The future is female! 25 classic science fiction stories by women, from pulp pioneers to ursula k. le guin : A Library of America Special Publication

Space-opera heroines, gender-bending aliens, post-apocalyptic pregnancies, changeling children, interplanetary battles of the sexes, and much more: a groundbreaking new collection of classic American science fiction by women from the 1920s to the 1960s SF-expert Lisa Yaszek presents the biggest and best survey of the female tradition in American science fiction ever published, a thrilling collection of twenty-five classic tales. From Pulp Era pioneers to New Wave experimentalists, here are over two dozen brilliant writers ripe for discovery and rediscovery, including Leslie F. Stone, Judith Merril, Leigh Brackett, Kit Reed, Joanna Russ, James Tiptree Jr., and Ursula K. Le Guin. Imagining strange worlds and unexpected futures, looking into and beyond new technologies and scientific discoveries, in utopian fantasies and tales of cosmic horror, these women created and shaped speculative fiction as surely as their male counterparts. Their provocative, mind-blowing stories combine to form a thrilling multidimensional voyage of literary-feminist exploration and recovery. CONTENTS Introduction by LISA YASZEK CLARE WINGER HARRIS The Miracle of the Lily (1928) LESLIE F. STONE The Conquest of Gola (1931) C. L. MOORE The Black God’s Kiss (1934) LESLIE PERRI Space Episode (1941) JUDITH MERRIL That Only a Mother (1948) WILMAR H. SHIRAS In Hiding (1948) KATHERINE MACLEAN Contagion (1950) MARGARET ST. CLAIR The Inhabited Men (1951) ZENNA HENDERSON Ararat (1952) ANDREW NORTH All Cats Are Gray (1953) ALICE ELEANOR JONES Created He Them (1955) MILDRED CLINGERMAN Mr. Sakrison’s Halt (1956) LEIGH BRACKETT All the Colors of the Rainbow (1957) CAROL EMSHWILLER Pelt (1958) ROSEL GEORGE BROWN Car Pool (1959) ELISABETH MANN BORGESE For Sale, Reasonable (1959) DORIS PITKIN BUCK Birth of a Gardner (1961) ALICE GLASER The Tunnel Ahead (1961) KIT REED The New You (1962) JOHN JAY WELLS & MARION ZIMMER BRADLEY Another Rib (1963) SONYA DORMAN When I Was Miss Dow (1966) KATE WILHELM Baby, You Were Great (1967) JOANNA RUSS The Barbarian (1968) JAMES TIPTREE JR. The Last Flight of Dr. Ain (1969) URSULA K. LE GUIN Nine Lives (1969) Bending And Stretching Its Conventions To Imagine New, More Feminist Futures And New Ways Of Experiencing Gender, Visionary Women Writers Have Been From The Beginning An Essential If Often Overlooked Force In American Science Fiction. Two Hundred Years After Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Sf-expert Lisa Yaszek Presents The Best Of This Female Tradition, From The Pioneers Of The Pulp Era To The Radical Innovators Of The 1960s New Wave, In A Landmark Anthology That Upends The Common Notion That Sf Was Conceived By And For Men. Here Are 25 Mind-blowing Sf Classics That Still Shock And Inspire: Judith Merril And Wilmar H. Shiras's Startling Near-future Stories Of The Children Of The New Atomic Age; Carol Emshwiller And Sonya Dorman's Haunting Explorations Of Alien Otherness; Dystopian Fables Of Consumerism And Overpopulation By Elizabeth Mann Borgese And Alice Glaser; Evocations Of Cosmic Horror From Margaret St. Clair And Andrew North (andre Norton); And Much More. Other Writers Here Take On Some Of Sf's Sexist Clichés And Boldly Rethink Sex And Gender From The Ground Up. C. L. Moore And Leslie Perri Introduce Courageous, Unforgettable Sheroes; Alice Eleanor Jones Sounds A Housewife's Note Of Protest Against The Conformities Of Life In A Postapocalyptic Suburb; Leslie F. Stone Envisions An Interplanetary Battle Of The Sexes, In Which The Matriarchs Of Venus Ward Off Unprovoked Attacks By Barbaric Spacemen From Earth; John Jay Wells And Marion Zimmer Bradley Wonder How Future Military Men Will Feel About Their Pregnancies. The Future Is Female! Is A Star-spanning, Soul-stirring, Multidimensional Voyage Of Literary-feminist Exploration And Recovery That Will Permanently Alter Your Perceptions Of American Sf.--publisher's Website. Introduction / Lisa Yaszek --the Miracle Of The Lily / Clare Winger Harris -- The Conquest Of Gola / Leslie F. Stone --the Black God's Kiss / C. L. Moore -- Space Episode / Leslie Perri -- That Only A Mother / Judith Merril -- In Hiding / Wilmar H. Shiras -- Contagion / Katherine Maclean -- The Inhabited Men / Margaret St. Clair -- Ararat / Zenna Henderson -- All Cats Are Gray / Andrew North -- Created He Them / Alice Eleanor Jones -- Mr. Sakrison's Halt / Mildred Clingerman -- All The Colors Of The Rainbow / Leigh Brackett -- Pelt / Carol Emshwiller -- Car Pool / Rosel George Brown -- For Sale, Reasonable / Elizabeth Mann Borgese -- Birth Of A Gardener / Doris Pitkin Buck -- The Tunnel Ahead / Alice Glaser -- The New You / Kit Reed -- Another Rib / John Jay Wells & Marion Zimmer Bradley -- When I Was Miss Dow / Sonya Dorman -- Baby, You Were Great / Kate Wilhelm -- The Barbarian / Joanna Russ -- The Last Flight Of Dr. Ain / James Tiptree Jr -- Nine Lives / Ursula K Le Guin -- Biographical Notes. Lisa Yaszek, Editor. A Library Of America Special Publication. Space-opera heroines, gender-bending aliens, post-apocalyptic pregnancies, changeling children, interplanetary battles of the sexes, and much more: a groundbreaking new collection of classic American science fiction by women from the 1920s to the 1960s Warning: the visionary women writers in this landmark anthology may permanently alter perceptions of American science fiction, challenging the conventional narrative that the genre was conceived mainly by and for men. Now, two hundred years after Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, SF-expert Lisa Yaszek presents the best of the female tradition in American science fiction, in the most comprehensive collection of its kind ever published. From Pulp Era pioneers to New Wave experimentalists, here are over two dozen brilliant writers ripe for discovery and rediscovery, including Leslie F. Stone ("The Conquest of Gola," 1931), Judith Merril ("That Only a Mother," 1948), Leigh Brackett ("All the Colors of the Rainbow," 1957), Kit Reed ("The New You," 1962), Joanna Russ ("The Barbarian," 1968); Ursula K. Le Guin ("Nine Lives," 1969), and James Tiptree Jr. ("Last Flight of Dr. Ain," 1969). Imagining strange worlds and unexpected futures, looking into and beyond new technologies and scientific discoveries, in utopian fantasies and tales of cosmic horror, these women created and shaped speculative fiction as surely as their male counterparts. Their provocative, mind-blowing stories combine to form a thrilling multidimensional voyage of literary-feminist exploration and recovery. Contents: Introduction / Lisa Yaszek -- The miracle of the lily / Clare Winger Harris -- The conquest of Gola / Leslie F. Stone -- The black god's kiss / C. L. Moore -- Space episode / Leslie Perri -- That only a mother / Judith Merril -- In hiding / Wilmar H. Shiras -- Contagion / Katherine Maclean -- The inhabited men / Margaret St. Clair -- Ararat / Zenna Henderson -- All cats are gray / Andrew North -- Created he them / Alice Eleanor Jones -- Mr. Sakrison's halt / Mildred Clingerman -- All the colors of the rainbow / Leigh brackett -- Pelt / Carol Emshwiller -- Car pool / Rosel George Brown -- For sale, reasonable / Elizabeth Mann Borgese -- Birth of a gardener / Doris Pitkin Buck -- The tunnel ahead / Alice Glaser -- The new you / Kit Reed -- Another rib / John Jay Wells & Marion Zimmer Bradley -- When I was Miss Dow / Sonya Dorman -- Baby, you were great / Kate Wilhelm -- The barbarian / Joanna Russ -- The last flight of Dr. Ain / James Tiptree Jr -- Nine lives / Ursula K Le Guin -- Biographical notes.