More Women of Wonder

f you dismiss this because it's an old book or only by women, you're cheating yourself. This book contains only seven stories, yet two of them are among my all-time favourites. - "Tin Soldier," by Joan D. Vinge, tells of a star-travelling poet and her left-behind love. The story is tragic and touching, and has many indelible images as well as a a satisfying conclusion. - "The Second Inquisition," by Joanna Russ, is from the same universe as the Alyx stories (e.g. Picnic on Paradise), but a couple of generations later. A teenage girl gradually realizes that their summer boarder, "from the circus," is much stranger than that. It is about bravery, families, conflict, and more. The others include both strong characters and bold concepts: - "Jirel Meets Magic" is an early adventure piece by C. L. Moore. - "The Lake of the Gone Forever," by Leigh Brackett, is about the results of greed on an alien world. - "The Funeral," by Kate Wilhelm, gives a glimpse of a frightening dystopia through the eyes of a girl. - "The Power of Time," by Josephine Saxon, is a story of a strange future and of obsession. - "The Day Before the Revolution," by Ursula K. Le Guin, is a retrospective from the point of view of someone who has lived through, and helped to create, social upheavals in search of a just society.


Genre: General Fiction