Description

Women may hold up more than half the sky on earth, but it has been different in heaven: science fiction still is very much a preserve of male protagonists, mostly performing by-the-numbers quests.  In The Other Half of the Sky, editor Athena Andreadis offers readers heroes who happen to be women, doing whatever they would do in universes where they’re fully human.

Contributors

Melissa Scott, Alex Jablokov, Nisi Shawl, Sue Lange, Vandana Singh, Joan Slonczewski, Terry Boren, Aliette de Bodard, Ken Liu, Alex Dally MacFarlane, Martha Wells, Kelly Jennings, C. W. Johnson, Cat Rambo, Christine Lucas, Jack McDevitt

Awards and Other Recognitions

Nebula Best Novelette: “The Waiting Stars,” by Aliette de Bodard

Three of the anthology’s sixteen stories were chosen by Gardner Dozois for inclusion in Year’s Best SF 31; seven more stories were listed under Honorable Mentions. A fourth story was chosen by Allan Kaster for inclusion in The Year’s Top Ten SF Tales 6.

Praise for The Other Half of the Sky

“The stories in The Other Half of the Sky live up to their introduction and go a long way toward answering Paul Kincaid’s lament about 2012’s lackluster “year’s best” anthologies.” – Fantasy & SF (Chris Moriarty)

“One of the best SF anthologies of the year.” – Locus (separate reviews by Gardner Dozois and Richard Horton)

“The Other Half of the Sky is an entertaining and strongly written set of stories by authors both new and familiar, writing in universes new and old, with characters that resonate with all readers. It’s hard to ask for more in an anthology.” – SF Signal (Paul Weimer)

“…this book should be considered required reading. Far too often, it seems that there’s an attitude that women can’t or simply don’t write the sort of hard SF and space opera that’s traditionally been published. This book utterly crushes that assumption with its incredible range of stories and superior level of writing that’s consistent throughout the entire anthology. The Other Half of the Sky is an anthology that’s long overdue, and I hope that it’ll serve as a good example for future authors and readers in the genre.” – Geek Exchange (Andrew Liptak)

“I was impressed at how many very different kinds of stories feature in this anthology, allowing exploration of a variety of fac­ets of the space opera genre-from pure space adventures to sophisticated  tales of alien linguistics.  I was also impressed by Andreadis’s unapologetically fierce introduction, lay­ ing out her agenda for the book as well as describing the need for such  a  book with both wit and snark.” – Cascadia Subduction Zone (Tansy Rayner Roberts)

Visit The Other Half of the Sky at Starship Reckless for more reviews, interviews, round tables, notices, musings…!

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The Other Half of the Sky
edited by Athena Andreadis
co-edited by Kay Holt
Published by Candlemark & Gleam, April 2013
ISBN: 978-1-936460-44-1
eISBN: 978-1-936460-43-4
Cover artist: Eleni Tsami
Series: Feral Astrogators #1