Heiresses of Russ 2012: The Year's Best Lesbian Speculative Fiction

by Connie Wilkins

Overview

“Our worthy mission was to highlight the breadth and quality of lesbian speculative fiction published during the past year, but our even higher purpose has been to provide a book that any readers with a taste for quality science fiction, fantasy, horror, and all their permutations will enjoy.”
—from the Introduction by Lambda Literary Award-winning co-editor Connie Wilkins
 
An unexplained astronomical phenomenon brings a woman and her grandfather closer while she questions the meaning of faith. African villagers in need of aid are sent automatons rather than human relief workers. Mermaids devour men drawn by their song, but what will happen to a steampunk submersible piloted by a woman? Two teenage girls discover that memories are held in the fine aromas of perfumes. A family of sisters in Mexico discovers a fallen angel. These are tales of the strange, the wondrous, the eerie, but all are richly told stories of women facing the unknown and how they are changed by their experiences.

“Several of the fantasy selections use the witch as a classic symbol of female mystery and power, but the stories have a good breadth of setting, and each has a distinctive voice. Showcasing a mix of authors, from superstars like Nalo Hopkinson to promising newcomers like S.L. Knapp, this solid, well-chosen collection will be enjoyed by genre fans of all genders and orientations.”
—Publishers Weekly

Product Details

BN ID:	2940045017053
Publisher:	Lethe Press, Inc.
Publication date:	10/11/2012
Series:	Heiresses of Russ: The Year's Best Lesbian Speculative Fiction
Sold by:	Smashwords
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	764,998
File size:	349 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Connie Wilkins always intended to write speculative fiction, and did place stories in such venues as Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Fantasy Magazine, Strange Horizons, and several anthologies including two of Bruce Coville’s books for children. Then somewhere along the way she got sidetracked by the erotic side of the force. Her alter ego Sacchi Green has published short fiction in dozens of erotica anthologies, including seven volumes of Best Lesbian Erotica. Many of these have had historical settings, and a few have included specfic elements, the true loves that she’s been overjoyed to combine in Time Well Bent. She has also edited or co-edited five anthologies of lesbian erotica, Rode Hard, Put Away Wet; Lipstick on Her Collar; Hard Road, Easy Riding; and Lesbian Cowboys (all with Rakelle Valencia, the first two being finalists for the Lambda Award), as well as Girl Crazy: Coming Out Erotica.

Editorial Reviews

The second installment of this annual series is high on adventure and lyrical storytelling, and low on identity angst and feminist politics. A few of the stories focus on romance, like Desirina Boskovich’s gentle “Thirteen Incantations” and Amal El-Mohtar’s gorgeous fable “To Follow the Waves.” Lindy Cameron’s “Feedback” uses female attraction as a minor point in a tale of sleuthing in a dystopic virtual reality. Sunny Moraine’s “The Thick Night” is much more about the humanity of artificial life than its gender. Several of the fantasy selections use the witch as a classic symbol of female mystery and power, but the stories have a good breadth of setting, and each has a distinctive voice. Showcasing a mix of authors, from superstars like Nalo Hopkinson to promising newcomers like S.L. Knapp, this solid, well-chosen collection will be enjoyed by genre fans of all genders and orientations. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly