WOMEN AT WAR

A quarter of a century ago, as the editors ruefully admit, this would have been a groundbreaking anthology, composed as it is of 17 ``original military science fiction stories by women writers.'' Still, groundbreaking or not, the proposition is more elastic than it sounds, including several fantasies and one yarn without military significance. Curious, too, how many of the contributors have chosen male protagonists, despite the welcome variety of styles, themes, and approaches. Jane Yolen and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough offer stories that share settings with their recent novels. Gay Marshall savagely assails the military/industrial complex. Margaret Ball exclaims angrily about recent events in Bosnia. And other stories feature: alien allies, art, cyborgs, spiritual guardians, magic, women commanders, alien contact, women tested in battle, and more. Worth a browse for enlightened readers; mandatory for unreconstructed mcps.