Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Ballantine Books (New York, 1975). 1st edition, 1st printing. 222 pages. $1.50.
Description
A wildly imaginative short story collection from one of the greatest female science fiction writers ever Daring, energetic, and struck through with linguistic inventiveness, Warm Worlds and Otherwise is one of the most influential short story collections in all of science fiction, and one of the principle achievements of James Tiptree Jr - the pen name of Alice Bradley Sheldon. Demonstrating Tiptree's eye for unnerving future dystopias and her unparalleled depiction of strange worlds and mysterious creatures, Warm Worlds and Otherwise also traces a movement toward ground-breaking explorations of sexuality, gender and race. Included in this collection are the Hugo and Nebula award-winning 'The Girl Who was Plugged In' and 'Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death', as well as the extraordinary 'The Women Men Can't See'.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member wjohnston
An interesting, early (her 2nd published book) collection of stories from Tiptree (pseudonym of Alice Sheldon).
At the time of publication, Tiptree's real identity was unknown. There must have been some speculation that Tiptree might be female. In his introduction, Robert Silverberg opines that
After reading these, I had the opposite opinion of Silverberg; to me, they were obviously written by a woman. Of course, I knew going in that Tiptree was female, so I'm unsure how much that shaped my opinion.
I don't know if Tiptree was considered to be a member of the New Wave of SF, but these stories all had a very New Wave feel to me. While the quality varies, I would say these are all at least good, and some excellent. None felt dated to me. (I only make this point because I read this right after finishing a collection from Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore; that collection had a few stories that felt dated, and the quality was very uneven.)
I'm sure I probably read something from Tiptree when I was younger, but I have no memory of it. I think this is a great starting point and it makes me want to read more of her work.
At the time of publication, Tiptree's real identity was unknown. There must have been some speculation that Tiptree might be female. In his introduction, Robert Silverberg opines that
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Tiptree's stories must have been written by a male. (In his view, Austen's novels could only have been written by a female, and Hemingway's work could only have been written by a male; in the same way, Tiptree must be a male.)After reading these, I had the opposite opinion of Silverberg; to me, they were obviously written by a woman. Of course, I knew going in that Tiptree was female, so I'm unsure how much that shaped my opinion.
I don't know if Tiptree was considered to be a member of the New Wave of SF, but these stories all had a very New Wave feel to me. While the quality varies, I would say these are all at least good, and some excellent. None felt dated to me. (I only make this point because I read this right after finishing a collection from Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore; that collection had a few stories that felt dated, and the quality was very uneven.)
I'm sure I probably read something from Tiptree when I was younger, but I have no memory of it. I think this is a great starting point and it makes me want to read more of her work.
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LibraryThing member ragwaine
I haven't finished this collection and no longer own it but it includes the stories listed below. I have included comments for those stories I have read.
All the Kinds of Yes
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Amberjack (So full of flowery metaphors it's unintelligable.)
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And I Have Come Upon This Place by Lost Ways
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Fault
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On the Last
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The Girl Who Was Plugged In (Hugo Award 1974)
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The Milk of Paradise (Nebula 1973 - Strange. Bad beginning but then it got a little more understandable. Cool some strange insect-like alien where mother eats father after the father helps mother grow. Original.)
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The Night-blooming Saurian
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The Women Men Don't See
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Through A Lass Darkly
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Love is the Plan the Plan is Death
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The Last Flight of Doctor Ain (Not sure I get it. He's flying around to spread the virus that will kill all humans to save Mother Earth? Much of it is incomprehensible.)
All the Kinds of Yes
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Amberjack (So full of flowery metaphors it's unintelligable.)
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And I Have Come Upon This Place by Lost Ways
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Fault
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On the Last
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Afternoon-
The Girl Who Was Plugged In (Hugo Award 1974)
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The Milk of Paradise (Nebula 1973 - Strange. Bad beginning but then it got a little more understandable. Cool some strange insect-like alien where mother eats father after the father helps mother grow. Original.)
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The Night-blooming Saurian
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The Women Men Don't See
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Through A Lass Darkly
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Love is the Plan the Plan is Death
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The Last Flight of Doctor Ain (Not sure I get it. He's flying around to spread the virus that will kill all humans to save Mother Earth? Much of it is incomprehensible.)
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LibraryThing member RobertDay
A notable collection of stories from Tiptree, including 'The women men don't see'. But this book is mainly notable for the introduction by Robert Silverberg, where he categorically and definitively states that the reclusive James Tiptree Jnr. is, despite rumours to the contrary, a man. "...(T)here
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is, for me, something ineluctably masculine about Tiptree's writing" he says. Within a few weeks, Tiptree was identified as a pen-name of Alice Raccoona Sheldon. Though to be fair, the second printing (which I possess) does include a postscript from Silverberg to say "Well, how wrong can you be? And doesn't it just go to show?" Show Less
LibraryThing member librisissimo
Robert Silverberg's introduction reveals that no one in the sf world knew Tiptree was a pseudonymous woman.
Wikipedia: Alice Bradley Sheldon (August 24, 1915 – May 19, 1987) was an American science fiction author better known as James Tiptree, Jr., a pen name she used from 1967 to her death. She
Wikipedia: Alice Bradley Sheldon (August 24, 1915 – May 19, 1987) was an American science fiction author better known as James Tiptree, Jr., a pen name she used from 1967 to her death. She
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was most notable for breaking down the barriers between writing perceived as inherently "male" or "female"—it was not publicly known until 1977 that James Tiptree, Jr. was a woman. From 1974 to 1977 she also used the pen name Raccoona Sheldon. .. After the death of Mary Hastings Bradley (her mother) in 1976, "Tiptree" mentioned in a letter that "his" mother, also a writer, had died in Chicago—details that led inquiring fans to find the obituary, with its reference to Alice Sheldon; soon all was revealed. Several prominent science fiction writers suffered some embarrassment. Robert Silverberg had written an introduction to Warm Worlds and Otherwise arguing, from the evidence of stories in that collection, that Tiptree could not possibly be a woman. Harlan Ellison had introduced Tiptree's story in the anthology Again, Dangerous Visions with the opinion that "[Kate] Wilhelm is the woman to beat this year, but Tiptree is the man." Silverberg's article in particular, by taking one side, makes it clear that the sex of Tiptree was a topic of some debate. Show Less
LibraryThing member quondame
The richness and invention of these stories stands out sharply from much of the SF of the late 1960s and early 70s. I appreciate them though I don't really enjoy them. Reading them half a century after they were written in like being immersed in hot house loam and constantly confronting the roots
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of less articulate growths that have colonized the soil. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1975
Physical description
222 p.; 7 inches
ISBN
0345243803 / 9780345243805