2011 Reading #57: Shadow Man by Melissa Scott
Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
51. What I Didn't See and Other Stories by Karen Joy Fowler.
52. Thunder and Roses: Volume IV: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon.
53. Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler.
54. Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison.
55. Angela Davis: An Autobiography.
56. Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin.
57. Shadow Man by Melissa Scott. Here's a taste of the complexity and maturity of the conflicts this novel sets up: 1. It takes place in a far-future galaxy where a drug used to manage the shocks of FTL travel had mutagenic properties which have caused humanity to develop five distinct sexes; 2. The Federation-like entity which most planets belong to, the Concord, has more or less adjusted to the socio-sexual ramifications of this, even down to developing some funky pronouns for the three new sexes; 3. The planet of Hara, which was isolated for a time following the changes, has developed in such a way that gender is legally defined so that fems, mems, and herms must choose to be either male or female; 4. The Harans and the off-worlders both see the other side as wrong on gender, and both are correct. I found this a bit of a confusing read at first (and unfortunately there are a number of proofing errors in the text, which didn't help), but it was more than just the differences between ourselves and the humans of the book; it was the ways that the Haran and Concord norms and prejudices mapped onto our own societal and personal struggles with identity and preference that kept forcing me to think about my own relationship to these issues. And that's just the gender stuff; there's a lot more going on here--capitalism, culture shock, corruption, mysticism, revolution, and an ending that subverts reader expectations by refusing to offer any easy resolutions. A smart, challenging, and rewarding read.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
51. What I Didn't See and Other Stories by Karen Joy Fowler.
52. Thunder and Roses: Volume IV: The Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon.
53. Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler.
54. Travel Light by Naomi Mitchison.
55. Angela Davis: An Autobiography.
56. Always Coming Home by Ursula K. Le Guin.
57. Shadow Man by Melissa Scott. Here's a taste of the complexity and maturity of the conflicts this novel sets up: 1. It takes place in a far-future galaxy where a drug used to manage the shocks of FTL travel had mutagenic properties which have caused humanity to develop five distinct sexes; 2. The Federation-like entity which most planets belong to, the Concord, has more or less adjusted to the socio-sexual ramifications of this, even down to developing some funky pronouns for the three new sexes; 3. The planet of Hara, which was isolated for a time following the changes, has developed in such a way that gender is legally defined so that fems, mems, and herms must choose to be either male or female; 4. The Harans and the off-worlders both see the other side as wrong on gender, and both are correct. I found this a bit of a confusing read at first (and unfortunately there are a number of proofing errors in the text, which didn't help), but it was more than just the differences between ourselves and the humans of the book; it was the ways that the Haran and Concord norms and prejudices mapped onto our own societal and personal struggles with identity and preference that kept forcing me to think about my own relationship to these issues. And that's just the gender stuff; there's a lot more going on here--capitalism, culture shock, corruption, mysticism, revolution, and an ending that subverts reader expectations by refusing to offer any easy resolutions. A smart, challenging, and rewarding read.