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La Femme
For anyone who still considers woman to be the weaker sex, think again... Tales of Dark SF, Fantasy and Horror Frances Hardinge Storm Constantine Ruth Booth Andrew Hook Stewart Hotston Holly Ice Adele Kirby Maura McHugh Jonathan Oliver Stephen Palmer John Llewellyn Probert Benjanun Sriduangkaew
222 pages, Paperback
First published April 13, 2014
About the author
Ian Whates
131 books84 followersIan Whates lives in a comfortable home down a quiet cul-de-sac in an idyllic Cambridgeshire village, which he shares with his partner Helen and their pets – Honey the golden cocker spaniel, Calvin the tailless black cat and Inky the goldfish (sadly, Binky died a few years ago).
Ian’s earliest memories of science fiction are fragmented. He remembers loving Dr Who from an early age and other TV shows such as Lost in Space and Star Trek, but a defining moment came when he heard a radio adaptation of John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids. From that moment on he was hooked and became a frequent haunter of the local library, voraciously devouring the contents of their SF section.
This early love of science fiction manifested most tellingly during his school days, when he produced an SF murder mystery as homework after being set the essay title “The Language of Shakespeare”, much to the bemusement of his English teacher.
Ian’s first published stories appeared in the late 1980s in small press magazines such as Dream and New Moon Quarterly, after which he took a break from writing in order to research his chosen fields of science fiction and fantasy. In other words, he read copious amounts of both. Clearly the research was extensive, because he published nothing further for some seventeen years. In the early 2000s he made the decision to pursue writing seriously, joining the Northampton SF Writers Group in 2004 after being introduced to its chairman, Ian Watson.
In 2006 he started submitting stories again, and has subsequently been surprised at how many otherwise eminently sensible people have chosen to publish him. A couple have even appeared in the science journal Nature, and one, “The Gift of Joy”, even found its way onto the five-strong shortlist for best short story in the British Science Fiction Association Awards. And it didn’t come last! Ironically, the award was actually won by Ken MacLeod’s “Lighting Out”, a piece Ian had commissioned, edited and published in the NewCon Press anthology disLOCATIONS (2007).
In 2006 Ian launched independent publisher NewCon Press, quite by accident (buy him a pint sometime and he’ll tell you about it). Through NewCon he has been privileged to publish original stories from some of the biggest names in genre fiction, as well as provide debuts to some genuinely talented newcomers. The books, their covers and contents have racked up an impressive array of credits – four BSFA Awards, one BSF Award to date, inclusion in ‘Year’s Best’ anthologies and recommendations and honourable mentions from the likes of Gardner Dozios and Locus magazine.
In addition to his publishing and writing, Ian is currently a director of both the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) and the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA), editing Matrix, the online news and media reviews magazine, for the latter.
His first two completed novels are both due to appear in early 2010: City of Dreams and Nightmare via Harper Collins’ imprint Angry Robot, and The Noise Within from Rebellion imprint Solaris, with sequels to follow. When not pinching himself to make sure this is all really happening, Ian is currently beavering away at the sequels… honest!
Ian’s earliest memories of science fiction are fragmented. He remembers loving Dr Who from an early age and other TV shows such as Lost in Space and Star Trek, but a defining moment came when he heard a radio adaptation of John Wyndham’s The Chrysalids. From that moment on he was hooked and became a frequent haunter of the local library, voraciously devouring the contents of their SF section.
This early love of science fiction manifested most tellingly during his school days, when he produced an SF murder mystery as homework after being set the essay title “The Language of Shakespeare”, much to the bemusement of his English teacher.
Ian’s first published stories appeared in the late 1980s in small press magazines such as Dream and New Moon Quarterly, after which he took a break from writing in order to research his chosen fields of science fiction and fantasy. In other words, he read copious amounts of both. Clearly the research was extensive, because he published nothing further for some seventeen years. In the early 2000s he made the decision to pursue writing seriously, joining the Northampton SF Writers Group in 2004 after being introduced to its chairman, Ian Watson.
In 2006 he started submitting stories again, and has subsequently been surprised at how many otherwise eminently sensible people have chosen to publish him. A couple have even appeared in the science journal Nature, and one, “The Gift of Joy”, even found its way onto the five-strong shortlist for best short story in the British Science Fiction Association Awards. And it didn’t come last! Ironically, the award was actually won by Ken MacLeod’s “Lighting Out”, a piece Ian had commissioned, edited and published in the NewCon Press anthology disLOCATIONS (2007).
In 2006 Ian launched independent publisher NewCon Press, quite by accident (buy him a pint sometime and he’ll tell you about it). Through NewCon he has been privileged to publish original stories from some of the biggest names in genre fiction, as well as provide debuts to some genuinely talented newcomers. The books, their covers and contents have racked up an impressive array of credits – four BSFA Awards, one BSF Award to date, inclusion in ‘Year’s Best’ anthologies and recommendations and honourable mentions from the likes of Gardner Dozios and Locus magazine.
In addition to his publishing and writing, Ian is currently a director of both the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) and the British Science Fiction Association (BSFA), editing Matrix, the online news and media reviews magazine, for the latter.
His first two completed novels are both due to appear in early 2010: City of Dreams and Nightmare via Harper Collins’ imprint Angry Robot, and The Noise Within from Rebellion imprint Solaris, with sequels to follow. When not pinching himself to make sure this is all really happening, Ian is currently beavering away at the sequels… honest!
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 19, 2022
https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/la-femme-ed-ian-whates/
An anthology which I got in 2015, probably because that year’s BSFA Short Fiction Winner, “Honey Trap” by Ruth Booth, was published in it. The stories all have a common theme of women protagonists with agency. It starts strongly with two very good stories – “Palestinian Sweets”, by Stephen Palmer, who I don’t think I have otherwise come across, and “Slink-Thinking”, by Frances Hardinge. I wasn’t as sure about the rest, and unfortunately the last story in the volume is by an author whose personal conduct has put me off reading any of their work. A mixed bag.
An anthology which I got in 2015, probably because that year’s BSFA Short Fiction Winner, “Honey Trap” by Ruth Booth, was published in it. The stories all have a common theme of women protagonists with agency. It starts strongly with two very good stories – “Palestinian Sweets”, by Stephen Palmer, who I don’t think I have otherwise come across, and “Slink-Thinking”, by Frances Hardinge. I wasn’t as sure about the rest, and unfortunately the last story in the volume is by an author whose personal conduct has put me off reading any of their work. A mixed bag.
January 8, 2023
Disclaimer: My short story, "Softwood", appears in this anthology.
I can't quite believe this was published eight years ago. A lot has changed since then, including the unfortunate passing of one of the contributors, Storm Constantine. This anthology loosely covers the subject of the femme fatale in a mix of genres, from dark SF to fantasy and horror and several layers inbetween. The quality is high throughout, but as in many anthologies there are certain types of stories I gravitate towards and some that I cannot finish and this is true here. This isn't indicative of quality, but personal taste, and so I feel it best just to mention those I enjoyed the most. These were: "High Church" by Jonathan Oliver which opens with one of the most amusing pick-up scenes I've ever read; Stewart Hotston's "Haecceity" where one bomb creates two crime scenes miles apart; and John Llewellyn Probert's "The Girl With No Face" which is filled with his characteristic melodramatic hokum. My two favourites, however, were "Soleil" by Adele Kirby which was a slice of high-concept far-future-SF ably rendered as a cat-and-mouse (not literally) dance between the two main protagonists, and Ruth EJ Booth's "The Honey Trap" (another SF story set on a recovering ravaged world where food commodities become the heart of espionage). These two stories are worth the admission price alone.
I can't quite believe this was published eight years ago. A lot has changed since then, including the unfortunate passing of one of the contributors, Storm Constantine. This anthology loosely covers the subject of the femme fatale in a mix of genres, from dark SF to fantasy and horror and several layers inbetween. The quality is high throughout, but as in many anthologies there are certain types of stories I gravitate towards and some that I cannot finish and this is true here. This isn't indicative of quality, but personal taste, and so I feel it best just to mention those I enjoyed the most. These were: "High Church" by Jonathan Oliver which opens with one of the most amusing pick-up scenes I've ever read; Stewart Hotston's "Haecceity" where one bomb creates two crime scenes miles apart; and John Llewellyn Probert's "The Girl With No Face" which is filled with his characteristic melodramatic hokum. My two favourites, however, were "Soleil" by Adele Kirby which was a slice of high-concept far-future-SF ably rendered as a cat-and-mouse (not literally) dance between the two main protagonists, and Ruth EJ Booth's "The Honey Trap" (another SF story set on a recovering ravaged world where food commodities become the heart of espionage). These two stories are worth the admission price alone.
June 12, 2016
a collection of short stories with a feminine twist
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews