The Geek Feminist Revolution

If you'd told me back in high school—hell, even back in college—that I'd be reading a collection of essays for fun, I'd probably laugh. I have enough fantasy and science fiction stories waiting in my To Be Read mountain to last a lifetime without seeking out essays about the genre.

But that would be missing the point.

In these essays, Hurley is telling a story. Like any good fantasy classic, it's a story of overcoming oppression, of fighting for what you believe in, and struggling to make the world a better place; and it's made all the more powerful by being real.

If you've never read Hurley's Hugo-winning essay “We Have Always Fought,” you should. It's available for free in both text and audio formats. I'd say it's the highlight of this collection, though many of the other essays are powerfully written and opened my eyes to issues I've been fortunate enough to avoid by virtue of being one of “the majority.”

Most of the essays relate to Hurley's experiences as a writer, but they carry a message that I think we all could benefit from hearing.