Men Writing Science Fiction as Women

First came Women Writing Science Fiction as Men, which was a homage to the early days of the science fiction genre, when it was a given that the writers and their readers were men and any woman writing science fiction had to hide her true identity. Now, in this all-new collection of nineteen stories by top male writers, the men are getting a chance to see if they can meet the challenge of successfully writing as women. Stories by Barry N. Malzberg, Robert J. Sawyer, Ralph Roberts, Robert Sheckley, Jack Dann, David Gerrold, Frank M. Robinson, Dean Wesley Smith, and others

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0756401658
• ISBN13: 9780756401658
• Release Date: November 2003
• Publisher: Daw Books
• Length: 319 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.7"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

more than 50% are great stories for the criteria

This collection had two criteria: first person story as a woman and putting a male character in her place wouldn't work. By and large the 19 stories do that. But this is where fiction reviews are tricky because we all have different tastes. I loved 12 of the stories -- the characters were believeble but most importantly I wanted to find out what happened to them. Yes, a lot of them had to do with motherhood or lack thereof or sexism -- sadly both are factors in a woman's life, one by biology (perhaps not always) and one by society still. It would have been nice to see a story where that wasnt't the case but we are all trapped by our own experiences.

male writers switch from pants to skirts perspective

Popular male writers provide engaging new tales in this anthology and successfully do so from a female perspective. The concept is intriguing, but obviously gimmicky too. The tales are well written entries that cross (no pun intended the gamut of sub-genre lines. Each one provides a first person account starring a female protagonist (in some cases antagonist might be a more apropos term). However, the fun in this nineteen tale anthology is not the gender switching, but in observing how males see females. Mike Resnick summarizes the tales best in his introduction to this collection when he quotes from his novel Outpost: "What's the most dangerous race you ever came across? Women! I mean an alien race. So do I." Readers will have a fine time seeing favorite writers switch from pants to skirts in an entertaining compilation.Harriet Klausner