Rediscovery, Volume 3: Science Fiction by Women

by Gideon Marcus

Surfing the New Wave

In the '60s, the New Wave swept over science fiction. Women rode that wave and pushed beyond, into new waters.

These stories are darker, exploring psychological horrors in ways that their older sisters didn’t dare to. They’re innovative, playing with form and structure. They’re challenging, forcing us to confront the demons not just outside us, but within us.

Come Rediscover nineteen of the era's best works—and dive into a whole new frontier.

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Includes 19 stellar pieces of fiction, with Afterwords by luminaries from Seanan McGuire to Marie Vibbert, as well as by relatives of the authors!

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Anthologies

280 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 5, 2024

About the author

Founder of Journey Press, an independent publisher focused on unusual and diverse speculative fiction, three time Hugo Finalist Gideon Marcus also runs the time machine project, Galactic Journey. He is a professional space historian, member of the American Astronautical Society's history committee.

In 2019, he edited Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women (1958-1963) a seminal anthology of some of the best works of science fiction’s Silver Age. His most recent works, Kitra and Sirena, comprise books one and two of a YA space adventure featuring themes of isolation, teamwork, and hope, and starring a queer protagonist of color.

Gideon lives in San Diego County with his writer/editor wife, Janice, and their polymath artist daughter, Lorelei…along with a cat, a snake, and an immense library. He is currently hard at work on Hyvilma, third book in the Kitra Saga.

Reviews

[Ai Jiang]

An absolutely lovely project that brings back science fiction from the written by women! One important thing I think is to revisit past works of writers and what they can bring into conversation today and see how stories have evolved or similarities repeated. In this case, it also helps illuminate writers who may have been underrepresented during a time where sci-fi was still a largely male-dominated field.

[Andrew Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Triumphs to moms

Rather good stories for their times ( they had Editors back in the1960s). Afterwords added to the stories are interesting as well, as they are by other women, and, in at least two cases, by daughters of the authors.
I still could only give it three stars though, because of content and dating. As content goes, they are all well written and edited, but none of them quite have the great impact as I'd expect from top level stories. Well, except perhaps for Little Victims By Hilary Bailey, and that was more from a personal perspective in my life than from the writing. Then there's the dating: as we move into the 2020s, it stands out more clearly (to me, who can remember the 1970s anyway), how different the world was just 50 years ago! Even allowing for technological advancement, the difference that population levels make is astounding.

[Elfwreck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this collection of stories and poetry. This has a delightful mix of dark ("A Red Heart and Blue Roses"; "The Deepest Blue in the World"), funny ("The Baron's Dog"; "Wings of a Bat") and deeply sincere ("The Little Victims"; "The Territory of Rigel"), all mixed in with classic science fiction themes: Time travel, interstellar war, shapeshifting, genetic engineering, human-alien relations, sentient computers, and entities beyond human comprehension.

It's a shame these stories haven't been more celebrated, but it's a terrific opportunity to read a set of works that feel like classics but have remained mostly unknown since they were first published.

[Fiona Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I contributed the Afterword to one of the stories in this volume. However, I would say that all the stories in Rediscovery 3 are worth reading: they span the whole spectrum of women's writing in the late 1960s, from science fantasy to reproductive dystopia to alternate universe to satires of heteronormativity. At a time when writers of all genders were pushing the boundaries of what you could do within the field of science fiction, it's worth remembering and, yes, rediscovering the specific contribution of women writers to the New Wave.

[Laura Weyr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic anthology. If you read the first two Rediscoverys, you'll see that some of the stories in here tend to be a bit darker, but there are also some really funny ones. My personal favorites were "The Wings of a Bat" (love Pauline Ashwell), "The Little Victims" (not quite as dark as the title makes it sound), "The Baron's Dog" (a delightful romp), and "The Heat Death of the Universe" (experimental and brilliant). I can't wait until the next volume comes out!

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Science fiction makes us think, it makes us feel uncomfortable, it makes us consider the consequences of our actions.

This book is filled with masterworks by women writing in science fiction before women could have a credit card in their own name here in the US. It is astounding that the messages in these stories are the same problems we're grappling with today.

Fabulous writing, this is a must-have for science fiction fans.

[Egghead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nearing the new wave
Astounding into New Worlds
"Heat Death" still the best

[Carlo Panzani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of these stories aren't exactly 'science' fiction but they are riveting. Some of these stories from 60 years ago have an eerie foreshadowing for today. I absolutely love the entire series.