>> Neil,
>>
>
>Almost right: the nominees in 1983 were:
>
>Foundation's Edge by Isaac Asimov (Doubleday)
>The Pride of Chanur by C. J. Cherryh (DAW)
>2010: Odyssey Two by Arthur C. Clarke (Del Rey)
>Friday by Robert Heinlein (Holt, Rinehart, and Winston)
>Courtship Rite by Donald Kingsbury (Timescape)
>Sword of the Lictor by Gene Wolfe (Timescape)
>
>And Asimov won it. Now, admittedly it is a strong year, but in my view the
>Asimov and the Clarke were the weakest; the Wolfe, Asimov and Clarke are
>all middle volumes in a series (though I suppose we did not know that of
>the Clarke at the time), and the Cherryh, Kingsbury and Heinlein are the
>strongest stand-alone novels. And of the three (though I am a great
>Cherryh and Heinlein fan), I am not sure that the Kingsbury isn't the
>best.
>
>I wonder if fans had known that FRIDAY was to be Heinlein's last good
>book, it wouldn't have won on a sympathy vote?
>
>And, incidentally, given that we are on FEMINISTSF, what do feminists
>today make of FRIDAY? It's the only one of the six with a female
>protagonist, I think.
>
>Edward James
There is an extensive thread going on my other SF newsgroup (SF-Lit at the
LOC) about Heinlein and his wimmin, so I think I'll just comment that
Cherryh's book features a male human assimilated into the leonoid Chanur
culture, where females are dominant.
Maryelizabeth
Mysterious Galaxy 619-268-4747
3904 Convoy St, #107 800-811-4747
San Diego, CA 92111 619-268-4775 FAX
http://www.mystgalaxy.com
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