FORGOTTEN BOOKS #388: WOMEN OF FUTURES PAST Edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

women-of-futures-past
Even though this book has just been published, it qualifies as a “Forgotten Book” because of the stories in it. Kristine Kathryn Rusch has assembled a potent anthology of great stories by women published over the past decades. Some are classics like C. L. Moore’s “Shambleau.” Some are less familiar like Andre Norton’s “All Cats Are Gray.” And then there’s Connie Willis’s time travel story, “Fire Watch,” which won both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award for Best Novelette. The quality of the stories in Women of Futures Past is very high. You can’t go wrong with this marvelous book! GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Invisible Women by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
The Indelible Kind by Zenna Henderson
The Smallest Dragonboy by Anne McCaffrey
Out of All Them Bright Stars by Nancy Kress
Angel by Pat Cadigan
Cassandra by C.J. Cherryh
Shambleau by C.L. Moore
The Last Days of Shandakor by Leigh Brackett
All Cats Are Gray by Andre Norton
Aftermaths by Lois McMaster Bujold
The Last Flight of Doctor Ain by James Tiptree, Jr.
Sur by Ursula K. Le Guin
Fire Watch by Connie Willis
About the Editor

14 thoughts on “FORGOTTEN BOOKS #388: WOMEN OF FUTURES PAST Edited by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

  1. Wolf Böhrendt

    Just to see that list of women SF authors makes me feel good!

    It’s “interesting” that though there aren’t too many of them, they have written fantastic stories – and the fact that some of them had to use male pseudonyms says a lot too …

    Reply
  2. Deb

    Adding it to my tbr list right now! I recently read my first Nancy Kress work, a post-apocalyptic short story titled, “By Fools Like Me”. Excellent! I’m glad to see she’s included here.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Deb, Kristine Kathryn Rusch discusses stories she would have loved to include in WOMEN OF FUTURES PAST. Rusch attempted to get permission to include an Octavia Butler story, but the person in charge of her literary estate insisted on an outrageous payment that Rusch refused to pay. Maybe there will be a WOMEN OF FUTURES PAST 2!

      Reply
  3. Jeff Meyerson

    Doug Greene has talked about that problem in doing his Crippen & Landru books. Some heirs have a grossly inflated idea of what they should be paid for reprinting stories. Don’t they get that it will bring in new readers for their other books?

    This has been on my list since I first heard about it. I like Rusch a lot, and the Willis novella is a favorite time travel story.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Jeff, I’ve heard several stories about the problem of getting rights to publish stories. As you point out, some of the people controlling the rights to the stories are clueless.

      Reply
  4. steve oerkfitz

    No Joanna Russ? I have read most of these before. Have never been able to get thru a book by Cherryh or Bujold and McCaffrey is not a favorite but still a lot of good stuff here. I am especially a fan of Tiptree, Kress, Willis, LeGuin , Brackett and Moore.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Steve, my favorite “Tiptree” story is actually “The Screwfly Solution” by “Raccoona Sheldon.” As a kid, I started reading Leigh Brackett’s wonderful work and continued into adulthood.

      Reply
      1. Wolf Böhrendt

        Yes, George, Leigh Brackett’s Mars stories were something special!

        And I also liked Tiptree and C J Cherryh’s Cyteen books – that was something totally new!

        Norton and Moore were also really good. Judith Merrill might also be named.

        And Octavia Butler: A black woman even, you don’t meet them often in SF…

  5. Jerry House

    Curse you, George Kelley! Another book to add to my already too long want list.

    On second thought, I won’t curse you because this one looks like a keeper.

    Reply
    1. george Post author

      Jerry, Patti Abbott calls me “George the Tempter” because I motivate people to buy more books! You’ll really like WOMEN OF FUTURES PAST!

      Reply
  6. Cap'n Bob

    Sounds great, but I have too much to read now!

    And why is it that so many people start their forgotten books write up with, “This isn’t really forgotten”?

    Reply

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