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More women of wonder: Science fiction novelettes by women about women

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If you dismiss this because it's an old book or only by women, you're cheating yourself. This book contains only seven stories, yet two of them are among my all-time favourites.

- "Tin Soldier," by Joan D. Vinge, tells of a star-travelling poet and her left-behind love. The story is tragic and touching, and has many indelible images as well as a a satisfying conclusion.

- "The Second Inquisition," by Joanna Russ, is from the same universe as the Alyx stories (e.g. Picnic on Paradise), but a couple of generations later. A teenage girl gradually realizes that their summer boarder, "from the circus," is much stranger than that. It is about bravery, families, conflict, and more.

The others include both strong characters and bold concepts:

- "Jirel Meets Magic" is an early adventure piece by C. L. Moore.
- "The Lake of the Gone Forever," by Leigh Brackett, is about the results of greed on an alien world.
- "The Funeral," by Kate Wilhelm, gives a glimpse of a frightening dystopia through the eyes of a girl.
- "The Power of Time," by Josephine Saxon, is a story of a strange future and of obsession.
- "The Day Before the Revolution," by Ursula K. Le Guin, is a retrospective from the point of view of someone who has lived through, and helped to create, social upheavals in search of a just society.

At the end there are short biographies of the authors and a list of other books to read. The Introduction and notes are by Pamela Sargent.

This book is incorrectly listed on Amazon as the previous volume, "Women of Wonder," but the ISBN is definitely for "More Women of Wonder," from 1976. Random House, Vintage Books original, first edition.

About 35 years ago - in college - I took a course called "Women in Science Fiction," and this book was required reading. I read "Tin Soldier" and it remains the most moving short story I've ever read. I lost my original copy, but I've never stopped thinking about that story. It's great to have it back.