From LISTSERV@listserv.uic.edu Tue Aug 29 17:09:35 2000 Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 19:02:29 -0500 From: "L-Soft list server at University of Illinois at Chicago (1.8d)" To: Laura Quilter Subject: File: "FEMINISTSF LOG0008A" ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2000 15:20:47 CEST Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Diana Lago Subject: Hello, I'm new here Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Hi to everyone I am new member on this list. Well, if I am strictly sincere, I have been here, reading all your messages for a few months. I wanted to know how the list worked and beside I wanted to write an accurate mail, with correct English. What I mean is since I am not used to speaking English very often, that I make more than one mistake! But now I^Òm tired of myself: tired of my own waiting and I don^Òt mind if my English does not flow easily, cause I just wanted to say hello to everyone. I have been a huge fan of science fiction books and comics too since I was a very little child. Maybe because I have grown surrounded by those books. My name is Nuria (Diana is my nick), and I^Òm writing from Madrid, Spain. I^Òm 29. So I love science fiction books, and when I left adolescence behind I came into a world of machismo topics everywhere, and began to deal with feminist issues. I discovered some years ago a feminist literature and reflections in science fiction, through Mariom Zimmer Bradley and last year suddenly lots of names began to appear in my horizon, lots of names where Joanna Russ shines with a very special bright. And when I discovered this mailing list I couldn^Òt believed my eyes. It was like if I had found a kind of a home, a very special home. Cause feminist issues in these types of books are like magical music sounding in my mind. I have found several problems, anyway. As I live in Spain, there is a big problem with translations, and also with books that were translated in the past, but now are out of print, even in English. This problem has forced and is forcing me to overcome with my English, and now I^Òm longing to share information and thought s about this wonderful world of science fiction literature. I had had to buy several books in English, when it^Òs the only way to read them. So happy to be here and nothing more for the moment! Just my kind regards Nuria ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com -------------------------------------------------- This is the FEMINISTSF listserve, intended only for discussion of feminism and Speculative Fiction. To unsubscribe from this listserve, send a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU and in the body of the message say: unsubscribe FEMINISTSF Contact FEMINISTSF-request@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU if there are problems. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2000 06:17:45 -0600 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: "Laura J. Mixon-Gould" Subject: Re: Hello, I'm new here In-Reply-To: Mime-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Hello, Diana! Welcome. It's been a little quiet in here lately, but we're glad to see new people on the list. :) -l. -- Laura J. Mixon > ljm@digitalnoir.com > http://www.digitalnoir.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------- PROXIES - Future-noir with a heart of gold (and buns of steel) (Tor, Oct 1999 ISBN 0812523873) http://www.digitalnoir.com/prx -------------------------------------------------- This is the FEMINISTSF listserve, intended only for discussion of feminism and Speculative Fiction. To unsubscribe from this listserve, send a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU and in the body of the message say: unsubscribe FEMINISTSF Contact FEMINISTSF-request@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU if there are problems. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 1 Aug 2000 22:11:46 EDT Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Christine Ethier Subject: Re: Hello, I'm new here MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 8/1/2000 10:53:27 AM Eastern Daylight Time, dianalago@HOTMAIL.COM writes: << So happy to be here and nothing more for the moment! Just my kind regards Nuria _ >> Welcome Nuria! Chris -------------------------------------------------- This is the FEMINISTSF listserve, intended only for discussion of feminism and Speculative Fiction. To unsubscribe from this listserve, send a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU and in the body of the message say: unsubscribe FEMINISTSF Contact FEMINISTSF-request@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU if there are problems. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2000 02:08:43 -0700 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: John Snead Subject: Greetings In-Reply-To: <200008020503.AAA29302@listserv.uic.edu> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Greetings- I joined a few days ago, and these are the first postings I've seen, so I thought I'd respond. In addition to having a deep love for feminist SF, I'm currently wondering what folks here thought of a book I read recently. I greatly enjoy Melissa Scott's SF. From her early Silence Leigh trilogy to works like Shadow Man, I think she writes wonderfully enjoyable, thought provoking feminist SF. I recently read a fantasy novel co-written by her and someone named Lisa A. Barnett called _Point of Hopes_. It had excellent world-building and was a quite enjoyable story set in a very gender-egalitarian fantasy world (with a few mild matriarchial touches). However, it was odd in that all of the main characters were male, and male characters are basically the only ones who perform significant actions. I'm wondering if anyone else here has read this book and if they had the same feeling about it. Also, does anyone know anything about Lisa Barnett? Blessings- -John Snead sneadj@mindspring.com -------------------------------------------------- This is the FEMINISTSF listserve, intended only for discussion of feminism and Speculative Fiction. To unsubscribe from this listserve, send a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU and in the body of the message say: unsubscribe FEMINISTSF Contact FEMINISTSF-request@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU if there are problems. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2000 08:07:16 +1000 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Leigh Batterham Subject: Help identifying story Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi, Please help I'm trying to recall the title of a story I read and passed on to my younger sister about twenty years ago. She now wants it for her daughter. Very sketchy recollections...parallel world theme. future city, where everything is covered in layers of pollution. Lots of grey and dark, including the sky. All food is polluted, bland, tastless. eggs are grey. Central character is young, maybe male, maybe adolescent. Walking along a road or something and stumbles off the track or through a fence into green fields, sunshine, some kind of parallel reality. Twenty years ago, I only read women science fiction writers, so I'm assuming that this is one of theirs. My sister thinks it's one for the teenage/ children's market, but who knows? If you can think of ANYTHING similar, please let me know, as any of the above details could be wrong.... Cheers Leigh -------------------------------------------------- This is the FEMINISTSF listserve, intended only for discussion of feminism and Speculative Fiction. To unsubscribe from this listserve, send a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU and in the body of the message say: unsubscribe FEMINISTSF Contact FEMINISTSF-request@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU if there are problems. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 2 Aug 2000 18:36:05 -0800 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: heather whipple Subject: Re: Help identifying story In-Reply-To: <3.0.5.32.20000803080716.0095c100@postbox.library.usyd.edu.au> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" This could be _The Beginning Place_, by Ursula Le Guin (who has a new novel, _The Telling_, coming in September). It's a short novel. It's not a future city, but present-day (early 1970s) suburban sprawl artificiality and yuckiness, and the main character finds an alternate reality in the woods. I'm not sure if it's the story you remember, but if not, it may have similar themes. >Hi, >Please help >I'm trying to recall the title of a story I read and passed on to my >younger sister about twenty years ago. She now wants it for her daughter. > >Very sketchy recollections...parallel world theme. future city, where >everything is covered in layers of pollution. Lots of grey and dark, >including the sky. All food is polluted, bland, tastless. eggs are grey. > >Central character is young, maybe male, maybe adolescent. Walking along a >road or something and stumbles off the track or through a fence into green >fields, sunshine, some kind of parallel reality. > >Twenty years ago, I only read women science fiction writers, so I'm >assuming that this is one of theirs. My sister thinks it's one for the >teenage/ children's market, but who knows? > >If you can think of ANYTHING similar, please let me know, as any of the >above details could be wrong.... > >Cheers >Leigh > >-------------------------------------------------- >This is the FEMINISTSF listserve, intended only for >discussion of feminism and Speculative Fiction. To >unsubscribe from this listserve, send a message to >LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU and in the body of the message say: > unsubscribe FEMINISTSF > >Contact FEMINISTSF-request@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU if there are problems. ........................................................... heather whipple / \ kebbo@earthlink.net -------------------------------------------------- This is the FEMINISTSF listserve, intended only for discussion of feminism and Speculative Fiction. To unsubscribe from this listserve, send a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU and in the body of the message say: unsubscribe FEMINISTSF Contact FEMINISTSF-request@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU if there are problems. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2000 14:02:40 +1000 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Leigh Batterham Subject: Re: Help identifying story Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hi again, Thanks very much to Ron and Heather, who so promptly came back to me with their suggestion of LeGuin's "Beginning place". I work at the University of Sydney Library and happily was able to locate this book on our shelves this morning. From my initial skim read, it does indeed seem to be the story I had in mind. I am so grateful for your help, and will now try to locate a copy for my sister in time for her birthday. Thanks again, Leigh -------------------------------------------------- This is the FEMINISTSF listserve, intended only for discussion of feminism and Speculative Fiction. To unsubscribe from this listserve, send a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU and in the body of the message say: unsubscribe FEMINISTSF Contact FEMINISTSF-request@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU if there are problems. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2000 12:21:56 -0500 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Chris Shaffer Subject: Point of Hopes (was Re: [*FSFFU*] Greetings In-Reply-To: <200008020907.FAA16661@blount.mail.mindspring.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed >I greatly enjoy Melissa Scott's SF. From her early Silence Leigh >trilogy to works like Shadow Man, I think she writes wonderfully >enjoyable, thought provoking feminist SF. I recently read a fantasy >novel co-written by her and someone named Lisa A. Barnett called >_Point of Hopes_. It had excellent world-building and was a quite >enjoyable story set in a very gender-egalitarian fantasy world (with >a few mild matriarchial touches). However, it was odd in that all of >the main characters were male, and male characters are basically >the only ones who perform significant actions. I'm wondering if >anyone else here has read this book and if they had the same >feeling about it. Also, does anyone know anything about Lisa >Barnett? I quite enjoyed _Point of Hopes_. The development of the background and setting is wonderful. I'm not sure it's accurate to say that female characters don't perform significant actions. The book certainly focuses on the two primary characters, Nicholas and Philip, both male. It seemed to me that every other character was a "bit player" - short appearances, decent character development, but not major roles. Of these, many are female. Notably, Nicholas' boss Tersennes Monteia and the innkeeper Aagte Devnyck play critical roles in the book. I wouldn't call it a feminist book, though the world is feminist-friendly. Some reviews can be found at http://www.rscs.net/~ms001/poh.html , http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/fantasy_and_science_fiction/10291 , and http://www.powells.com/biblio/20600-20800/0312858442.html . A sequel, _Point of Dreams_, will be available next spring - see http://www.rscs.net/~ms001/pod.html . Melissa Scott and Lisa Barnett also collaborated on _The Armor of Light_, which I have not read (yet). I found an intriguing page titled "Lisa A. Barnett - Feministische phantastisch-utopische" at http://www.fortunecity.de/tatooine/metropolis/100/einzelne_autorinnen/fsf_lisa-a-barnett.html but unfortunately I don't read German. This page http://www.booksnbytes.com/authors/barnett_lisaa.html indicates that the only books she has written were in collaboration with Melissa Scott. ----- Beware the man of one book. Chris Shaffer http://www.uic.edu/~shaffer/ chris@bsinc.net AIM:ChrisShaff -------------------------------------------------- This is the FEMINISTSF listserve, intended only for discussion of feminism and Speculative Fiction. To unsubscribe from this listserve, send a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU and in the body of the message say: unsubscribe FEMINISTSF Contact FEMINISTSF-request@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU if there are problems. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 3 Aug 2000 21:42:56 EDT Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Christine Ethier Subject: Judith Tarr MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi, I am in the middle of reading Judith Tarr's latest book Household Gods. Her co-arthur is Harry Turtlelove. The book is about a single mom who gets passed over for a promotion because of her sex, has a ex-husband who lack commitent to child support. She wishest that she would get transported to a time where there was more equaltiy. She gets sent back to the roman empire and learns alot about herself. Tarr is a very good writer, known for combing history and fanasty. Chris -------------------------------------------------- This is the FEMINISTSF listserve, intended only for discussion of feminism and Speculative Fiction. To unsubscribe from this listserve, send a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU and in the body of the message say: unsubscribe FEMINISTSF Contact FEMINISTSF-request@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU if there are problems. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2000 08:09:41 -0500 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Marsha Valance Subject: Re: Judith Tarr Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Yes, Tarr usually is excellent. Unfortunately, her protagonist in this book is a self-involved, whiny yuppie who has no qualms about the fate of her children left behind in the 20th century with their irresponsible father, and who, despite the kindness of those she meets in the past, refuses to regard them as people deserving of care and affection. She makes one foolish choice after another through her total lack of empathy with others and lack of curiosity as to how her new environment functions. Then, upon her return to the 20th century, she turns into Superwoman, taking charge of her life, immediately sueing her ex-husband for back child support, locating new childcare, and preparing a legal brief that earn her a partnership. I wanted to slap her upside the head. Now, her protagonist in White Mare's Daughter, on the other hand ... Marsha Valance Regional Librarian Wisconsin Regional Library f/t Blind & Physically Handicapped 813 West Wells St. Milwaukee, WI 53233 >>> EthierCN@AOL.COM 08/03/00 08:42PM >>> Hi, I am in the middle of reading Judith Tarr's latest book Household Gods. Her co-arthur is Harry Turtlelove. The book is about a single mom who gets passed over for a promotion because of her sex, has a ex-husband who lack commitent to child support. She wishest that she would get transported to a time where there was more equaltiy. She gets sent back to the roman empire and learns alot about herself. Tarr is a very good writer, known for combing history and fanasty. Chris -------------------------------------------------- This is the FEMINISTSF listserve, intended only for discussion of feminism and Speculative Fiction. To unsubscribe from this listserve, send a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU and in the body of the message say: unsubscribe FEMINISTSF Contact FEMINISTSF-request@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU if there are problems. -------------------------------------------------- This is the FEMINISTSF listserve, intended only for discussion of feminism and Speculative Fiction. To unsubscribe from this listserve, send a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU and in the body of the message say: unsubscribe FEMINISTSF Contact FEMINISTSF-request@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU if there are problems. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2000 10:34:05 -0400 Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Kirsten Hoyte Subject: Re: Judith Tarr In-Reply-To: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit FEMINISTSF@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU writes: >Yes, Tarr usually is excellent. Unfortunately, her protagonist in this >book is a self-involved, whiny yuppie I'd have to agree about Household Gods. I really disliked the protagonist for all the reasons that Marsha mentions. Also she was so naive, arrogant and out of touch with reality. I had a hard time believing that she was meant to be smart and well-educated. She claimed to be interested in the past, but she didn't even know some basic facts about the time to which she was transported. yes it is nice to see some character growth, but I had a hard time either believing who she was at the beginning of the novel or who she became by the end. Kirsten -------------------------------------------------- This is the FEMINISTSF listserve, intended only for discussion of feminism and Speculative Fiction. To unsubscribe from this listserve, send a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU and in the body of the message say: unsubscribe FEMINISTSF Contact FEMINISTSF-request@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU if there are problems. ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 4 Aug 2000 22:05:39 EDT Reply-To: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" Sender: "For discussion of feminist SF, fantastic & utopian literature" From: Christine Ethier Subject: Re: Judith Tarr MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit In a message dated 8/4/2000 9:15:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Mvalan@MPL.ORG writes: << es, Tarr usually is excellent. Unfortunately, her protagonist in this book is a self-involved, whiny yuppie who has no qualms about the fate of her children left behind in the 20th century with their irresponsible father, and who, despite the kindness of those she meets in the past, refuses to regard them as people deserving of care and affection. >> Agree with the yuppie part, but she does care about the people in the past, at least she learns to. For instance her lover, Julia, and her children. The emotion is not overly written about. True, she should have showed more concern about her children in the present. Haven't read White Mare's Daughter, but other stuff is much better. Chris -------------------------------------------------- This is the FEMINISTSF listserve, intended only for discussion of feminism and Speculative Fiction. To unsubscribe from this listserve, send a message to LISTSERV@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU and in the body of the message say: unsubscribe FEMINISTSF Contact FEMINISTSF-request@LISTSERV.UIC.EDU if there are problems.