Women of Futures Past

This is an excellent collection of short stories from a wide selection of notable female science fiction writers. There is a very informative introduction that provides a useful, albeit compressed, history of several of the genre's female writers and editors, with a couple of academic references for further in depth exploration. It also debunks some myths while also pointing out other industry bias and makes a strong plea to ensure these women's contributions, stories and names are not forgotten. The stories vary from very good to fantastic and it is difficult to pick out favourites in such a great collection. That said, I especially enjoyed Lois McMaster Bujold's heart wrenching "Aftermaths", Ursula LeGuin's alternate history of Antarctica exploration "Sur", and James Tiptree's (alias of Alice B. Sheldon) somewhat terrifying tale of a Flu pandemic,"The Last Flight of Doctor Ain". I hope Baen publishes a follow-up with more works from these authors and others.