Kim Miller
Alli Sheldon took the name James Tiptree Jr for her SF writing as she had seen her mother's extensive writing being downplayed as 'confections by a female author'. Alli's parents were travellers and explorers, trekking across Africa with lots of porters from local communities and documenting their experiences for institutions back in the US. Her mother wrote of the travels and often spoke to community gatherings. But all the while, being a woman meant being indulged rather than appreciated for her talent.
Tiptree's stories steadily worked their way up the SF ladder and he became a respected voice in the genre. But he was always a recluse that nobody could really contact so rumours of his identity were common. Sheldon had worked for the CIA through the war and Tiptree would sometimes mention being involved in security projects as a way of quieting the public's curiosity. It was many years before his identity became known, and a great loss to Sheldon's writing style when it happened.
This biography is deeply moving and written with great sensitivity. It is as captivating as it is moving and I found myself sitting for long sessions of reading until it was finished. Philips' research is extensive and delves into Tiptree's correspondence with many of the greats of SF. Tiptree found letter writing to be a preferred substitute for personal contact, not only to maintain the secret identity, but also because Sheldon was such a conflicted person that friendships and personal relationships were such a minefield for her.
Behind the fiction writing are many years of study over a range of subjects, culminating in a PhD in Psychology. She was also a gifted artist, even as a child illustrating her mother's travel books. Her art is in private collections but her painting was left behind when it became clear it would not take her to the top.
This biography shows us a woman in constant struggle to find a reliable sense of identity and sexuality for herself. Tiptree in his letters often flirted with those he corresponded with, and after her real identity became known she continue to flirt with Ursula Le Guin, who in those years had come out as lesbian. Many of he stories show the same search for surety in matters of sexuality and the place in the world for both women and men.
Her marriage to Tip Sheldon, several years her senior, was long lasting and neither could see a way into a future without each other. She wrote at times of suicide and many years before their death she had written of a suicide pact between them. As Tip's health failed badly, and following many years of depressive illness in her own life, she took both their lives in the early hours.
A memorial literary prize in her memory was set up after her death under the name of Tiptree with an emphasis on works that expand the understanding of gender. However, the manner of the two deaths was controversial and the award was changed to The Otherwise Award, for works that are 'wise to the other' in matters of gender. This book was a winner of the award in 2006.
Alli Sheldon took the name James Tiptree Jr for her SF writing as she had seen her mother's extensive writing being downplayed as 'confections by a female author'. Alli's parents were travellers and explorers, trekking across Africa with lots of porters from local communities and documenting their experiences for institutions back in the US. Her mother wrote of the travels and often spoke to community gatherings. But all the while, being a woman meant being indulged rather than appreciated for her talent.
Tiptree's stories steadily worked their way up the SF ladder and he became a respected voice in the genre. But he was always a recluse that nobody could really contact so rumours of his identity were common. Sheldon had worked for the CIA through the war and Tiptree would sometimes mention being involved in security projects as a way of quieting the public's curiosity. It was many years before his identity became known, and a great loss to Sheldon's writing style when it happened.
This biography is deeply moving and written with great sensitivity. It is as captivating as it is moving and I found myself sitting for long sessions of reading until it was finished. Philips' research is extensive and delves into Tiptree's correspondence with many of the greats of SF. Tiptree found letter writing to be a preferred substitute for personal contact, not only to maintain the secret identity, but also because Sheldon was such a conflicted person that friendships and personal relationships were such a minefield for her.
Behind the fiction writing are many years of study over a range of subjects, culminating in a PhD in Psychology. She was also a gifted artist, even as a child illustrating her mother's travel books. Her art is in private collections but her painting was left behind when it became clear it would not take her to the top.
This biography shows us a woman in constant struggle to find a reliable sense of identity and sexuality for herself. Tiptree in his letters often flirted with those he corresponded with, and after her real identity became known she continue to flirt with Ursula Le Guin, who in those years had come out as lesbian. Many of he stories show the same search for surety in matters of sexuality and the place in the world for both women and men.
Her marriage to Tip Sheldon, several years her senior, was long lasting and neither could see a way into a future without each other. She wrote at times of suicide and many years before their death she had written of a suicide pact between them. As Tip's health failed badly, and following many years of depressive illness in her own life, she took both their lives in the early hours.
A memorial literary prize in her memory was set up after her death under the name of Tiptree with an emphasis on works that expand the understanding of gender. However, the manner of the two deaths was controversial and the award was changed to The Otherwise Award, for works that are 'wise to the other' in matters of gender. This book was a winner of the award in 2006.
The space capsule Sunbird is on a research trip around the sun but is struck by a massive solar flare. When it comes around the other side and can contact Earth there is no response from Houston. However, soon there is a radio signal from a woman trying to contact somebody else. The confusion takes some time to settle and the three men on Sunbird are told that their mission was never completed, they never returned to Earth, and it is now three hundreds years into the future.
The women are on a space station and they manage to bring the men on board as Sunbird drifts off with no remaining fuel. They are told that a catastrophic pandemic reduced the population of Earth and there are now only two million inhabitants. The narrator, Lorrimer, the Sunbird's doctor, realises that they have been drugged and he's been rambling on, saying aloud everything he's been thinking. As his head clears he realises that their rescue ship is crewed by women only as no males survived the pandemic and Earth's population is made up of cloned women.
Under the influence of the drug, one crewman tries to rape one of the women. The commander, a man of fervent religious faith, tries to take command and says he's Christ's leader as women should not lead. Lorrimer realises that the drug has revealed the inner nature of the two men, and the women can't allow them to live. Then he realises that even though he is a passive personality type the women will not allow him to live either.
The space capsule Sunbird is on a research trip around the sun but is struck by a massive solar flare. When it comes around the other side and can contact Earth there is no response from Houston. However, soon there is a radio signal from a woman trying to contact somebody else. The confusion takes some time to settle and the three men on Sunbird are told that their mission was never completed, they never returned to Earth, and it is now three hundreds years into the future.
The women are on a space station and they manage to bring the men on board as Sunbird drifts off with no remaining fuel. They are told that a catastrophic pandemic reduced the population of Earth and there are now only two million inhabitants. The narrator, Lorrimer, the Sunbird's doctor, realises that they have been drugged and he's been rambling on, saying aloud everything he's been thinking. As his head clears he realises that their rescue ship is crewed by women only as no males survived the pandemic and Earth's population is made up of cloned women.
Under the influence of the drug, one crewman tries to rape one of the women. The commander, a man of fervent religious faith, tries to take command and says he's Christ's leader as women should not lead. Lorrimer realises that the drug has revealed the inner nature of the two men, and the women can't allow them to live. Then he realises that even though he is a passive personality type the women will not allow him to live either.
Something is out there, racing into Earth's orbit, and it's not what it should be. When astronauts go to investigate a celestial visitor that they think of as an asteroid, they find markings that suggest engineering, and a doorway into the unexpected. The asteroid has been hollowed out and spread through several chambers are complete cities, the product of an earlier civilisation that has since gone. But worse is to come, at the end of the final chamber there is no end. The 300 km long asteroid has a tunnel into an infinite and unknown dimension.
The novel starts with a rapid descent into weirdness as the asteroid is explored. It was obviously the home to an advanced civilisation that not only seems to have been human, but also from our own far future. Something has blown it out of their own time and space and brought it back into our present.
The centre of the novel is taken up with the political intrigue of three nations, America, Russia and China, as they vie for information and control. But there are also reports of ethereal beings, ghosts of the asteroid's past, that are keeping watch over the interlopers. And through reading the literature found in the libraries of the asteroid they find that Earth is soon to undergo a nuclear war that leaves the planet devastated.
A device is manufactured that allows them to fly between the chambers and beyond, down the tunnel and into the infinite hallway. But somewhere down there are the ones who once lived in the asteroid's cities, and they are not happy.
This is a complex story and the complexity is only just building up at the halfway point. As the conflicts between the Earthlings in the cities, and the faction fighting between the 'Futurelings' somewhere along the infinite hallway escalate, the story becomes a race into destruction. It becomes totally bonkers as every collides with everything else and whatever can be blown apart is blown apart.
And suddenly it's over. The characters are scattered into different timelines, different histories, different realities. The novel closes with a very human touch that leaves the reader with a greater sense of a future than is probably being experienced by the characters themselves.
Something is out there, racing into Earth's orbit, and it's not what it should be. When astronauts go to investigate a celestial visitor that they think of as an asteroid, they find markings that suggest engineering, and a doorway into the unexpected. The asteroid has been hollowed out and spread through several chambers are complete cities, the product of an earlier civilisation that has since gone. But worse is to come, at the end of the final chamber there is no end. The 300 km long asteroid has a tunnel into an infinite and unknown dimension.
The novel starts with a rapid descent into weirdness as the asteroid is explored. It was obviously the home to an advanced civilisation that not only seems to have been human, but also from our own far future. Something has blown it out of their own time and space and brought it back into our present.
The centre of the novel is taken up with the political intrigue of three nations, America, Russia and China, as they vie for information and control. But there are also reports of ethereal beings, ghosts of the asteroid's past, that are keeping watch over the interlopers. And through reading the literature found in the libraries of the asteroid they find that Earth is soon to undergo a nuclear war that leaves the planet devastated.
A device is manufactured that allows them to fly between the chambers and beyond, down the tunnel and into the infinite hallway. But somewhere down there are the ones who once lived in the asteroid's cities, and they are not happy.
This is a complex story and the complexity is only just building up at the halfway point. As the conflicts between the Earthlings in the cities, and the faction fighting between the 'Futurelings' somewhere along the infinite hallway escalate, the story becomes a race into destruction. It becomes totally bonkers as every collides with everything else and whatever can be blown apart is blown apart.
And suddenly it's over. The characters are scattered into different timelines, different histories, different realities. The novel closes with a very human touch that leaves the reader with a greater sense of a future than is probably being experienced by the characters themselves.
The space capsule Sunbird is on a research trip around the sun but is struck by a massive solar flare. When it comes around the other side and can contact Earth there is no response from Houston. However, soon there is a radio signal from a woman trying to contact somebody else. The confusion takes some time to settle and the three men on Sunbird are told that their mission was never completed, they never returned to Earth, and it is now three hundreds years into the future.
The women are on a space station and they manage to bring the men on board as Sunbird drifts off with no remaining fuel. They are told that a catastrophic pandemic reduced the population of Earth and there are now only two million inhabitants. The narrator, Lorrimer, the Sunbird's doctor, realises that they have been drugged and he's been rambling on, saying aloud everything he's been thinking. As his head clears he realises that their rescue ship is crewed by women only as no males survived the pandemic and Earth's population is made up of cloned women.
Under the influence of the drug, one crewman tries to rape one of the women. The commander, a man of fervent religious faith, tries to take command and says he's Christ's leader as women should not lead. Lorrimer realises that the drug has revealed the inner nature of the two men, and the women can't allow them to live. Then he realises that even though he is a passive personality type the women will not allow him to live either.
The space capsule Sunbird is on a research trip around the sun but is struck by a massive solar flare. When it comes around the other side and can contact Earth there is no response from Houston. However, soon there is a radio signal from a woman trying to contact somebody else. The confusion takes some time to settle and the three men on Sunbird are told that their mission was never completed, they never returned to Earth, and it is now three hundreds years into the future.
The women are on a space station and they manage to bring the men on board as Sunbird drifts off with no remaining fuel. They are told that a catastrophic pandemic reduced the population of Earth and there are now only two million inhabitants. The narrator, Lorrimer, the Sunbird's doctor, realises that they have been drugged and he's been rambling on, saying aloud everything he's been thinking. As his head clears he realises that their rescue ship is crewed by women only as no males survived the pandemic and Earth's population is made up of cloned women.
Under the influence of the drug, one crewman tries to rape one of the women. The commander, a man of fervent religious faith, tries to take command and says he's Christ's leader as women should not lead. Lorrimer realises that the drug has revealed the inner nature of the two men, and the women can't allow them to live. Then he realises that even though he is a passive personality type the women will not allow him to live either.
Murderbot sees a newscast that suggests the mining company that has caused all his problems was involved with another crime on another planet. He heads off to find out. To get there he needs to be a licensed employee so he takes a position as security consultant with a group of disaffected researches who are trying to get their data back.
Once again, things get very murdery, with him and his employers as the target of battlebots and armed drones. And once again we're in a story of 'getting into danger' and thinking, "How is he going to get out of this?" It's a classic (but shorter) adventure story after authors like Robert Ludlum and John Le Carre, or the Mission Impossible movie series where all the odds are stacked against the protagonist.
The endings of #1 and #2 have had a "you can stop here" feel about them, but this one ends with a very definite pointer to the next book in the series.
Murderbot sees a newscast that suggests the mining company that has caused all his problems was involved with another crime on another planet. He heads off to find out. To get there he needs to be a licensed employee so he takes a position as security consultant with a group of disaffected researches who are trying to get their data back.
Once again, things get very murdery, with him and his employers as the target of battlebots and armed drones. And once again we're in a story of 'getting into danger' and thinking, "How is he going to get out of this?" It's a classic (but shorter) adventure story after authors like Robert Ludlum and John Le Carre, or the Mission Impossible movie series where all the odds are stacked against the protagonist.
The endings of #1 and #2 have had a "you can stop here" feel about them, but this one ends with a very definite pointer to the next book in the series.
This fourth novella ends a story arc on a satisfactory note while also allowing more to follow.
Murderbot brings data drives from the events of book 3 and needs to deliver them to Mensah, his contracted 'boss' from book 1. But it seems she's been kidnapped by the evil mining company at the heart of his troubles. Of course, he sets off on a one man rescue mission. But that would be too simple, he needs a bunch of humans to get in his way, and who better than the old research team from book 1, also trying to get Mensah's release.
This book is much more a police procedural style than earlier books. Murderbot has to plan everything with the team of humans. He's the one with the software interface and multitasking coding ability to get into the computer systems of their various enemies, while at the same time trying to keep his humans alive. In that respect there is a lot more of his thinking in the narrative compared with his actions.
The escape plan works for a bit, doesn't work, works, doesn't work, back and forth. There are several points at which it looks like the whole thing is about to collapse as the mining company has superior fire power and processing ability. The rescue this time has more hopeless seeming moments than in previous books as the stakes are higher.
The ending points to a re-doing of a previous book, which is not good, but then Wells pulls it out and into a totally different direction to end the story. I think Murderbot's surprise moves are getting to her.
This fourth novella ends a story arc on a satisfactory note while also allowing more to follow.
Murderbot brings data drives from the events of book 3 and needs to deliver them to Mensah, his contracted 'boss' from book 1. But it seems she's been kidnapped by the evil mining company at the heart of his troubles. Of course, he sets off on a one man rescue mission. But that would be too simple, he needs a bunch of humans to get in his way, and who better than the old research team from book 1, also trying to get Mensah's release.
This book is much more a police procedural style than earlier books. Murderbot has to plan everything with the team of humans. He's the one with the software interface and multitasking coding ability to get into the computer systems of their various enemies, while at the same time trying to keep his humans alive. In that respect there is a lot more of his thinking in the narrative compared with his actions.
The escape plan works for a bit, doesn't work, works, doesn't work, back and forth. There are several points at which it looks like the whole thing is about to collapse as the mining company has superior fire power and processing ability. The rescue this time has more hopeless seeming moments than in previous books as the stakes are higher.
The ending points to a re-doing of a previous book, which is not good, but then Wells pulls it out and into a totally different direction to end the story. I think Murderbot's surprise moves are getting to her.
Murderbot has been removed from the company inventory and is a free agent. He leaves his people and sets off to find out what really happened in the event in which he thinks he murdered a whole mining team. He links up with another research team as their security consultant as they try to get back some stolen data. He also finds an unexpected friend, but friendship is not something that constructs do and he struggles to form a relationship.
The research team comes under threat, his exploration of his own past reveals further intrigue, and he finds himself helping a sexbot escape.
Murderbot has been removed from the company inventory and is a free agent. He leaves his people and sets off to find out what really happened in the event in which he thinks he murdered a whole mining team. He links up with another research team as their security consultant as they try to get back some stolen data. He also finds an unexpected friend, but friendship is not something that constructs do and he struggles to form a relationship.
The research team comes under threat, his exploration of his own past reveals further intrigue, and he finds himself helping a sexbot escape.