Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Not Free SF Reader
While a lot of this book is not that good, storywise, averaging only 3.14, there is a considerable introduction - talking about women and sf from the point of view of the late 70s, of course.

She points out Andre Norton being ignored, for one - probably still is, too, award naming notwithstanding.

Also a reading list, broken down into novels, collections/anthologies and short stories. You'll certainly find some better stuff there.

Almost all female of course, but in the novel section the editor picks Babel, by Samuel R. Delany (which is indeed excellent), the Trouble With Lichen, by John Wyndham, and James H. Schmitz's the Demon Breed, as far as male authors go. The latter you can find online at Baen if interested, as well as at the usual place, and is pretty cool.

So I'd call this a 3.25 for the extra stuff. There are three good (4 star) stories.

New Women Of Wonder : Screwtop - Vonda N. McIntyre
New Women Of Wonder : The Warlord of Saturn's Moons - Eleanor Arnason
New Women Of Wonder : The Triumphant Head - Josephine Saxton
New Women Of Wonder : The Heat Death of the Universe - Pamela A. Zoline
New Women Of Wonder : Songs of War - Kit Reed
New Women Of Wonder : The Women Men Don't See - James TiptreeJr.
New Women Of Wonder : Debut - Carol Emshwiller
New Women Of Wonder : When It Changed - Joanna Russ
New Women Of Wonder : Dead in Irons - Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
New Women Of Wonder : Building Block - Sonya Dorman
New Women Of Wonder : Eyes of Amber - Joan D. Vinge

Redsun, white boots, tetra prison plot.

3.5 out of 5


Writing dull.

3 out of 5


Mirror blah.

2.5 out of 5


Numbered inserts finished finally.

2 out of 5


Revolution women, non-stick.

4 out of 5


Crash alien intro.

4 out of 5


Killer, Queen, not.

2.5 out of 5


Separation anxiety.

3.5 out of 5


Babel Princess extended voyage.

3 out of 5


Star Cup inspiration.

3.5 out of 5


I am the Music Man, and I talk to people who don't come from down your way.

4 out of 5 ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (9)

good book
a good book, though it tended towards what they mnade you read in english class in middle school.

Couldnt remember the title, but I found it!!!!
I remember reading this when I was younger, and today I racked and racked my brain trying to remember the title.After MANY google searches I finally found it and not only that found out there was a new book put out.SCORE.I'm going to get them both because I loved Earthseed and want to see what Ms. Sargent has in store for us next!!!! YEAH

Unrealistically complex
Yes, life is complex but above space vessels, which must be created under controlled experiences, you would expect few surprises unless they developed on board.While the changes Zoheret and other teens who were born on ship are realistic several other surprises seemed a bit far fetched for me and frankly unnecessary.I won't name them obviously because that will ruin specific plot elements.While I do expect complexity from a Sargent plot this went beyond what I thought was logical and probable.

Interesting Story and Engaging
I am so EXCITED that this book is in print again! As a middle school English teacher in 2000, I decided to share Earthseed with my students. Unfortunately the book was out of print at the time, and I was forced to read it to my students with a few copies I was able to salvage from second-hand merchants. My students loved it. My small rag-tag group of copies disappeared... they were taken by "sneaky-eyed" students who were proud non-readers to this point, but who were enchanted by the tale ;) I love the fact that this book engages kids and encourages even non-readers to read. This book was a launching point for many of my students who fell in love with other books, because they discovered this tale. I would strongly recommend this book to any parent, teacher, or librarian who wants to encourage kids to read. If you know a kid who liked: Ender's Game, Feed, The Giver, House of the Scorpion, The Last Book in the Universe, or City of Ember, I can almost guarantee that they will love this story too.

A Pretty Good Read!
First of all, I am NOT a young adult - as this book is obviously written for. But, as a die-hard Pamela Sargent fan - I had to read "Earthseed". Although the story is more-or-less simplistic - it's still a rather good read - and I would suggest it to anyone (young or old) who enjoys reading Pamela Sargent. Ms. Sargent has a unique and wonderful writting style - and I would advice anyone to read her novels. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (4)

A Long Awaited Sequel to Earthseed!
Pamela Sargent is a name that many fans of science fiction will recognize--this veteran SF author has been around for decades contributing her work to the genre.But it's been quite a while since she's been seen on the young adult shelves--so it was with equal parts delight and excitement I discovered her 1983 title, Earthseed, was being reprinted and that the second book in what is now going to be a trilogy had been released.For new readers to this trilogy, I highly recommend starting with Earthseed before cracking open this book.

For readers who hoped this book would pick up seamlessly with the lives of Zoheret and Ho and the others from the first book--there may be some initial disappointment.This book is set about twenty years after they arrive on the planet they call Home and is more about the children of the original characters than the characters themselves. The original settlement has become somewhat complacent and unwilling to venture beyond its safe borders--while Ho's separated group has gone a different direction, struggling to survive on the alien planet. Nuy, Ho's daughter is sixteen when strangers come from the settlement after so many years of isolation.The resulting clash between groups is violent and shattering for Nuy--she must decide who to side with and what she wants for her life.In the end both groups must make choices and the colonists whether the price of giving their people a future on the planet is worth the risk.

Those who haven't read the first book may be able to follow the story well enough to enjoy it, but it really works best as a follow up to Earthseed.Pamela Sargent delivers a good, solid SF read here--something that's been missing from YA and children's collections in recent years.As the Science Fiction Chronicle quote states, her work here is reminiscent of the better Heinlein juveniles--and that's meant in a good way.Sargent offers strong female protagonists, thought provoking scenarios and a wonderfully imaginative picture of what colonizing a new planet might be like.It's not light reading--there's a fair amount of violence and killing that goes on, and Ms. Sargent doesn't shy away from those harsh realities.It's also a fairly mature read, though the sexual content is overall light--I'd probably recommend this for 7th grade readers on up.

I'd like to give this book five stars, as I'm so happy to see Ms. Sargent back in YA and giving new life to this series, but I didn't think it was quite a five-star book even so.Firstly, it really feels like a middle book in a trilogy--readers are best off tackling the book before it to understand what went on and who the older characters are.There are also bits and peices about the Ship that hint at things to come, but will mean little to a reader who has only read Farseed. Secondly, I did find that the book dragged a little in Part II of the story.Here, Ms. Sargent brings readers up to speed on the progression of the settlement, the dynamics of day to day living, and the growing restlessness of the younger population.It's necessary to do so, but the result is that after the previous section on Nuy and her life and her current predicament, it slows down the story noticably.Given all that, it's really a minor quibble, as the book moved along at a fast clip overall. I'm very much looking forward to see what the author has in store for the third book.

If you like your SF funny or set in futures full of aliens and galactic empires this probably won't be your cup of tea. But if you enjoy exploring the possibilities that the future can offer in YA storytelling, you might want to check this trilogy out.If you like Ms. Sargent's work, you might also want to look for "Invitation to the Game" by Monica Hughes and Sylvia Engdahl's "Journey Between Worlds" which has just been reprinted for 2007.

Happy Reading! ^_^ Shanshad

Not Earthseed
I read "Earthseed" as a teenager and loved it. It was a story my middle school students loved too. They always wanted more and I did too.I looked forward to reading "Farseed" and discovering the fates of the characters after almost 20 years.

"Farseed" is not about the characters introduced and explored in "Earthseed". It is about a teenage girl who is abused as a girl and must find strength to look past the biases of her childhood to help people she was taught to hate.

The story introduced in this second part of the trilogy is boring, hard to read, and not a good follow-up to the first tale. This story drags to the ninth degree and makes me feel really disapointed in the author and the fate of a story introduced in the stunning first book.

A fascinating story of survival and struggle evolves
This fine sequel of EARTHSEED requires no prior familiarity to prove enthralling for newcomers to Sargent's fantasy world. Over twenty years have passed since Ship left its children on an uninhabited, Earth-like planet named Home, and Zoheret and her companions have had their own children. Two groups of old shipmates make separate encampments and soon hostility breaks out and threatens their fragile new world. A fascinating story of survival and struggle evolves, highly recommended for any teen audience interested in solid characterization and involving science fiction.

fantastic science fiction
Ship was created to find worlds that could contain human life and seed these orbs with humans.One of the first worlds to fulfill the requirement is Home where Ship deposited colonists.The colonists make up two groups.One segment led by Ho settles in the warm south while the rest headed by Zoheret moved into the coastal north.The people of the south lost much of their technology and devolved into a more\primitive lifestyle,while the Northerners built domes and relied on the technology brought from earth.

Ho's teenage daughter Nuy sees three strangers approach from the north.She brings them to their village, but Ho assumes they bring death so he kills them and exiles his offspring.A year passes with the second generation Northerners wanting to know what happened to their compatriots. At a town hall meeting Leila a second generation person wants to send a second expedition to the South and she is supported by the settlement so they go south to find out the truth.When they camp for the night, Ho sends his forces to attack them killing two of the campers.Leila insists on continuing and soon meets Nuy, who wants to save both groups from her out of control parent.

Two groups, one primitive and one advanced, battle for control with some in power (on both sides) preferring the status quo.It takes the female adventurers from both sides to demand change and go against the status quo established by the original landing party.Pamela Sargent has written a fantastic science fiction novel that shows how humans adapt to new environs.FARSEED is enjoyable and exciting as readers will care what happens to the colonists especially the heroic offspring.

... Read more

Product Description
Arna and her people face the threat of extinction from their own distrustful natures as well as an insatiable alien invader. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Homesmind
This is the story of Anra and her people, who have been given the ability to communicate telepathically by the Wanderer, a comet controlled by the cybernetic intelligence called Homesmind.When another comet/planet arrives it threatens to destroy them by seducing them with visions of dead loved ones and dreams that no one wants to awake from.I read this book many years ago as a young teenager and found it fascinating.It was one of the first science fiction books I had ever read and I've been hooked ever since. ... Read more

Product Description
The Civil War is finally over and a weakened America is struggling to rebuild. The white man is sweeping across the continent, driving native peoples on the prairies and plains from their lands. But time is about to stand still, the map of history rewritten . . .

Something is wrong out West. The Buffalo Soldiers sent to subdue the Cheyenne are deserting and joining their former enemy. The Sioux are leaving their reservations in hordes. And armed bands of Apaches have been sighted riding east of the Mississippi!

Lemuel Rowland, formerly Poyeshao, a son of the Seneca, has spent his life learning the white man's ways. A Washington bureaucrat, he must now choose between his successful career and his ancient heritage, for the dreams of his native people are about to come true. An obscure Lakota chief, inspired by visions of a female soothsayer and armed by a foreign spy, is uniting the Indian nations into an awesome fighting force that will thunder eastward and try to reclaim all of America for its peoples.

As a loyal employee of the United States government, it is Rowland's job to stop these renegade warriors--but he wants them to win! And what will it mean for America--and her future history--if they do? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Climb the wind
A good rain soaked saturday read.

A bit lacking in detail as to how advanced rockets would stand up to a central government backed army.

This was all in all a second war between the states only this time between east and west.

Bad history - but a good story
Most "Indians Win" AH's are at best house-of-cards constructions and this one - while better than most - is no different. So if I told you I had problems galore with the history in this book, you'd probably not be surprised. But If I told you it doesn't make a darn bit of difference to the story, you might be.

Pamela Sargent is an excellent writer. I found the characters all to be believable, their actions all made sense, given the circumstances, and the book is just a darn good read.

But the AH - Oy!

To begin with, the actual POD is at best diffuse. It seems to be set back a few years prior to the events of the story (Crazy Horse, for example, seems to have a different wife on this ATL, which led to Touch-the-Clouds not having to save his life because of his OTL wife's ex). But other events change as well, most notably Grant steps out in front of a carriage and dies in the middle of his term (Schuyler Colfax becomes President).

But the _actual_ difference seems to be that visions are real, and can convey useful information.

Sargent realizes that in order to have any chance of winning, the Indians have to face a much reduced enemy. And she arranges things so that rebellion breaks out in the South again (Colfax is a lot more heavy handed with them than Hayes would have been), Texas and California break away as "autonomous republics," and eventually much of the U.S. is in some form of rebellion. So, much of the army is busy putting down those rebellions - and much of the rest is unsure just whose orders they should be obeying.

I just can't bring myself to believe this, though. The U.S. falls apart entirely too easily (I especially can't see California just breaking off like it does. The vast majority of its population was very pro-Union). Rebellions just seem to break out here and there for no real reason (though it is the time of the great Railroad Strike, I admit).

OTOH, while the Indians win their territorial integrity by the end of the book (and the United States has become more of a NATO-style alliance than anything else) I do admire that she's left the future more or less undecided. That the Indians will keep their freedom is not a given and many of the Indians are upset with all the changes they had to make - all the things they had to lose - to win this war. It's pretty much going to be such that if the Indians do keep their freedom, their culture(s) are going to change at least as much as if they don't.

But anywho, it's a great story. So put your disbelief-suspenders on "high" and read the book.

Interesting history, weak character
With the American Civil War over, the Union turns its attentions toward the west, toward the territory of the Lakota and the gold of the badlands. In our history, the result was the genocidal attacks on the Sioux and the horrors of Wounded Knee. But what if the Native Americans of the plains had united--if the Crow had fought with the Sioux and Cheyenne rather than scouting for Custer? And what if the Sioux had been able to secure more modern weapons--Chinese rockets and better rifles? In CLIMB THE WIND, author Pamela Sargent addresses these questions.

The real hero of the novel is Russian Grigor Rubalev. He knows of American betrayal having suffered it when the U.S. bought Alaska and promptly ignored their promises to the Russian inhabitants. And he's read of the Mongol victories over the far more numerous and better armed Chinese. Could the Lakota chief Touch-The-Clouds be a later-day Gengis Khan? Touch-The-Clouds' mystic visions of Indian warriors in the streets of Eastern cities seems to indicate this possibility, and Rubalev is willing to do anything to make this victory possible.

From the reader perspective, it is unfortunate that Sargent choses Seneca Lemuel Rowland as her protagonist. Rowland, an ex-soldier, is disenchanted with his life and wants to help the Sioux against the never-ending string of treaty violations that they have suffered. But he sees no alternative. If the Sioux fight, they will lose. If they fail to fight, they will lose. Rowland doesn't believe Rubalev's vision. Even when the plains Indians slaughter Custer and his entire force, Rowland knows that the result can only be more suffering.

Sargent's selection of the genocide of the Native Americans as her setting for an alternate history is a good choice--the result in our own world was so horrible that almost anyone would want an alternative. The history is also familiar to most Americans, increasing its marketability (try selling an alternate history of Bactria after Alexander's death and see how important this is). Best of all, Sargent's story-telling and descriptions of Lakota customs is compelling. Although I found the first half of CLIMB THE WIND to be slow going and Rowland far too passive for a good protagonist, the novel still makes interesting reading.

Confusing
The major reason I didn't like this book is that there are too many characters.The plot was also confusing,so much so that I didn't even finish reading the book.

Badly convergent AH
Though the idea of Souix and others rallying against the genocidal US, the creation of the book lacks in a good Point of Divergence from Our Time Line. In other words, Ms.Sargent uses fiction characters to push along the Souix to do one thing or another that will make them victorious. Then,after the US endures a cabalic despotism in Washington,that is put down bythe Souix, the world reconverges with Our Time Line, which is very unlikey.The last passage makes a mockery of the Ghost Dance. Rent it from yourlibrary. ... Read more

Product Description
Alone in the desert, Daiya is faced with dilemma that will determine her fate. If she can successfully resolve it she will join the Net of her village, but if she fails, her life will be spent will the feared Merged Ones. Confused and torn between worlds near and far, Daiya harbors a secret of her people, and must find a way to move beyond her discoveries to a safe place where she can survive. ... Read more

Product Description

The Project -- the terraforming of Venus -- was begun centuries ago. And generations more will come and go before the planet's surface has been rendered fully habitable and its human settlers, the Cytherians, can finally leave their protective domes. There are those, however, whose patience has grown dangerously thin -- malcontents unwilling to resign themselves to never enjoying the fruits of freedom promised to their descendents.

Devastation and horror recently paralyzed this world in transition, as two religious cult leaders brought a plague of civil war to Venus, and were ultimately destroyed by their own treachery and despair. Out of the chaos and conflict came Mahala Lianghard -- a true child of Venus conceived from the rebels' genetic material and artfully gestated after their deaths. Some believe Mahala should never have been born; others see her as the glorious light that arose out of a dark time. Mahala herself is conflicted, as she struggles to come to terms with her painful birthright and her immutable future: a lifetime of unquestioning service to the Project.

Young Mahala fears her obligations to the expectations of others will leave her no room to pursue her own destiny, whatever it may be. But things are changing in the universe around her -- and not all for the good. The already fragile alliance between Earth and Venus shows signs of shattering, as the Cytherians seek a greater independence from the stifling dominance of the home planet. And rumors of a hidden agenda among the "Habbers" -- the cybernetically enhanced dwellers of the mobile asteroid "Habitats" -- threaten to bring about a rebirth of the bloody turmoil that once nearly doomed a world. With catastrophe looming, it is Mahala who must take the steps to ensure that there is a future for her flawed, star-traveling kind -- as a mysterious call from deep space pulls her toward the fulfillment of her most cherished dreams . . . even as it tears her brutally away from everything she has ever known and loved. The long-awaited conclusion to Pamela Sargent's remarkable epic trilogy of the colonization of Venus is a stunning feat of inventive storytelling and flawless world-building from a widely respected name in the field of speculative fiction. It is a masterful achievement, combining heartrending humanism with breathtaking wonder. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Boring!
I so enjoyed 'The Shore of Women' and had high hopes of a good read with 'Child of Venus'. No such luck. I did manage to finish it, although I found myself skipping and skimming much of it. Just plain boring. Never got into any real action at all, much of it was simple rambling and thoughts on paper. Maybe if I had read the first two in the trilogy, but even then I just don't think this book works well. I just can not recommend it. Try something by Sheri S. Tepper instead--or read 'The Shore of Women'.

A walk down memory lane
As an original reader of the first two books, it'd been a long time since I'd walked the aisles of Venus.It's fairly amazing to me that I'd still, from time to time, search on 'Sargent' to see if she'd ever written the third book.The pleasant surprise at seeing she had can not be overstated.

What was also exhilarating to me was how-- prodded reflectively by the author-- I was able to recall the first two novels read nearly a decade and a half ago.That alone was worth the trip.However, to be frank, the book is a *good* read.

How to describe it?It is a character novel. Specifically, a novel on the entirety of the protagonist's Mahala's life-- her choices, the people with whom she interacts, etc.It's interweavon nicely with a science fiction thread dealing with the fate of Venus, the Habbers, Earth and, ultimately, all of humanity.

As such, it's a good thing that Sargent's strength in this novel is the fine, yet gentle literary tapestry of characters, future 'plausible' science, and, quite frankly, leveraged strength wrought from the legacy of the first two novels.

If anything, the weakness in the books-- borne out in the closing 50 or so pages-- seems to be the cause of the delay in writing the third book (12 years? 13 years?): namely, how to end it.After all, the trilogy, at least from a Sci Fi standpoint, is about terraforming venus. of course, I'm not going to divulge that here.

bottom line?It's a good read.If you haven't read the first two books, SHAME ON YOU.Get them.Read them all.Enjoy them.

Good Ending for the Series
Finally!! Years ago, a friend found "Venus of Dreams," at a bookstore and bought it for me. I enjoyed the story that unfolded about a girl named Iris. Her dream was to become a part of the terraforming of Venus and she see's this dream come true as an adult. Iris ultimately pays the price for her dream of transforming Venus, when the planet itself claims her life. The second book, "Venus of Shadows," is by far the best of the series. Sargent weaves an excellent story (as always) by using Iris's decendants (in particular, Risa, Iris's daughter) to tell of both their personal desires as well as the desire to breath life into Venus itself. Again, there are hard prices to pay for these desires. The last and final book, "Child of Venus" wraps up the entire tale. Again, Iris's decendants are still terraforming Venus, amid all the troubles and turmoil that existed from the previous books. Normally I would have given this book Four Stars. But, I gave the book "FIVE STARS" partly because - it was actually a very good and interesting book. But mainly because I read the first book when I was about 21 or so, and I'm now 36. I guess I'm just grateful that the last book was published during my lifetime. Pamela Sargent has been one of my favorite authors since I read "Venus of Dreams." I've read many of her other books and find them all extremly interesting and well written. I hope to read more of her work in the future. ... Read more

Product Description
Iris Angharads, a determined, independent woman, sets herself one massive goal: to make the poison-filled atmosphere of Venus hospitable to humans. She works day and night to realize her dream, with only one person sharing her passion, Liang Chen. It seems impossible to make Venus, with its intolerable air and waterless environment, into a paradise, but Iris succeeds. And in doing so, she also creates a powerful dynasty, beginning with her first born, Benzi Liangharad. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Sociel commentary not science fiction
This book is set in a totalitarian society where the entire world is ruled by one government that holds all the weapons.Anyone who refuses to conform is given a death sentance or sent to a horrible punishment for years until they learn their lesson.Unfortunately, far too much time (almost all of it) is spent focused on how horrible and depressing it is to live in such a world.In many ways, this novel is a political statement, not a science fiction book.While I agree with the principal, the reading of it is boring and dull.

The charactures are excrutiatingly cardboard and irritating.Iris is a rude, self absorbed little girl who never grows up and never learns to work with others.I never find myself caring whether she succeeds or not since I don't want to read about her any longer.

The occasional tidbit of science is interesting, but it is not the focus of this book.You'll go 50 pages before they manage to mention something about the actual terraforming and it will be a whole paragraph!When this does happen, it's pretty clear that Sargent lacks even a cursory scientific background.My personal favorite was when Iris sent her grandmother a letter and it sounded like it was being copied from a textbook with no relevence or understanding to the story line.

So if you like boring, depressing social commentary, apparently you'll give it many stars.If you like science fiction (or good fiction at all) look elsewhere.

Societally Complex
I read this book as a young adult male expecting typical light airy science fiction.I stood no chance against Dr. Pamela Sargent - a PHD and renowned feminist -- she changed my young man's s*xually centered world upside down and transformed the way I see women....and it wouldn't be until decades later when I had a better grasp of sociology that I would begin to understand what she was trying to tell me.

I must say that the work is one that has stayed with me throughout my life - I've never ever reread the book but just from this one reading as a young man - I can say that it openned my eyes to the complex world of gender, society, decisions between love, family, duty - etc decisions that are sometimes especially more challenging for women.Me being a man, and at the time a young man, made reading this book especially interesting, perplexing, and entirely unexpected (I was expecting light love story + sci fi setting) -- not this!

Conceptually, its the story of humanity first colonizing Venus but that's not what this story is about...the story is about sacrifices and decisions that people (and sometimes especially women) make in life and how different genders make and react to those decisions and how in many ways those decisions are harder for women and how they've developed different mechanisms to cope with those decisions in this future society.

This is not light science fiction, this is a rigorous social studies work set in a science fiction setting.The author should be credited tremendously for writing something as detailed and as complicated as this but be forewarned, if you're looking for light airy science fiction, this is not the ticket.This is a social studies/gender studies masterpiece.

I have to add that this work changed my perceptions of women to a much more balanced and grown up perspective (although the society that Pamela Sargent writes about doesn't exist).In the one sense, it made me come to appreciate genders and that women should get respect as equals but at the same time it taught me that just because a face happens to be pretty, that doesn't mean she won't drive a blade of steel through your heart with impunity...it made me much more cautious and since then when I see a woman, I say - you get nothing for free because of how pretty you are but you get every bit as much as I'd give anyone else regardless of gender/race/creed/ethnicity etc and most certainly it taught me to protect my heart.The book taught me balance between all "humans."

Do read it, especially if you're a man - this book is a must.

As to whether this story is as broad as Star Trek, Star Wars etc - certainly the concept is but Venus of Dreams delves squarely into gender and s*x issues and society ... where Star Trek and Star Wars deal mostly with human rights issues on much lighter settings....Venus of Dreams is an entirely different ball of wax.Very detailed, almost like the Author lived through it all.Overall Wonderful.

In many ways Pamela Sargent writes a similar story to Robinson's Mars only this one is set in Venus....Sargent's story is more complex from a gender standpoint where Robinson's is more about the politics and deceitfulness of humans in general.This is also interesting because where Robinson's work on Mars is much better known than Sargent's ...Robinson is a Man, Sargent a Woman --- are we talking deeply ingrained social biases here?Unfair to Sargent who wrote a wonderful work.

She's one of those ladies that I'd love to sit down with and pick her brain over a cup of coffee.

Iris on Venus Forever
A wonderful story that will take you far away on a trip you'll never forget. The story spans the life of Iris Angharads, a Venus pioneer. We meet Iris when she's a girl and see her grow into an adult quartered into her career, her woman's love, her mother's love, and her family duties. PS is able to make us not only feel for Iris but also even understand her hardest decisions. The contrast between where Iris comes from and where she goes hinging on the Cytherian Institute is remarkably thought, conceived, and described. That story of a free woman guided by her creed and fighting for her desire will never leave you.

Complex and Unforgettable
I first read this book 5 years ago and in that time have probably re-read it about 9 times.

This and the other books in the trilogy are very very well-written and I highly recommend them all to anyone who likes their fiction to be well-planned and well-rounded. Although people may not like me for it, I'm going to have to compare this trilogy to Star Trek in that the technology is very outlandish and barely even theoretically possible, but it does fit together rather well and makes a good story. And that's really all that matters. I will say for the politics and religion in the books, though, they're very realistic and it's very easy to find parallels in modern day society.

All in all, this book and the other two are very very good and I would highly recommend them to anyone who can appreciate a book filled with science, politics, religion and personal drama all rolled into one unforgettable series.

Good, solid, enjoyable sci fi
I've settled Mars many times in my sci fi reading; it was a new adventure to settle Venus. "Venus of Dreams" is the Venusian analogue of Kim Stanley Robinson's "Red Mars" (which I also recommend): a realistic and entertaining story of what it might be like to make a new planet habitable for humans, including the science, the politics, and the individual human drama.

Iris Angharads is from the Plains Nomarchy in what used to be the United States. As a child, she dreams of working on the Venus Project instead of taking over the communal farm run by her mother. She and her significant others struggle with issues of ambition, family commitments, and what is worth sacrificing in order to attain your dream. ... Read more

Product Description
When a mysterious stranger appears in Sarah and Gerard's rural town, the two young lovers fighting a fervent battle to overcome America's depression and despair, are suddenly faced with a new realm of possibilities. But they find themselves questioning whether this handsome being was an angel sent to rescue them or a dark being bearing terrible dangers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Not this author's best effort
The Alien Upstairs, is a short but fairly dull read, due mainly to the fact that no one point in the story is explored to any depth.The two main characters are petty and shallow, while the supposedly more intriguing "alien" upstairs neighbor is even more so.What little bit there is of this book is still fairly well written, when all parties involved aren't bickering constantly.

"COMFORTABLE" SPECULATIVE FICTION
Pamela Sargent's novel is definitely not "hard" science fiction, but instead, falls into the category of speculative fiction.It is set in a future world which bears strong resemblance to ours, but bad weather and a poor economy have strained the lives of the average person.Into the lives of the main characters comes an interesting figure who professeshe is an alien, which starts the couple on a mystery and adventure that eventually leads them into space.The novel is enjoyable in the sense that it is competently written and a quick, absorbing read.The ideas contained in the book are not particularly shocking, or even that imaginative, but they are intriguing even as they are a bit cliched.In fact, the whole novel really reads as a set-up to an unwritten second part, and so many questions (truly, the more interesting questions Sargent asks) are left unansweredand unexplored.All in all, the book provides fans of speculative fiction with a "comfortable" read:nothing too challenging, too fantasy or sci-fi oriented, but capably and somewhat rewardingly utilizing the conventions of the speculative fiction genre. ... Read more

Product Description
A young girl, living on a comet world, is assigned the task of returning to her home planet Earth to act as a bridge between the two very different cultures. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Classic Sargent
Pamela does it again with this collection that demonstrates once and for all her ability to write in almost every genre. She has never been a "hard" science fiction writer nor delved in fantasy as far as I know.She seems too rational, too logical to indulge in such ridiculousness.

Indeed, her characters seem possessed of such qualities as these.The stories range from everyday happenings to alien encounters and the best things about them are they are short enough to be read at one setting while being good enough to be thoroughly enjoyed.Great collection.

Superb - a master at work
I'll say it again:Pamela Sargent is the most underrated writer in the world.Notice I did not say "science fiction writer" because she visits other genres. (Her biography / novel of Ghengis Khan was incredible.) I first encountered Pamela Sargent in the mesmerizing "Shore of Women" then went on to read the Venus Series and all her previous works.

This is one of her earliest but all the elements are present:The interesting story, the time (not too distant future), the interplay among characters separating the wheat from the chaff, the logical progression of current trends.The subject is particularly timely today with all the wild stories over cloning. (Idential twins are clones - should they be allowed?) The twins are cloned for a reason and without giving away the plot it involves reactions to them and the exploration of space for habitation.

a collection of one of the best
Pamela Sargent very very rarely lets me down with her science fiction.I was luckily enough to just find this collection of her short stories and read it through in only two days.The vast majority of the stories areexcellent -- well written and populated by enticing characters. Well worththe time and money if you like strong but realistic female characters. ... Read more

Product Description
Women rule the world in this suspenseful love story set in a postnuclear future. Having expelled men from their vast walled cities to a lower-class wilderness, the women in this futuristic universe dictate policy and chart the future through control of scientific and technological advances. Among their laws are the rules for reproductive engagement, an act now viewed as a means of procreation rather than an act of love. In this rigidly defined environment, a chance meeting between a woman exiled from the female world and a wilderness man triggers a series of feelings, actions, and events that ultimately threaten the fabric of the women's constricted society. Trying to evade the ever-threatening female forces and the savage wilderness men, the two lovers struggle to find a safe haven and reconcile the teachings of their upbringings with their newly awakened feelings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Splendid Feminist Dystopia From Sargent
"The Shore of Women" is a richly textured work of feminist science fiction by Pamela Sargent which deserves long overdue recognition as a classic, highly literate example of the genre. It compares favorably to the classical dystopian novel "A Canticle for Leibowitz", as yet another mesmerizing tale set long after a nuclear holocaust. In Sargent's richly imagined future, men are leading primitive lives as hunters and gathers, while women reside in a technically advanced culture comprised of cities equipped with forcefields, death rays and aircraft. Sargent has melded the epic journey with romance, crafting a most unusual futuristic romance novel devoted to her main protagonists, Arvil - whose notions of what it means to be human is radically altered when he meets and falls in love with - Birana, who has been cast out of one of the cities of women. I truly treasure the author's compelling exploration of their relationship from strangers to devout lovers ever respectful of the other's desires and needs. Sargent's compelling work of fiction may be familiar to those familiar with Ursula Le Guin's beguiling exploration of gender in her Hainish series of novels and short stories, but much to her credit, Sargent has created her own fascinating futuristic world to explore the natures of love and of relationships between man and woman. I am delighted that this book is finally back in print courtesy of BenBella Books; this edition includes an excellent foreword by science fiction writer Catherine Asaro.

One of the best reads of my life!
This book was wonderful in the way that even years after I finished it, it still makes me think and question the ways of mankind.

Well Done!

Refreshing and Satisfying
Pamela Sargent is a prolific writer who unfortunately does not have a vocal support group.Her novels and novellas are not of the type "This is Cronon from the planet Abuzz, stop your atomic testing of be destroyed"They are instead, intelligen far-reaching reveries on the future.In several of her stories she has extrapolated a Mulism planet but this book goes beyond that to a time we can barely fathom.

What happens when a woman in a strictly segregated society commits the ultimate sin - falling in love with a man?The descriptions of the two varying societies and their need for each other is told with a sense of disquiet. And when the lovers finally "find each other" the language approaches a confession. This is a book that can be read again and again on several levels.

Intelligent, Imaginative, Beautifully Wrought--And OOP
Pamela Sargent's The Shore of Women works out in persuasively anthropological detail--almost Geertzian "thick description," if you will--a post-apocalyptic world in which women rule with space-age technologies from walled citadels, exiling male children into literal stone age societies of isolated bands clad in animal skins, where lives are nasty, brutish, and short. The violence of Sargent's largely paleolithic male society is mitigated only by its loving devotion to "The Goddess" and her cult, visits to the shrines in which prayer and worshipful communion with the deity transpires, and the occasional "callings" to the enclaves--simultaneously the preeminent male rite of passage and the sole (blind and thoroughly mediated) interaction with the ruling society that enables both worlds to procreate and persist. Within city walls, the master society is strictly bifurcated into elite and masses, in which the custodians of established order replace themselves, presiding over the bought indifference of commoners.

Sargent is a beautifully expressive writer who works out the logic of her story to persuasive conclusions and, along the way, has smart, thoroughly rendered observations to make on societies of women and of men, the humanistic origins of religion, small group interactions under duress, the transformation of nomadic bands into sedentary cultures, the possible retreat of civilization from its points of greatest advancement, a variety of contemporary feminist political ideas, and more. At times, The Shore of Women brought to mind a host of antecedents, including A Canticle for Leibowitz, Lord of the Flies, The Golden Bough, Greek and Roman mythology, captivity stories from 17th and 18th century prisoners of American woodland Indians, the writings of Margaret Meade and other classic anthropologists, and other possible references, but without seeming directly dependent on any. Its principal characters, the inquisitive newly "called" man Arvil and the cast-out woman Birana, are beautifully developed and pass through punctuated sequences of change and unfolding awareness. A third point of view is provided by Laissa, who as the daughter of one of the "Mothers of the City" progresses on her own surprising journey of discovery...

A moving story at a fromtier of the war of the sexes.
An excellent story of a gender divided society. Women live in a techical society in advance of our own but where technology is frozen as are other social elements of the society. Men live as hunter-gatherers or herders who are held in line by a religion of "The Goddess". The chief rite is orgasmic. In numerous shrines to one or another aspect of the goddess men are lead to manufactured wet dreams. Women live in domed cities without an obvious mechanism for growing food. The novel makes heterosexuality ( and thus homsexuality) more of a social construction and less of a instinct than I believe it to be.
All the characters are sympathetically but sharply dilineated. The one fault is that the love scenes are all hetersexual despite the fact that both sexes are stated to be largely homosexual in behavior. The economic basis of the women's world is not imagined as in the lack of any clearly imagined agricultureSimilarly the practical basis of the men's religion The shrines to the Goddess are built and maintained by measures not presented .
One excuse for the shortage of imagined facts about the social and economic basis of the women's society is the women characters are mostly young members of the ruling class. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Venus of shadows
VENUS OF SHADOWS (Venus of Dreams) Very good book, pamela sargent carries on the tradition of Venus of Dreams. Highly recommend the book.

Disappointing (as so many sequels are)
I really enjoyed "Venus of Dreams," about the beginnings of human settlement of Venus, and I immediately ordered the sequel, "Venus of Shadows." I gave up on it after about 200 of its 600+ pages. It takes a long time for the story to get off the ground, both literally and figuratively. Much of the early part of the book is review of the previous book. There's little new science or technology (at least as far as I got), just some details about the domes on Venus. And I found the main characters flat and uninteresting. Malik is strikingly handsome; Risa is good at mediating conflicts; they both have trouble with intimacy; and I didn't care. Bummer.

Read "Venus of Dreams." Skip "Venus of Shadows."

Great Reading - Pamela Does It Again!
Venus of Shadows is the second book of the Venus Series. This book goes further than just science-fiction and transforming Venus into a habitable world. It deals with many situations and obstacles that ordinary peopledeal with each day, proving that wherever mankind goes, his age-oldproblems will always follow him. The story is extremely well written,highly interesting and will captivate the reader. I've been waiting a longtime for the next novel to be published and I'm very excited that it willbe out soon!

A rich, engrossing hard-sf *and* sociological adventure.
I re-read this book about the colonization of Venus, the high hopes and hard trials of the colonists, and the obstacles laid on their pathsnot only by Nature but by human evil as well, in one night after having read it thefirst time long ago. It has stayed with me. It is even better than thefirst one in the series. It's so believable in its depiction of the wonderand tragedy of the settling of a difficult world and the founding of a newsociety that's almost scaring. Its characters are believable human beingswith no black villains or pure-white heroes, their life and their societyfeel so significant that I lost track of the fact that they were fictionalpeople living on a fictionalized world. I am eagerly waiting for Ms.Sargent to write the sequel. ... Read more

Product Description
All-new stories by the best of the best

Michelle West € Pamela Sargent € Jack Dann € George Alec Effinger € Ian Watson € James Morrow € George Zebrowski € and more...

Here are thirteen original tales in which destinies are changed-and with them, the future. Each story imagines what the world would be like if its most powerful leaders had met different fates. Some of the greatest minds in science fiction take on alternate history, including a victorious Hitler, a virtual Napoleon, and an Alexander the Mediocre. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A collection of stories that aren't necessary fantasy, or alternate history, or about conquerors, or very good
These stories are generally not what I would consider to be alternate history. I would expect a story in that genre to start with a change from history as we know it, and then posit what might be different because of that change.In one of these stories, for example, the conqueror dies young, and so never embarks on his conquests. The problem is that element should have been the beginning of the story, not the end.

Many of the other stories are what I would call fantasy secret histories or alternate realities, rather then alternate histories.That is, the exact same things happen as happened in real history, it is just that there is an underlying fantasy explanation which may or may not have been apparent to observers.In one case, a real war is fought using magic, but the same people still win. An alternate history would be that the loser in real history won, and the consequences that would flow from that. In another, aircraft hasn't been invented by the time of World War II, but it's only a minor element in the story. Some are not even fantasies, just things that could have happened. "Good Deeds", a story about a thoroughly corrupt Robert F. Kennedy spending a sordid evening with his cronies misses on all points not being about a conqueror, and not being a fantasy or an alternate history, and being dismally pointless as a story.

Several of the stories are excellent, even if they are not alternate history: "The Empress Jingu Fishes" relates that thoughts of a shaman-Empress as her mind moves between the fishing that she is doing in the present, her memories, and the future that she already knows in detail."Observable Things" involves Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane fighting King Philip's War. I also enjoyed "Del Norte", based on a true story of an Aztec princess who moved to Spain with her conquistador husband, and parts of "Martyrs of the Upshot Knothole", about the afflictions of the cast and crew of the dreadful movie Conqueror [VHS], which was filmed on an atomic test site.On the other hand, I found several of the stories rather dull, or simply not particularly intriguing, so overall it wasn't a strong anthology, even without the question of how well it fit into its genre.

Better than I expected
Normally I like alternative histories or science fiction built on an alternative history.This book is more reimagining subtle differences in history not that change anything but fantastic explanations for events and character traits.I really liked Kij Johnson's "The Empress Jingu Fishes" for its ability to skip around in the narrative to reveal what it must feel like to know the future yet be forced to focus on the now."Twillight of the Idols" by Stephen Dedman was a very creepy vision of Hitler and the folly of immortality.I have to tip my hit to those in this collection who dealt with antiquity -- over all you did well.There weren't any stories that I hated though only a few I'd read again any time soon so this earned a 4 star rating from me.As always fiction preference is very personal.

13 stories of legendary "conquerors"
Very few alternate history tales herein. The few in which history turns into another track tend to address the turning point rather than the result ("The Lion Hunt").

Dann, Jack: "Good Deeds" Portrayal of Robert Kennedy slumming in New York City, indulging in low company, ethnic slurs, police brutality in the company of people he trusts because he can buy them. Strains the definition of "conqueror" and isn't alternate history but interpretation.

Dedman, Stephen: "Twilight of Idols" A woman whose father was determined to find historical truth behind the Norse legends as Schliemann did for Homer's tales hired a half-failed set designer - Adolf Hitler - to help find Fafnir's lair. One who bathes in Fafnir's blood is said to become invincible...

Di Filippo, Paul: "Observable Things" (Robert Howard's Solomon Kane) Told in 1st person, old fashioned diarist style (a lot of odd capitalization for emphasis), by a Puritan reminiscing about his youth, when he trailed after Kane.

Effinger, George Alec: "Walking Gods" Saladin narrates his own story, beginning with his youth as an officer under his uncle, their campaigns together, and how he came to be vizier of Egypt. But the main thrust of the story is how Saladin and his army came to the rescue of another alternate history - the rescue of Xenophon, more than 1500 years before. Story worth reading.

Johnson, Kij: "The Empress Jingu Fishes" She is a seer, cursed in that to her there is little to choose between matters past, present, and future. Her only cold comfort is to force the gods to give her omens - such as allowing her to catch trout with a needle - before she does what they command.

Malzberg, Barry N.; Pronzini, Bill: "Intensified Transmogrification" The opening will get one's attention: "Let me remind you of the way it was before he tried to seize absolute power, declare a state of national emergency, enact martial law, create nuclear holocaust." Narrated by an unnamed aide close to Lyndon Johnson, but from memory in an unusual style: the dialogue isn't given in quotations, and emphasizes the narrator's opinions of Johnson's mental state. "I was Lyndon's closest advisor then. Such being an inaccurate description, since Mr. President took no advice from anyone..."

Morrow, James: "Martyrs of the Upshot Knothole" - codename for a certain series of 1950s atmospheric nuclear tests. The narrator replaces Agnes Moorehead, who played John Wayne's mother in THE CONQUEROR, arguably his worst film, and predeceased him by several years. Her current flame has spotted a connection between several cases of cancer and the location shooting in 1956. [OK, but the truth needed no embellishment by imaginary characters or extreme F/SF elements.]

Roessner, Michaela: "Del Norte" Claims to be based on a true story. (The author herself discourses a little on the topic of 'truth' at the end.) Joan Grau, one of Cortez' companions, brought back a bride from the strange lands across the sea - and the children of the village were overjoyed. If a princess could really live here, *anything* could happen...(Mostly from her viewpoint, though, as a stranger in a strange land remembering fallen Tenochtitlan.)

Sargent, Pamela: The protagonist Jamukha is the "Spirit Brother" of the man he once knew as Temujin: Genghis Khan. Having broken his dying oath to watch over Temujin - intended half as revenge for his own death - he falls into the power of Temujin's chief shaman, who seeks a tool in his own quest for political power. Jamukha here is portrayed as both spurned ex-lover and boyhood friend.

Watson, Ian: "An Appeal to Adolf", unlike most of the other stories herein, contains explicit sex and strong language thanks to the Nazi narrator's preoccupation with concealing his sexual relationship with a fellow soldier in the force invading Britain by sea in this alternate history. Very disturbing viewpoint character coupled with way-out "science" (powered aircraft don't exist).

Webb, Janeen: Philip of Macedon and his son Alexander ride out on "The Lion Hunt", wherein an assassin with a poisoned lance proves how fragile history can be.

West, Michelle: "To the Gods Their Due" Alexander, narrating his own story of growing alienation from his other half, his best friend Hephaestion, who chooses not to follow Alexander too deeply on his journey from first-among-equals ruler of Macedon to a god-king of Egypt.

Zebrowski, George: "Nappy" (Napoleon) opens in the voice of an historical scholar, discoursing on the Virtual Dark Age - in which it is artfully made clear that humanity become so fascinated with virtual reality scenarios that attempts at achievements in the *real* world were let slide. (The tone is *so* realistically academic, in fact, that it risks losing readers who don't care to slog through scholarly tomes.) Then the story discusses the innocent beginnings of that age: one historian's fascination with the character of a virtual reality reconstruction of Napoleon, an AI aware of his hopeless situation, endlessly experiencing scenarios without true victory - the world never becoming what he'd hoped for when he set out to conquer. (Also contains a bit of philosophical speculation on the nature of conquerors.)

A "shoulder shrugger" . . .
I picked this up thinking it was a collection of original alternate history stories, but it's not quite that. Many of the stories do involve "what-if" plot points, but they're rooted in fantasy -- but not of the Tolkienesque variety, either. In Stephen Dedman's "Twilight of Idols," for instance, Adolf Hitler kills a dragon straight out of the Niebelungen, making him more or less invulnerable (how do you think he escaped injury from that bomb?), but the rest of his career fits more into the "secret history" category. Michelle West's "To the Gods Their Due" is a cautionary tale about Alexander and the price to be paid for quasi-immortality, and while it's a well-written story, there's nothing especially "fantastic" about it. (I don't think access to a soothsayer counts.) "Intensified Transmogrification," by Barry Malzberg and Bill Pronzini, is a brief alternate history about LBJ with no fantasy element that I can discern. (Schizophrenia is not fantasy.) And so on. There's some pretty good writing in this volume, but not much thematic consistency.

Not really Alternative History
Readers looking for alternative history should pass up the opportunity to read this book.The point of this collection of short stories is geared more toward alternative culture.Both the title and the back cover blurb are very misleading.Neither fantasy nor conquerors are the focus of the 13 authors contributing to this anthology.The first story puts more emphasis on Alexander the Great's infatuation with one of his male bodyguards than it does with a prophet and some historical facts. The key plot revolves around Alexander's Oedipal passion that results in his alienating his mother by murdering her husband, then transferring this fixation to the mother of the Persian King.Two other stories have a homosexual theme - one that fantasizes about a gay Genghis Khan, while the other describes a revoltingly explicit sexual relationship between two male sailors on an impossibly large Nazi warship.Recent historical figures are dragged through the mud as Lyndon Johnson is fantasized as a schizophrenic sociopath and Robert Kennedy as an amoral thug who tries for redemption through hollow "Good Deeds."Two stories might have provided a good launching point for some real alternative fiction when Alexander dies in an assassination attempt on his father and when Saladin and Xenophon team up to fight a couple of battles.However, neither story goes any further than that.I stayed with this book as long as I could but ended up skipping several stories.Finally, I gave up without reading the last two.I just can't say anything positive about this book.I think it's being sold to the wrong audience.Those who like alternative history will be disappointed.I hope my review can help those who would better enjoy these stories find them. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Just for "Tin Soldier"
About 35 years ago - in college - I took a course called "Women in Science Fiction," and this book was required reading. I read "Tin Soldier" and it remains the most moving short story I've ever read. I lost my original copy, but I've never stopped thinking about that story. It's great to have it back.

You don't know what you're missing
If 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.

At the end there are short biographies of the authors and a list of other books to read. The Introduction and notes are by Pamela Sargent.

This book is incorrectly listed on Amazon as the previous volume, "Women of Wonder," but the ISBN is definitely for "More Women of Wonder," from 1976. Random House, Vintage Books original, first edition. ... Read more

Product Description
Entirely new stories by twenty-one female authors demonstrate the ever-broadening boundaries of the genre, from humanist science fiction to cyberpunk, in a companion volume to Women of Wonder: The Classic Years. Amazon.com Review
In an exciting collection, Pamela Sargent presents some ofthe most vibrant women science fiction writers.From Angela Carterto ConnieWillis, Women of Wonder diplays a dazzling array of storiesthat reflect the variety of different literary paths women have takenin writing science fiction and the wealth of imaginary worlds they'vecreated. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

#2 is great!
The second collection of women's science fiction gives us insight into what has and hasn't changed.Here are some talents the common science fiction fan has heard along with a couple I didn't recongnize.What Ifound most interesting is thatwomen still tend to focus on women as themain characters even after the reported "equality of the sexes". Reflection of innate views or sign of some progress left to make? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Interesting history and fantasy art
Sargent's text and Miller's artwork would each make a decent book - together, the combination is quite enjoyable.

Starting with fantasies from the 16th century, Sargent notes how Shakespeare's Titania, Spenser's Britomart, and others, she shows some of the roots of the heroic female character in fantasy. Next, she presents some 19th century ambiguities: H. Rider Haggard's "She" and Hans Christian Andersen's (not Disney's!) "Little Mermaid" among them. The first half of the twentieth century did not always treat the female leads with such respect. Dejah Thoris and most - but not all - of Burroughs's women spent lots of time being saved. Few entered the "boys' club" of science fiction heroes. Some, like Doc Smith's Clarissa MacDougal, got grudging day passes, and a few others joined as full members. By the 1960s, though plenty of strong leading ladies appeared, even in male authors' writings. The women's movement of the 1970s might explain part of the inrush of women writing science fiction, as well as starring in its stories. The topic covers too much territory for an approachable book to be exhaustive so Sargent probably misses some of your favorites, including Honor Harrington, Red Sonya, Ellen from Morris's "News from Nowhere," and the entire populations of Herland and Mizora. Still, Sargent offers a reasonable survey with plenty of examples to illustrate the trends she identifies.

Miller's paintings, an average around one per page, illustrate a range of these heroines. The artwork generally comes across as capable and expressive. A few facial expressions come across oddly (e.g. pp.10,18), and the figures lack Frazetta's drama or Julie Bell's power. Miller's style is easy to enjoy, especially by fans of the unclad female form, but that modern style creates some sense of anachronism when applied to 19th and early 20th century characters.

In spite of weaknesses, the art complements the text well, and will add to any library of fantasy art. It's not a "must have," buf fun and informative anyway.

-- wiredweird ... Read more