Despatches from the Frontiers of the Female Mind

This collection features stories about women's lives and especially what those lives could be like in various futures, some plausible, but most just hypothetical.

As with any short story collection there are going to be stories that resonate differently with different people. Here are some of the ones that I liked:

* Spinning the Green - (1985) Margaret Elphinstone - Told in fairy-tale style, a merchant with three daughters sets out for a conference and on his way back is waylaid by a group of mysterious green-clad women. When he offends them, his punishment is to send a daughter to join them.

* The Cliches from Outer Space - (1984) Joanna Russ - While visiting an editor friend, a misogynistic cliché-spewing being hitches a ride from the slush pile to the protagonist's typewriter. The protagonist hopes to exorcise the spirit by getting its stories published.

* A Sun in the Attic - (1985) Mary Gentle - In the late 18th century a woman searches for her possibly kidnapped husband and discovers why the shipping guild has stifled invention so ruthlessly.

There are a few more that I really liked and some that are still digesting (like Raccoona Sheldon's "Morality Meat"). I highly recommend this as not only a glimpse into feminist science fiction 30 years ago, but also as a repository for some great stories.

P.S. If you're like me and sometimes get irritated at what authors have to say about the politics of their stories, read the stories first and then read the intro to that story. I enjoyed things a lot more once I started doing that.