Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women (1958 to 1963): Yesterday's luminaries introduced by today's rising stars

by Gideon Marcus (Editor), A J Howells (Other), Janice Marcus (Other)

Overview

The Silver Age of Science Fiction saw a wealth of compelling speculative tales -- and women authors wrote some of the best of the best. Yet the stories of this era, especially those by women, have been largely unreprinted, unrepresented, and unremembered.

Until Now.

Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women (1958-1963) features fourteen selections of the best science fiction of the Silver Age by the unsung women authors of yesteryear, introduced by today's rising stars:

Unhuman Sacrifice (1958) by Katherine MacLean, introduced by Natalie Devitt
Wish Upon a Star (1958) by Judith Merril, introduced by Erica Frank
A Matter of Proportion (1959) by Anne Walker, introduced by Erica Friedman
The White Pony (1960) by Jane Rice, introduced by T.D. Cloud
Step IV (1960) by Rosel George Brown, introduced by Andi Dukleth
Of All Possible Worlds (1961) by Rosel George Brown, introduced by Cora Buhlert
Satisfaction Guaranteed (1961) by Joy Leache, introduced by A.J. Howells
The Deer Park (1962) by Maria Russell, introduced by Claire Weaver
To Lift a Ship (1962) by Kit Reed, introduced by Gideon Marcus
The Putnam Tradition (1963) by Sonya Hess Dorman, introduced by Lorelei Marcus
The Pleiades (1963) by Otis Kidwell Burger, introduced by Gwyn Conaway
No Trading Voyage (1963) by Doris Pitkin Buck, introduced by Marie Vibbert
Cornie on the Walls (1963) by Sidney van Scyoc, introduced by Rosemary Benton
Unwillingly to School (1958) by Pauline Ashwell, introduced by Janice Marcus

"Female authors wrote stories about coming of age...cautionary tales...stories set beyond our universe...You'll find these themes and more in this anthology. I hope that as you read their stories you don't try to 'feminine' versus 'masculine' elements. What you are about to read is really good science fiction, plain and simple."

(from the foreword by Dr. Laura Brodian Freas Beraha)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781951320003
Publisher:	Journey Press
Publication date:	10/01/2019
Series:	Rediscovery , #1
Pages:	278
Sales rank:	517,676
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

Award-winning science fiction author, Gideon Marcus, is the founder of Journey Press, producing the best science fiction, vintage and current. His web project, Galactic Journey, has thrice been nominated for the Hugo and won the prestigious Serling Award in 2016.

A. J. Howells is Makeshift Press' publisher and managing editor. Additionally, he recently served as an editor for Journey Press' upcoming anthology, Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women (1958-1963). His full bibliography can be found here. He lives with his wife, two children, and two cats in the woods of northern Virginia where he spends far too much time reading comic books and listening to Sun Ra. In his spare time, he teaches full time.

By day a mild-mannered writer, cosplayer, and all-around nerd, Janice has a degree in Japanese Studies and an ongoing interest in Japanese pop culture. She's also the editorial backbone of Serling-Award winning and Hugo-nominated web project, galacticjourney.org, a time machine that brings context and relevance to the world of fifty-five years ago. An inverate member and moderator of countless convention panels, Janice runs the Galactic Journey presentations when the Journey hits the road. When she's not writing or editing, she's helping support her daughter's dreams of becoming a musician, a comic artist, and taking over the world.

Table of Contents

FOREWORD ................................................................................................ i

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... iv

UNHUMAN SACRIFICE (1958) by Katherine MacLean ............................ 1

WISH UPON A STAR (1958) by Judith Merril ......................................... 35

A MATTER OF PROPORTION (1959) by Anne Walker .......................... 53

THE WHITE PONY (1960) by Jane Rice ................................................. 70

STEP IV (1960) by Rosel George Brown ............................................... 84

OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS (1961) by Rosel George Brown ............... 99

SATISFACTION GUARANTEED (1961) by Joy Leache ......................... 119

THE DEER PARK (1962) by Maria Russell .......................................... 142

TO LIFT A SHIP (1962) by Kit Reed ..................................................... 155

THE PUTNAM TRADITION (1963) by Sonya Hess Dorman ................. 167

THE PLEIADES (1963) by Otis Kidwell Burger ................................... 174

NO TRADING VOYAGE (1963) by Doris Pitkin Buck .......................... 185

CORNIE ON THE WALLS (1963) by Sidney van Scyoc ........................ 189

UNWILLINGLY TO SCHOOL (1958) by Pauline Ashwell ..................... 203

HUGO AWARDS BALLOT (1958) .......................................................... 255

CONTRIBUTOR BIOGRAPHIES ............................................................. 256

ABOUT JOURNEY PRESS ...................................................................... 262

Editorial Reviews

"Female authors wrote stories about coming of age...cautionary tales...stories set beyond our universe...You'll find these themes and more in this anthology. I hope that as you read their stories you don't try to 'feminine' versus 'masculine' elements. What you are about to read is really good science fiction, plain and simple."

( Dr. Laura Brodian Freas Beraha)

"Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women (1958-1963) is an anthology of silver age SF written by women. Released 16th Aug 2019 by Journey Press, it's 276 pages and available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a varied collection, only a couple were previously familiar to me and all were enjoyable. One reason I prefer collections and anthologies is that short fiction is really challenging. It's spare and the author doesn't have a wealth of wordage to develop characters or the plotting. Well written short fiction is a delight. I also love anthologies because if one story doesn't really grab me, there's another story just a few pages away. Each of these stories are introduced by modern day authors with background info and the intros include interesting tidbits about the authors and their works. Attributions are included in the headers with publication info.

The stories are a varied bunch but all are enjoyable high quality silver age SF and all are 3-5 stars. The styles are reminiscent of a stroll through back issues of Astounding and F&SF (when my young and non-jaded self couldn't *wait* for the new issues to hit the stands). The book also includes an erudite and well written foreword and introduction by Laura Brodian Freas Beraha and Gideon Marcus respectively. I don't recommend that readers go into this anthology searching for feminist themes and righteous indignation because they won't find it. These are classic silver age stories written in classic style by competent authors who happened to be female. There are 14 stories included and, at the very end, a facsimile mimeographed copy of the 1958 Hugo award voting ballot which really made me smile.

Four stars."

-Annie

From the Publisher