Early Science Fiction and women

[miriam_e]

I'm often surprised how much early science fiction was written by women. It seems to have been made-over into a male domain until fairly recently when a number of women have reclaimed some of the genre. (Some of my favorites are James [Alice Sheldon] Tiptree Jr, Kate Wilhelm, Ursula Le Guin, Melissa Scott.)

What is arguably the most famous science fiction story of all time was written by Mary Shelley: Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (most people today would know it as Frankenstein's Monster, though of course the 'monster' was a victim of prejudice and was, like Mary Shelley herself, a vegetarian -- in the story the 'normal' people were the actual monsters). You can download it (for free) from Project Gutenberg at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/84

She also wrote another science fiction novel, The Last Man Likewise available from Project Gutenberg at http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/18247

There is also a strange little short story by her called The Invisible Girl at Project Gutenberg Australia http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0603151h.html

And another short story The Mortal Immortal http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0602391h.html

Louisa May Alcott, best known for Little Women, also wrote a short story Lost in a Pyramid, or the Mummy's Curse, which is at Project Gutenberg Australia http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0603041h.html
Another short story by her, Perilous Play http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0603031h.html is about a drug-induced fantastic voyage.

Comments

[sharpblonde.livejournal.com]

Anne McCaffrey's been writing for ages... she's written copious amounts of stuff... I've read most of the stuff she's written that I'm interested in though and I'm not as into her as I used to be anyway... especially the recent stuff. She's just getting too old to write as consistently.

[miriam-e.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... weird. I thought I'd replied to this, but my post seems to have vaporised.

I have a lot of friends who love Anne McCaffrey's work. I've read a lot of her short stories, but none of her novels, though I have quite a few of them. I must rememdy that. Thanks for the suggestion.

It seems Anne McCaffrey was the first woman to win the Hugo Award for fiction, and this year she was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Interesting.