Review of The Female Man

Published: Monday, August 22, 2011

Take a moment and ask yourself whether you would hide a secret army of women to fight in the battle against men in a distant alternative future.

The Female Man by Joanna Russ asks just that question. I picked up the book after seeing an article following her death in April this year.

I'm ashamed to admit I'd never previously heard of her, even though she is generally hailed as the forerunner of feminist science fiction writing and cited as a significant influence on modern authors such as William Gibson.

The Female Man was written in 1969/70 and published five years later in a literary genre dominated by men.

It received a mixed response, but has since become an extremely well respected novel, nominated for the 1975 Nebula Award for Best Novel and awarded one of the three Retrospective Tiptree Awards in 1996.

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