reasie's review against another edition
5.0
It's great to see a collection of stories by a lesser-known pulp writer, and Clare Winger Harris may be the first woman to publish science fiction stories under her own name. Also, she lived in greater Cleveland! The editor's intro provides a little background on the historical Clare, who is most tantalizingly elusive. We know she lived in Lakewood, Ohio. She had three sons. Her father and her husband were engineers. From her writing, we know that she had an obsession with the macro vs. micro. Rare moments of domesticity for her characters are almost always pleasant with witty repartee.
Her stories star men, and have male action at the center, but there is almost always a wife, mother, daughter or love interest at his side, and these women enter the narrative boldly and with thoughtful opinions and decisive action. Aside from an occasional "explainer" ("Yes, women used to be bad at this but now a days it's common!" sorts of lines that I wonder weren't prompted by editorial meddling) she doesn't directly address gender issues in her stories, more concerned with THE SCIENCE THO.
If at times the subject matter is cringingly ableist (as in "The Artificial Man") or racist (In "The Ape Cycle") she does temper the "fear of the other" so common in early pulp fiction with deliberate strokes pointing out the other's point of view. (The artificial man didn't HAVE to be driven mad by his disability. His own ablism fed his actions.) And it is sometimes startling to remember just how old these stories are. I found myself groaning over her 1950s sensibilities and then remembering that she's writing in the 1920s and 1930s and the 1950s are her FUTURE.
I think this volume will be an important edition to the growing awareness and study of early pulp writers. My one complaint is I would have liked a publishing history note on each story.
Her stories star men, and have male action at the center, but there is almost always a wife, mother, daughter or love interest at his side, and these women enter the narrative boldly and with thoughtful opinions and decisive action. Aside from an occasional "explainer" ("Yes, women used to be bad at this but now a days it's common!" sorts of lines that I wonder weren't prompted by editorial meddling) she doesn't directly address gender issues in her stories, more concerned with THE SCIENCE THO.
If at times the subject matter is cringingly ableist (as in "The Artificial Man") or racist (In "The Ape Cycle") she does temper the "fear of the other" so common in early pulp fiction with deliberate strokes pointing out the other's point of view. (The artificial man didn't HAVE to be driven mad by his disability. His own ablism fed his actions.) And it is sometimes startling to remember just how old these stories are. I found myself groaning over her 1950s sensibilities and then remembering that she's writing in the 1920s and 1930s and the 1950s are her FUTURE.
I think this volume will be an important edition to the growing awareness and study of early pulp writers. My one complaint is I would have liked a publishing history note on each story.
lleullawgyffes's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
2.75
“Baby on Neptune” is quite good, and some of the other stories are pretty solid, albeit with bits of ideological dubiousness, but “The Ape Cycle” is just...truly, horrendously racist.
thomcat's review against another edition
4.0
This is a complete collection of an author's science fiction stories from the late 1920s - and that author happens to be female. All were published in magazines of the day - Weird Tales, Amazing Stories, and even Science Fiction, published by a pair of Cleveland high school students.
My favorites include The Fifth Dimension, The Miracle of the Lily, and The Ape Cycle - did this 1930 story influence a teen [a:Pierre Boulle|3400721|Pierre Boulle|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1353224468p2/3400721.jpg]? The Artificial Man had an interesting start and theme, but ended rather too abruptly.
My favorites include The Fifth Dimension, The Miracle of the Lily, and The Ape Cycle - did this 1930 story influence a teen [a:Pierre Boulle|3400721|Pierre Boulle|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1353224468p2/3400721.jpg]? The Artificial Man had an interesting start and theme, but ended rather too abruptly.
nineteenpoundsofbones's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I am glad the work of Clare Winger Harris is collected and available, for history-of-the-genre reasons, but I was so uncomfortable with the carelessness with which she regards the fates of two cats in two different stories, and exponentially more uncomfortable with the story about the ascension of intelligent apes as a metaphor for the experiences of Black Americans, that I'd never read this book on purpose for pleasure again. This is an excellent book for people who are interested in the history of the genre, but also, ick.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Racism
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