Fall Reading 2022 The Future Is Female! Volume Two

Love science fiction stories featuring female protagonists and/or written by female or nonbinary authors? This anthology series meets those criteria. Have you ever been frustrated that an anthology of stories were all told from a male POV? The writing in this collection will solve that issue. Perhaps you wish it was easier to find sci-fi by various female writers and your local library is not meeting that need? You should grab a copy of The Future Is Female! and satisfy your cravings.

Volume Two was published on October 18 and contains two dozen stories from female writers in the 1970s. Whether you  are already a fan and just want more writing from a favorite author, or are looking for new-to-you writers, this is a smorgasbord of options. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Vonda N. McIntyre, Pamela Sargent, Ursula K. LeGuin, C.J. Cherryh...the list is full of well-known names. If you have read The Saint-Germain Chronicles, Star Trek and Star Wars novels, or The Earthsea Cycle, then you have already met some of these women through their writing. For others, it could be an appetizer that will have you looking for more books by the same creator.

The stories themselves range from distant futures where humans have mutated to survive in a polluted and endangered ecosystem to a revolutionary thinking back on the history of the movement. James Tiptree's "The Girl Who Was Plugged In" paints a frightening picture of the future that foreshadows M.T. Anderson's Feed. "The Funeral" by Kate Wilhelm seems eerily similar in tone to Margaret Atwood's work. Other stories depict the impact of man's colonization of outer space or delve into possible causes of mass femicide. A couple even toy with the temptations of time travel.

There is such a range of topics, settings, and styles that every story may not be the perfect match for every reader, but there is something within the collection that will resonate with each of us and keep us circling back to it in our thoughts long after we have closed the book. This is a great introduction to each of these writers. Back matter features biographical details and notes about the writing careers of each author.

I read an advance copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.