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The Woman Who Loved the Moon: And Other Stories
Elizabeth A. Lynn stands as a groundbreaking author of fantasy and science fiction. Her stories weave richly drawn characters and complex scenes of daily life into the intricate tapestry of speculative fiction. But beyond her technical skill, Lynn has changed the landscape of fantasy writing as one of the first authors to incorporate themes of gender and gay relationships into her work. Importantly, these themes are not part of the fantastic story line but simply of the unremarkable, normal relationships around which the fantasy occurs. This collection of Lynn’s early short stories serves as a wonderful introduction to her influential work. Soaring emotions, eloquent prose, and fully realized worlds are truly a joy to become lost within. That explains why the namesake short story “The Woman Who Loved the Moon” won Lynn one of her two World Fantasy Awards. With The Woman Who Loved the Moon and Other Stories, readers will delight in an author whose work George R. R. Martin has described as “the sort of fantasy we don’t see enough lyrical and literate, and a treat from the first page to the last.”
198 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1981
11 people are currently reading
212 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth A. Lynn
51 books96 followersElizabeth A. Lynn is a US writer most known for fantasy and to a lesser extent science fiction. She is particularly known for being one of the first writers in science fiction or fantasy to introduce gay and lesbian characters; in honor of Lynn, the LGBT bookstore "A Different Light" took its name from her novel.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 7, 2022
Rep: lesbian mcs, gay side characters
November 27, 2014
I have read, sold, repurchased this so many times in my life I just bought another used copy and it has gone into the 'never get rid of' pile. Some of that may be sentimentality as I remember it as a formative book from my young teen years. Still, the tech and the story telling both hold up over decades, which is to me the sign of a truly great science fiction/fantasy writer and heck a true writer in general.
November 23, 2023
In base ai miei studi sulla storia del fantasy, Elizabeth A. Lynn è stata una meteora: giovane promessa della New Wave nei primissimi anni Ottanta, comare di Joanna Russ e Samuel R. Delany nella trinità delle prime autorialità gay della spec-fic statunitense... scomparsa nel nulla a fine anni Novanta. Volendo capire meglio chi fosse questa sfuggente signora, ho fatto come con nonna Octavia E. Butler e ho recuperato la raccolta completa di tutta la narrativa breve di Lynn, questa
The Woman Who Loved the Moon: And Other Stories
– e devo dire, è stata un'esperienza illuminante ma diseguale. Diseguale, perché si sente tantissimo ciò che l'autrice stessa ammette negli (interessantissimi) commenti a ciascun racconto, cioè che diverse storie sono nate come bozzetti o esperimenti composti per esercizio personale e, in seguito, fortunosamente venduti a questa o quella rivista o questa o quell'antologia – in varie storie c'è l'idea centrale forte, ci sono alcune scene gustose, ma l'intreccio risulta troppo elementare e accelera troppo gli eventi, senza lasciarci conoscere i personaggi, o si chiude con un finale aperto là dove ci aspetteremmo il climax, dando una sensazione di potenziale inespresso: tali difetti rendono alcuni testi (per lo più quelli fantascientifici) abbastanza dimenticabili, ma immagino sia una situazione piuttosto comune nei racconti d'esordio di un'autorialità giovane che ancora deve prendere bene il polso dei ritmi drammaturgici (come se fosse cosa facile da imparare, per altro!).
Dall'altro lato, l'esperienza resta comunque illuminante, perché pur nella loro struttura un po' grossolana le varie storie di ambientazione urbana-contemporanea sono riuscite ad avvincermi e interessarmi (e io ho un serio problema di diffidenza verso la narrativa realistica, perché mi sono scottato con i romanzi "letterari" senza trama), e comunque il nucleo di racconti fantasy è tutto di livello molto molto alto, con atmosfere sanguigne e melancoliche che ricordano zia Tanith Lee e guizzi di poesia e lirismo da commuoversi per la loro patina di leggenda orale – c'è un motivo, a quanto pare, se il racconto eponimo è valso a Lynn il Premio World Fantasy!
Concludo segnalando che abbiamo nella raccolta un numero sufficientemente interessante di amori sia saffici sia achillei, e che un punto su 5 l'ho dovuto decurtare perché, come al solito in queste ristampe ebook di vecchi romanzi, è pieno di refusi dovuti a una scannerizzazione grossolana dell'originale cartaceo...
Dall'altro lato, l'esperienza resta comunque illuminante, perché pur nella loro struttura un po' grossolana le varie storie di ambientazione urbana-contemporanea sono riuscite ad avvincermi e interessarmi (e io ho un serio problema di diffidenza verso la narrativa realistica, perché mi sono scottato con i romanzi "letterari" senza trama), e comunque il nucleo di racconti fantasy è tutto di livello molto molto alto, con atmosfere sanguigne e melancoliche che ricordano zia Tanith Lee e guizzi di poesia e lirismo da commuoversi per la loro patina di leggenda orale – c'è un motivo, a quanto pare, se il racconto eponimo è valso a Lynn il Premio World Fantasy!
Concludo segnalando che abbiamo nella raccolta un numero sufficientemente interessante di amori sia saffici sia achillei, e che un punto su 5 l'ho dovuto decurtare perché, come al solito in queste ristampe ebook di vecchi romanzi, è pieno di refusi dovuti a una scannerizzazione grossolana dell'originale cartaceo...
March 17, 2020
A bit uneven, tbh, with some real gems and a few that were difficult to get through. The fantasy stories at the beginning and end were probably my favorites, with some other pretty nice stories ranging from fantasy to horror to science fiction. The bits before each story seemed a little tacked on, to be honest, and didn't add much to the experience for me (they are mostly logistical about how the story sold and maybe some stuff about titles changing or the idea that sparked it, but eh?). There's some beautiful works in here, and some explicitly queer content (mostly F/F) that's always nice to see, especially in slightly older collections (it was why I sought out the collection). YMMV
October 27, 2023
3.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews
Summary
A collection of speculative stories from Elizabeth A. Lynn
Review
Elizabeth Lynn has not published much, but I’ve read a lot of what there is. And I found on going back to these short stories that I enjoyed them a little more than I did the first time.
There is a certain ’70s feel here that’s hard to define, but that brings to mind George R. R. Martin, Roger Zelazny, and Orson Scott Card – an intelligent, smooth use of language in reasonably adult settings. To my mind, that’s generally a good thing. The stories here aren’t all outstanding, nor as striking as Lynn’s novels and series, but they’re well written and generally fulfilling. At their best, they’re quirky and odd; at their weakest, they’re on the predictable side. Overall, I recommend the collection, and Lynn’s writing in general.
The best stories here include:
“I Dream of a Fish, I Dream of a Bird”
“The Island”
“The Dragon that Lived in the Sea”
“The Man Who Was Pregnant”
“The White King’s Dream”
While I own this in paperback, for this reading I used Open Road Media’s ebook format. As with many ORM books, the proofreading leaves something to be desired; not too obtrusive, but annoying.
Summary
A collection of speculative stories from Elizabeth A. Lynn
Review
Elizabeth Lynn has not published much, but I’ve read a lot of what there is. And I found on going back to these short stories that I enjoyed them a little more than I did the first time.
There is a certain ’70s feel here that’s hard to define, but that brings to mind George R. R. Martin, Roger Zelazny, and Orson Scott Card – an intelligent, smooth use of language in reasonably adult settings. To my mind, that’s generally a good thing. The stories here aren’t all outstanding, nor as striking as Lynn’s novels and series, but they’re well written and generally fulfilling. At their best, they’re quirky and odd; at their weakest, they’re on the predictable side. Overall, I recommend the collection, and Lynn’s writing in general.
The best stories here include:
“I Dream of a Fish, I Dream of a Bird”
“The Island”
“The Dragon that Lived in the Sea”
“The Man Who Was Pregnant”
“The White King’s Dream”
While I own this in paperback, for this reading I used Open Road Media’s ebook format. As with many ORM books, the proofreading leaves something to be desired; not too obtrusive, but annoying.
partly-read
January 31, 2017Got a third of the way through, but I don't find the characters appealing. For example, the technological near-goddess who puts off taking action until after a completely predictable horrible thing has happened to someone she cares about, an event to which she expresses no outward emotional reaction.
That means that, of the 10 or so Open Road ebooks I picked up when they were on free giveaway, I have so far completed: 0; enjoyed: 0. This is an unusually poor hit rate.
That means that, of the 10 or so Open Road ebooks I picked up when they were on free giveaway, I have so far completed: 0; enjoyed: 0. This is an unusually poor hit rate.
Read
July 10, 2018My review on tor.com:
https://www.tor.com/2018/05/30/quiltb...
Source of the book: Bought with my own money
https://www.tor.com/2018/05/30/quiltb...
Source of the book: Bought with my own money
June 25, 2011
Lynn apparently won the 1980 World Fantasy Award for the title story. I thought the best one was "Jubilee's Story."
February 7, 2018
Dreamy, slightly surreal stories from an author who sadly no longer writes.
January 6, 2017
A collection of short stories by Lynn. I hadn't known at the time I picked up this book, but apparently she's known for being the first scifi/fantasy author to use openly gay/lesbian characters in her stories. A chain of LGBT bookstores took their name from her books. One of her books, published in 1978, featured a male-male couple. The Woman Who Loved the Moon, published in this book and previously elsewhere, was about a lesbian relationship.
If I was rating this book based only on the first two stories, I would have given it five stars instead of three. The first story was my favorite, the second story I really liked a lot, and everything after that was pretty meh. Short story collections usually end on a high note, so I was holding hope for The Woman Who Loved the Moon, but it really didn't work for me at all.
Individual stories:
Wizard's Domain: Called by other reviewers as the weakest story in the book, I loved it so much. Set in a world where the gods live among us, it was the story of a man and the god he served. Plot-wise, it was about one god's war against another, in an effort to keep the balance of power between them. But to me, the best part of the story was the relationship between the god and the man -- how could the man love the god back, when there was such a complete difference in power between them? (For example, the god turned the man into an ocean for a year to teach him a lesson.) The love and hate the mortal man felt for his god was so real and wonderfully painful. I loved the story's overall theme of 'power' as well.
The author's first published story. If this is indeed the weakest story of the book, I might just have to move to a state where it's legal to marry a book.
The Gods of Reorth: One of the great things about this book is that the author's notes before each story are so spot-on. You wouldn't think that would be something to comment on, shouldn't all authors be able to write fitting author's notes? But until this book, I hadn't realized how much difference a well written author's note could make. This was her second published story, and in the note she explained how almost everyone she shopped the story to sent back comments about how she wanted to kill off all men. Only one editor (a man) understood what the story was really about -- that killing off all men was "rather missing the point" in the author's words.
In the story, "gods" lived among the people. Except they weren't gods, they were just people from a very far advanced culture/different planet. One of the gods ended up going rogue and acting like a real god should, taking things into her own hands to protect the people of that world.
We All Have to Go: Either I'm reading these stories fast, or I'm falling down on reviewing them as I read them. I've read six beyond this one, so I don't recall what it's about without skimming back... Ah ha. This was the reality TV story (yet written in the 70s, interesting). In it a man takes advantage of peoples' death -- when someone dies, he puts the family on TV, then at the end of the week, all the viewers can vote for which family deserves the prize money. Interesting idea, but the writing didn't really work for me.
The Saints of Driman: A simple story about drugs and dying and what makes a person a saint. Humans visit an alien planet, and learn some people there take drugs that make them stop eating and drinking -- killing them, but making them a saint in the process. One of the humans decides to take the drug. (Really good idea, but again the writing didn't really work for me.)
I Dream of a Fish, I Dream of a Bird: Set in a dystopian future, a boy gets badly burnt and his mother has to invent a new kind of skin for him. Once more, interesting idea, but the writing didn't really work for me. And, while the first two stories were well-edited, starting with the third story, more and more typos, mis-wordings, and other issues are showing up.
The Island: Sort of a mermaid horror story, but not at all scary. Continuing the trend: Interesting idea, but the writing didn't really work for me.
The Dragon that Lived in the Sea: Interesting idea, but the writing really, REALLY didn't work for me. A dragon was plaguing a town, so they decided to raise a child with nothing but love, no fear, denying her nothing, so she could somehow defeat the dragon. Turns out she shamed it into leaving, because she was so nice and kind (and somehow not a spoiled brat, when she had never once been told no, given every single thing she ever wanted?).
Mindseye: Interesting idea, writing somewhat worked better for me. Humans have space travel, but moving though hypespace tends to make them insane. After four hyperspace jumps, the crew was really losing it, and one woman has an encounter with aliens... or does she?
The Man Who Was Pregnant: A very simple story, but I enjoyed it. A man becomes pregnant (the hows and whys of it are never gone into). The story follows his pregnancy.
Obsessions: The author's note said she wasn't happy with this story, and I can see why. (However, what I can't see is why she'd include it in this book if she wasn't happy with it...) It was about people who were obsessed with things, but clunky and just didn't at all work for me.
The Woman in the Phone Booth: the author herself described this as "fluff" and said she was surprised it had even sold. Thanks for including it then? (Story was a little throw-away piece about non-Dr. Who aliens who use phone booths to get around.)
Don't Look at Me: The first story so far that I didn't finish. Writing didn't work for me, and the story seemed meandering and pointless. Mostly just people talking on an alien planet. While all of these stories were published in the 70s-80s, this one felt especially dated.
Jubilee's Story: Can we stop going downhill yet? I guess not. Story about a group of women (on an alien planet? fantasy world? we never find out) who travel around acting as midwives. Broken record: Writing didn't work for me. Story seemed meandering and pointless.
The Circus that Disappeared: Somewhat better than the last few stories. Some of the characters were interesting enough to hold my interest, but all in all, the story was flat and meh. In it a circus gets kidnapped, but it was all the pre-kidnapping circus life stuff that was the more interesting part of the story to me.
The White King's Dream: Supposedly a horror story, but it both didn't make any sense and didn't work for me. The horror in it seemed to be about getting old, but there was some kind of supernatural(?) element as well (or fate maybe) that just muddied the waters.
The Woman Who Love the Moon: Set in the same world as the first story, this was about three strong, beautiful sisters. They were beautiful enough that the moon became jealous of them. Once more I find myself saying "Interesting idea, but just didn't work for me."
Since these were all originally published in the 70s-80s, it's possible writing styles have changed and that's why so many of the stories didn't work for me.
If I was rating this book based only on the first two stories, I would have given it five stars instead of three. The first story was my favorite, the second story I really liked a lot, and everything after that was pretty meh. Short story collections usually end on a high note, so I was holding hope for The Woman Who Loved the Moon, but it really didn't work for me at all.
Individual stories:
Wizard's Domain: Called by other reviewers as the weakest story in the book, I loved it so much. Set in a world where the gods live among us, it was the story of a man and the god he served. Plot-wise, it was about one god's war against another, in an effort to keep the balance of power between them. But to me, the best part of the story was the relationship between the god and the man -- how could the man love the god back, when there was such a complete difference in power between them? (For example, the god turned the man into an ocean for a year to teach him a lesson.) The love and hate the mortal man felt for his god was so real and wonderfully painful. I loved the story's overall theme of 'power' as well.
The author's first published story. If this is indeed the weakest story of the book, I might just have to move to a state where it's legal to marry a book.
The Gods of Reorth: One of the great things about this book is that the author's notes before each story are so spot-on. You wouldn't think that would be something to comment on, shouldn't all authors be able to write fitting author's notes? But until this book, I hadn't realized how much difference a well written author's note could make. This was her second published story, and in the note she explained how almost everyone she shopped the story to sent back comments about how she wanted to kill off all men. Only one editor (a man) understood what the story was really about -- that killing off all men was "rather missing the point" in the author's words.
In the story, "gods" lived among the people. Except they weren't gods, they were just people from a very far advanced culture/different planet. One of the gods ended up going rogue and acting like a real god should, taking things into her own hands to protect the people of that world.
We All Have to Go: Either I'm reading these stories fast, or I'm falling down on reviewing them as I read them. I've read six beyond this one, so I don't recall what it's about without skimming back... Ah ha. This was the reality TV story (yet written in the 70s, interesting). In it a man takes advantage of peoples' death -- when someone dies, he puts the family on TV, then at the end of the week, all the viewers can vote for which family deserves the prize money. Interesting idea, but the writing didn't really work for me.
The Saints of Driman: A simple story about drugs and dying and what makes a person a saint. Humans visit an alien planet, and learn some people there take drugs that make them stop eating and drinking -- killing them, but making them a saint in the process. One of the humans decides to take the drug. (Really good idea, but again the writing didn't really work for me.)
I Dream of a Fish, I Dream of a Bird: Set in a dystopian future, a boy gets badly burnt and his mother has to invent a new kind of skin for him. Once more, interesting idea, but the writing didn't really work for me. And, while the first two stories were well-edited, starting with the third story, more and more typos, mis-wordings, and other issues are showing up.
The Island: Sort of a mermaid horror story, but not at all scary. Continuing the trend: Interesting idea, but the writing didn't really work for me.
The Dragon that Lived in the Sea: Interesting idea, but the writing really, REALLY didn't work for me. A dragon was plaguing a town, so they decided to raise a child with nothing but love, no fear, denying her nothing, so she could somehow defeat the dragon. Turns out she shamed it into leaving, because she was so nice and kind (and somehow not a spoiled brat, when she had never once been told no, given every single thing she ever wanted?).
Mindseye: Interesting idea, writing somewhat worked better for me. Humans have space travel, but moving though hypespace tends to make them insane. After four hyperspace jumps, the crew was really losing it, and one woman has an encounter with aliens... or does she?
The Man Who Was Pregnant: A very simple story, but I enjoyed it. A man becomes pregnant (the hows and whys of it are never gone into). The story follows his pregnancy.
Obsessions: The author's note said she wasn't happy with this story, and I can see why. (However, what I can't see is why she'd include it in this book if she wasn't happy with it...) It was about people who were obsessed with things, but clunky and just didn't at all work for me.
The Woman in the Phone Booth: the author herself described this as "fluff" and said she was surprised it had even sold. Thanks for including it then? (Story was a little throw-away piece about non-Dr. Who aliens who use phone booths to get around.)
Don't Look at Me: The first story so far that I didn't finish. Writing didn't work for me, and the story seemed meandering and pointless. Mostly just people talking on an alien planet. While all of these stories were published in the 70s-80s, this one felt especially dated.
Jubilee's Story: Can we stop going downhill yet? I guess not. Story about a group of women (on an alien planet? fantasy world? we never find out) who travel around acting as midwives. Broken record: Writing didn't work for me. Story seemed meandering and pointless.
The Circus that Disappeared: Somewhat better than the last few stories. Some of the characters were interesting enough to hold my interest, but all in all, the story was flat and meh. In it a circus gets kidnapped, but it was all the pre-kidnapping circus life stuff that was the more interesting part of the story to me.
The White King's Dream: Supposedly a horror story, but it both didn't make any sense and didn't work for me. The horror in it seemed to be about getting old, but there was some kind of supernatural(?) element as well (or fate maybe) that just muddied the waters.
The Woman Who Love the Moon: Set in the same world as the first story, this was about three strong, beautiful sisters. They were beautiful enough that the moon became jealous of them. Once more I find myself saying "Interesting idea, but just didn't work for me."
Since these were all originally published in the 70s-80s, it's possible writing styles have changed and that's why so many of the stories didn't work for me.
April 9, 2016
A mixed collection this, some being fantasy, some SF, and one or two supernatural tales. The first story I found rather heavy going and slow, but there are some better ones such as 'Jubilee's Story' (which I had already read in Virginia Kidd's Millennial Women anthology) and 'The Island'. Entertaining, but not a keeper for me.
September 13, 2011
Some interesting stories here. Many of them had a very late 70s/early 80s feel. I'm not sure how many of them have stood the test of time, as they say.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews