Collect with by a deft mind, this collection contains short stories written by women about women. Each stories explores a different intersection of science and the feminine. Sargent's introduction gives an overview of women in science fiction, starting with Mary Shelley and Frankenstein (arguably the first science fiction novel) and moving into the current (for her) rising female authors. Many of those authors are featured here. She spoke about women in the stories, how in the original pulp fiction, why women are shallow damsels or vixens, and how more female authors gives rise to a new heroine, women with brains and purpose. The introduction alone is worth aquiring the book for.

The stories are listed below: The best was the McCraffrey, with the MacLean and the Bradley close behind. Wilhelm's story hit close to home, and something I think our society is only a few science discoveries away from. Yarabro's story told of a horrify future and left me wanting more of the story. The worst, by far, was the Emshwiller. It wasn't even science fiction, as far as I could tell.

The Child Dreams by Sonya Dorman
That Only a Mother by Judith Merril
Contagion by Katherine MacLean
The Wind People by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey
When I Was Miss Dow by Sonya Dorman
The Food Farm by Kit Reed
Baby, You Were Great by Kate Wilhelm
Sex and/or Mr. Morrison by Carol Emshwiller
Vaster Than Empires and More Slow by Ursula K. Le Guin
False Dawn by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
Nobody's Home by Joanna Russ
Of Mist, and Grass, and Sand by Vonda N. McIntyre

Over all, this collection contains a vast array of thought-provoking stories about gender, motherhood, science, and our future. I highly recommend! ( )

I am so glad I was still a kid while these women were struggling to find their role in a society that was moving towards more egalitarianism.  Those struggles sure messed up some fine minds.  I will admit I didn't read all of these - I skipped the ones that seemed as if they'd have a too-high yuck factor... unfortunately, most of the ones I read were pretty yucky, too.  I wonder, though, if I would like the companion book to this, that gathers stories  *preceding* the 1970s....   ( )

This is a hard book to rate, because even though some of the stories are great, several of them are not very good or are not science fiction.

The best of the actual sci-fi stories:
- Contagion, by Katherine MacLean
- The Ship Who Sang, by Anne McCaffrey
- Baby, You Were Great, by Kate Wilhelm
- Vaster Than Empires and More Slow, by Ursula K. LeGuin ( )

Crap. Even with the list of prestigious writers collected here, do not waste your time with this collection.

Most of the stories contained in this collection were new to me, and apparently to be respected as a feminist writer in the seventies was to spend your time writing really stupid stories of despair and futility and dwelling on women's natural nobility being crushed.

Do not bother reading:
The Child Dreams (1974) by Sonya Dorman | A poem. Gaah. There are three anthologies of Women of Wonder stories, and Sargent has placed a single poem — not one of her own, thank favor, but bad enough — a the start of each of these anthologies. Honestly, why would you do this? Poetry can be an incredibly evocative medium, and I am passionately in love with many poems and select poets. This poem is not even readable.

That Only a Mother (1948) by Judith Merril | Woman gives birth to child lacking arms and legs and doesn't notice, much to her husband's horror when he returns from war and get a chance to express this in the last four paragraphs. This story was apparently written to allow the author to explore setting half-hints and innuendos throughout a story. I cannot imagine that this technique was innovative in the 70s, but maybe it was in the 40s? It doesn't even rate as high as trite in reading it now.

Contagion (1950) by Katherine MacLean | Group of settlers all set up to colonize a planet land and find a forgotten colony already there, and they're carrying a virus that turns the settlers into clones. Setting aside the fact that that premise is ridiculously illogical, I am frustrated with the focus of appearance in the story. Appearance and personal association with appearance is the deliberate focus of this story, which I know because Sargent has told me so point-blank in the preface blurb. While reading the story set-up, about all the female settlers finding the single (that they've encountered) surviving colonist (male) unbelievably attractive and fascinating and to the extent that they all want to leave their established long-term relationships in favor of him, I really wanted the story to unveil that the colonist had some sort of pheromones that caused the women to respond this way, thus framing the story as a contemplation of love and desire. I found the actual story was so much less interesting.

The Wind People (1959) Marion Zimmer Bradley | Space-faring woman unwisely becomes pregnant (oops!) and, as infants are unable to survive in space, opts to declare herself dead and maroon herself and her child on a random, empty planet. Who would possibly think this was a good idea? Later, as the child grows to adulthood, incestuous desires develop. I really, really don't like Zimmer Bradley, and this story makes me dislike her even more. Aside from the nicely unintentional advocacy for responsible birth control and possibly for contingency plans, this story is pointless.

When I Was Miss Dow (1966) by Sonya Dorman | Alien shapeshifts into woman for a time; doesn't want to switch back. This was actually passably interesting, in an extremely introspective sort of way, but not a story I'd ever recommend.

The Food Farm (1967) by Kit Reed | Eating disorder somehow intertwined with pop-star infatuation; leads to psychopathic plan to force-feed people. Wut.

Sex and/or Mr. Morrison (1967) by Carol Emshwiller | What the fuck? I have just read this story thrice over and I can not even distinguish a plot, to say nothing of a point. Emshwiller's afterward to this story is quoted, "It would be nice to live in a society where the genitals were really considered Beauty. It seems to me any other way of seeing them is obscene." Emshwiller is a psycho.

False Dawn (1971) by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro | Stuck in some sort of post-atomic dystopic future, a mutated woman gets raped, rescued, and limps off with her rescuer. That's about it.

Nobody's Home (1972) by Joanna Russ | Convoluted tale of teleportation theorizing on how instantaneous transport would effect interpersonal relationships, but not boring.

These are kind of worth your time:
The Ship Who Sang (1961) by Anne McCaffrey | Okay. I am a great fan of McCaffrey's, and the novel of this same name is one of my favorites. It's nice that the opening chapter is recognized here, but it's far better to experience this story as part of a novel than as a stand-alone tale.

Baby, You Were Great (1967) by Kate Wilhelm | Creepy creepy creepy story about voyeurism, rape, control, and ratings. Extremely well-crafted and powerful; not enjoyable at all to read.

Vaster than Empires and More Slow (1971) by Ursula K. Le Guin | Le Guin is great and this story no less so, but it's keeping poor company here. Read it in a collection of her works instead.

Of Mist, Sand, and Grass (1973) by Vonda N. McIntyre | A novella about a post-apocalyptic world featuring a fascinating blend of modern technological advancements and traditional behaviors, but rather rough and unfinished. McIntyre eventually developed this novella into the first third of an award-winning novel. Read the novel instead.

To give credit where credit is due, Sargent's essay to introduce this anthology — Women in Science Fiction or Women of Science Fiction, depending on whether you go by the title listed in the contents or the title at the head of the essay — is quite, quite good; probably the best of the three essays Sargent wrote for these anthologies. But you may have to grit your teeth through footnotes sprawling multiple pages (Footnote 10 took up five). ( )

Hmm, I@ve never been that keen on sf written by women. I've no idea why really. I like the occasional margaret atwood, but even then, I find it easier to identify with female heroines as written by men. I think I'll ignore the implications of that one!

Anyway, a collections of short sf, written by women. It passes the time ( )