Seanan McGuire is a master of world-building as demonstrated in this short but incredibly engaging story. Set in a future where the navy is made up entirely of genetically modified women made to be more like mermaids, no part of it seems out of place or farfetched, and the reader can very easily place oneself into this world. The character of the narrator has a strong, clear, and unique voice and everything just flows well. I hesitate to delve too much more into the details at the risk of spoiling too much (always a much higher risk when dealing with shorter fiction). I definitely recommend this - the only drawback I found is that I got so immersed in this world and this story, I want more... ( )

A disappointment
expected badass ladies
not whiny essays. ( )

A worthwhile concept - fighting for recognition against the male-centred manocracy* - and, as it turns out, a bloody good book. The stories are of a consistently high standard and a diverse reach. I didn't read the novel extract (I've never really seen the point of novel extracts included in collections) but everything else was great.


As well as sections broken into original fiction, reprinted fiction and flash fiction (most of which was perfectly adequate short story length, so the only point to it I can see is if you wanted to dip in knowing you can burn through a few tales if you're in that mood without hitting something longer) there is a non-fiction section beginning with a superb artists' gallery, a collection of essays which are superb and then a bunch of short 'personal essays', which are individual writers' views on the subject of Women Destroying Science Fiction - their influences and their own experiences or backgrounds - many of which are great, all of which are interesting although some are obviously tossed-off-in-an-hour filler.


All the 'proper' essays are excellent, one of my favourite being a round-table type discussion between Ursula le Guin, Pat Cadigan, Ellen Datlow & Nancy Kress on being a women within SF, being a feminist and on the changes over the recent decades - in the field in general, as well as the particular feminist slant. So it was bound to be brilliant, really.

From le Guin:

"Long ago, my children, in the days of my youth, our tribe was small and poor, skulking in exile on the margins of the rich kingdom of Literaturia. When we attempted to approach we were driven back with execrations and the throwing of fecal matter by the armed Critics with their battle cry of "Genre! Kill!". We found, however, that many readers so loved us that they came into exile to join us, calling their settlement Fandom, and even in Literaturia, many secretly welcomed us into the their hearts and homes. Over the years, we have grown in number and strength, and there is much intercourse of various kinds and exchange of mental goods. Nowadays, blue-blooded Literaturians, believing they understand our simple customs, often imitate them, badly. Some of our tribe have become somewhat respectable in the streets of Literaturia and pass, at times, almost unscathed among the Critics, The heights of the cities, however, and the great prizes to be found there, are still closed to us. I urge you to continue on the way if your tribal Elders, my children; Ignore execrations, seduce critics, infiltrate curricula, and keep on truckin'."


Damn, but I adore Ursula le Guin.



*I probably don't need to invite discourse of the value of feminism but am more than happy to do so. Bring it on. ( )

A little while back I was thinking that most of the scifi I've read recently is written by men, and a lot of it contains strains of mysogyny, often so subtle that it seems like the author may not have even realized it was there. This was triggered in particular on a review I saw on here of one of the things on my to read shelf saying it could have been a really interesting exploration of gender in an alien society but the author was unable to get past his own cultural stereotypes to truly imagine the culture he was trying to describe. And that's true of a lot of books, and even when the author is trying to be feminist it can come in the form of women making exactly the same arguments about how they're just as good at piloting spaceships, etc. as men, and the thought that women still have to make those same arguments in the 24th century is just so exhaustingly depressing. And a lot of the scifi written by women that I've read lately is of the Handmaid's Tale variety, which is also incredibly depressing. So I started looking for other sorts of science fiction written by women, and when this came out the next day I snatched it up.

I don't generally read Lightspeed Magazine so I have no idea if this is a standard example of their usual quality, but this is a really excellent set of short stories. Not an excellent collection of short stories written by women, an excellent collection full stop. As in, better than many standalone anthologies I've read. As with any collection, some are better than others, but there weren't any clunkers and quite a few gems. I think my favorites were probably Dim Sun, which was sort of scifi magical realism, and A Burglary, Addressed by a Young Lady, a sort of Jane Austen-style story in which all polite young ladies are thieves (I want to see a full book expanding on that one), but there are many other good things in here. ( )

Steampunk Holmes!

Gearlock Holmes is an "amalgamated person," what we in less enlightened times than Holmes' might call a robot, or a droid. He's been retired to the countryside for some time now, raising bees, but when a crisis arises, he sends for his old friend, Dr. Watson.

The crisis is that his housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson--also an amalgamated person--has been taken into custody for the murder of one of Holmes' guests.

It's a neat little mystery, and both the characteristics and the legal standing of amalgamated persons are crucial to how the story plays out.

Recommended for a quick, fun read.

Merged review:

We begin with a submarine officer complaining about "standard issue" boots that don't fit properly, and only gradually do we understand why they don't fit properly.

She no longer has standard issue feet.

She also has gills in addition to lungs.

Submarine duty has become exclusively female duty in the US Navy, and apparently other major navies, too. And the women, most of them, are being transformed into mermaids.

No one makes the leap in one transition. It's gradual, repeated returns to the land for more modifications, as the women adapt more and more fully to their new lives as sea creatures. There are also different types of modifications, some shark-based, some jellyfish based, etc. They can do things their landbound fellow sailors can't do, yet the more fully they transform, the better suited they become to their roles, the more completely they are shut out of return to the land or any upward mobility in the Navy. They aren't even comfortable out of the water.

What reason do they have to return to their subs?

This is a brief and fascinating look at one woman's personal progress and shift in perspective. It grabbed me and held on tight, and I think it's well worth your time.

Recommended. ( )