Gossamer Axe, Enigma Score, Souls and When it Changed

[samvara]

• Gossamer Axe by Gael Baudino. Re-reading. Musical feminist fantasy, sweet.
• After Long silence or The Enigma Score by Sheri Tepper. Re-reading. Alien first contact… it takes a while because the humans get shunned for years on account of not being truthful. I am very fond of this bit: “…sang of greed and pride, things that the viggies understood to some extent. She sang of lying, which they did not understand but were willing to take on faith. Then together they sang of what they had learned,…”
• Souls by Joanna Russ. Novelette (20k words) in which a Nun runs rings around a Viking horde and then it turns out to be science fiction.
• When it Changed by Joanna Russ. (4.4k words) in which Man makes contact with Whileaway, which is sadly unimpressed.

Comments

[strangedave]

There is an entry in the Turkey City Lexicon, a well known list of terminology for SF writers, specifically referring disparagingly to Souls ("Abbess Phone Home") for the unexpected SF element at the end. Not my favourite Russ story. I love the Whileaway stuff, though.