WORLDS APART: An Anthology of Lesbian and Gay Science Fiction and Fantasy

by Camilla; Eric Garber & Lyn Paleo--Eds. Decarnin ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1986

Eleven tales, 1972-82: not the first such anthology (e.g., Kindred Spirits, 1984) but easily the best. James Tiptree, Jr.'s razor-sharp ""Houston, Houston, Do You Read"" features some male astronauts precipitated into a future where only women survive. Joanna Russ' devastating ""The Mystery of the Young Gentleman"" concerns a member of a secret telepathic sisterhood, obliged to masquerade as a man. Both these tales are brilliant feminist pieces; the homosexual elements are merely consequences, not prime movers. ""Lollipop and the Tar Baby"" is a typically unpredictable, inventive, unclassifiable John Varley effort, about contending mother/daughter clones and a talking black-hole; again, the homosexual element is incidental. And the sexual references in Samuel R. Delany's famous ""Time Considered as a Helix of Semi-precious Stones"" are wholly ambiguous. Two stories do explore homosexuality in some detail: a typically sensitive work from Edgar Pangborn, and a clever ""lost colony"" variant from Rand B. Lee. Elsewhere, there's a Darkover yam from Marian Zimmer Bradley, plus vampires, androids, alien invaders, and god-players. Fine work nearly all round, and probably destined for a wider audience, given sf fans' omnivorous tendencies, than the editors (""as lesbian and gay readers"") seem to think.

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Alyson

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1986

Categories: FICTION