Random haul

A random book haul, for no particular reason other than that it had been a while and several books came out that I have been eagerly awaiting (in one case for many years):

Ann Aguirre — Wanderlust (sff)
Ann Aguirre — Killbox (sff)
Ann Aguirre — Doubleblind (sff)
Ann Aguirre — Aftermath (sff)
Ann Aguirre — Endgame (sff)
Yoon Ha Lee — A Conservation of Shadows (sff collection)
M.J. Locke — Up Against It (sff)
China Miéville — Railsea (sff)
Chris Moriarty — Ghost Spin (sff)
Paul Nahin — An Imaginary Tale (non-fiction)

Yes, Ghost Spin finally exists, and I have held it in my hands. Now if I can just remember what was happening in Spin State and Spin Control. I may just have to re-read them, which would be such a hardship....

The explanation of all the Aguirre purchases is that if you say sensible things amid the latest round of obnoxious sexism in the SFF community, and particularly when anonymous cowards claim your writing is obviously bad because of what you say, there are people like me who may well buy your entire series, new, as a show of support. Particularly if it was already on their radar as something to read.

I already had the first book, but I bought all the rest sight unseen, based just on the strength of her commentary and some of the things other people have said about the books. This afternoon, I finished reading Grimspace, the first in the series, and now I'm delighted that I already have the others in hand. Excellent stuff; a bit trying on suspension of disbelief in a few spots, but the pacing was so good I didn't care. Review coming eventually when I catch up further.

Yoon Ha Lee is my absolute favorite SF short fiction author writing currently, and that's saying something since I generally don't like short fiction. I've been eagerly awaiting her first collection ever since I heard it had gone to print.

Also, in the context of picking up eight more SF novels or collections by women, I want to note just how irritating it is when people claim that women don't write science fiction. I read quite a lot of science fiction, and I haven't had any trouble finding female authors. I haven't even needed to try; the books I read run about half female authors with no special attention or effort on my part. If someone honestly hasn't heard of those writers, I have a bunch of suggestions in my collected book reviews, but too often it seems less a plea for help and more a rhetorical point about how science fiction is somehow more naturally male. Which is complete bullshit, and I have the library and reviews to prove it.

Last year I read 13 unambiguous science fiction novels by women (not counting any fantasy). Some of them I liked, some of them I didn't, some of them were more believable than others, and some of them were harder (in the sense of being more scientifically plausible) than others — just like the 11 science fiction novels, not counting fantasy, by men that I read in the same time frame. So far this year, I've reviewed one science fiction novel by a woman and two by men, and I have two more by women (and one by a man) waiting to be reviewed. I'm not doing anything special, just reading what's published, what's been recommended to me, and what wins awards. Anyone else can do exactly the same thing.

Posted: 2013-06-29 19:31 — Why no comments?

Last modified and spun 2023-07-06