empress of a society made up of fantastical half-animal half-human species. The book, published in 1666, reflects Enlightenment-era theoretical science, with Cavendish imagining submarines, boats with engines, and a universe without end.

Jim wrote: "Has anyone read The Blazing World and Other Writings or anything by Margaret Cavendish? ..."

I considered it earlier, but instead have added to my to-read list Margaret the First, which is a novel about her. If she still sounds interesting after that, I may read some of her work.

Jim wrote: "Has anyone read The Blazing World and Other Writings or anything by Margaret Cavendish? I found the book on the Best 100 SF books I posted in another topic. The blurb ..."

It's on my list to read. It sounds really interesting.

Since I just did a long(ish) writeup for her, I'll start by adding Nicola Griffith, an outstanding writer, though she writes little straight-SF these days. In our SF author folder: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Second to Sue Burke and Becky Chambers.
And let me add:
• Ann Leckie for her wonderfully strange Imperial Radch books.
• Annalee Newitz for her great Autonomous, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
First novels don't get much better than this!
Plus more! I'm thinking of the far-future deathbot on a generation ship. A succession crisis in SPAACE. Maybe someone can help me out? Great cover art of the snaky, tentacled beast.
Finally! Aging memory bank delivered:
• Emily Devenport for her great "Medusa Uploaded":
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... Woot!

If you are interested in very early woman pioneers of science fiction here's a anthology I read in April 2019.

The Feminine Future: Early Science Fiction by Women Writers
by Mike Ashley (Editor)

The author I liked the most from the anthology was Clare Winger Harris. So in August I read her collection of stories written in the late 1920's.

The stories were dated but had an interesting point of view. I gave it 3 stars.

This is from the goodreads bio:

Clare Winger Harris (January 18, 1891-October 16, 1968) was an early science fiction writer whose short stories were published during the 1920s. She is credited as the first woman to publish stories under her own name in science fiction magazines. Her stories often dealt with characters on the "borders of humanity" such as cyborgs.

I've heard of Clare Winger Harris before; we should try to read her for the group, when we're doing the 1920s. However:
Persephone of Eleusis: A Romance of Ancient Greece is the only book avl. on openlibrary.org, but I don't think it's SF or even fantasy. Some of her short stories are on archive.org. Nothing seems to be on gutenberg. And her two collections of short stories are not cheap on abe.books.

Here's a source for titles:

https://lmmyles.com/2014/06/23/100-st...

Lizbeth Myles / 100 Stories, 100 Writers, 100 Years

Centipede Press has just published a 2 volume "Masters of SF" set of Kate Wilhelm's work.
Two volume set, each signed and numbered.
Over 1,500 pages of Kate Wilhelm’s best science fiction.
Introduction by Jack Dann.
Cover artworks by Jim & Ruth Keegan.
Afterword by John Pelan.
Limited to 500 signed and numbered copies.
Signed by Jack Dann, Jim & Ruth Keegan, and John Pelan, with a facsimile signature by Kate Wilhelm.
Fully cloth bound, gorgeous dustjacket, ribbon marker, head and tail bands.
6 × 9 inches; 736 and 784 pages.
Original set price: $95. (On sale now for $75)
Published March 2020.
ISBNs 978-1-61347-207-1 and 978-1-61347-208-8.

http://www.centipedepress.com/masters...

Believing: The Other Stories of Zenna Henderson
A new NESFA Press title—Hardcover and eBook!

Somerville, MA, June 10, 2020—We are pleased to announce the publication of Believing: The Other Stories of Zenna Henderson. This volume is a companion to Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson, published back in 1995. Together they comprise the sum of Zenna Henderson’s published Science Fiction.

The stories in Believing have a common theme—belief. A girl believes that the hills are lost beasts and leads them home; a boy believes he can fight evil with a pocket piece made from Popsicle sticks; a boy believes he can build a noise-eating machine — with fatal results. Believing: The Other Stories of Zenna Henderson contains every non-People story, all long out of print. Thirty-three of the stories in this volume are from her collections, The Anything Box and Holding Wonder. The remaining five stories and three poems were previously published in other magazines and anthologies. Welcome to Zenna Henderson’s world.

Introductions by Sharon Lee and Brother Guy Consolmagno, SJ. Edited by Patricia Morgan Lang.

Hardcover and eBook copies of both Ingathering and Believing are available on our website https://nesfapress.org, and through Amazon.

NESFA, the New England Science Fiction Association, was founded in 1967 by fans who wanted to do things in addition to socializing. What we do has changed over time, most notably with the growth of NESFA Press, but the club is still organized on that principle. NESFA has nearly 400 members, mostly Subscribing members from all over the world.

The NYT published an article, "The Visions of Octavia Butler"

As a science fiction writer, Butler forged a new path and envisioned bold possibilities. On the eve of a major revival of her work, this is the story of how she came to see a future that is now our present.

Text by Lynell George
Visuals by Ainslee Alem Robson

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2...

It might be paywalled. If so, delete any NYT cookies in your browser & refresh the page or PM me with your email address & I'll send you the article.

Jo wrote: "Has anyone read anything by Aliette de Bodard? She's just won two British SF awards and her novel The House of Shattered Wings looks good."

Yes I read On a Red Station, Drifting, I thought it was excellent. Very like Arkady Martine, who is even better.

I did finally read House of Shattered Wings and it was very good although I haven't read the sequel yet.

I also enjoyed Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire. I do like an author who can write a book on an epic scale.

Among recent less-known women SF writers I suggest trying short works of Marie Vibbert. I've read a few in Analog and Asimov's and they were if not great, quite good

I'm reading Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women (1958 to 1963). Lots of good stories in there, though I'm not sure any of these authors are "great". There are two good stories in there by Rosel George Brown. She seemed on her way to becoming a great, but she died at age 41.

By the way, there is a second volume Rediscovery, Volume 2: Science Fiction by Women covering 1953-1957. I may read that someday, or even nominate it in this group.