Isaac Asimov's Mother's Day

by Gardner Dozois (Editor), Sheila Williams (Editor), Connie Willis (Contributor)

Join science fiction luminaries Connie Willis, Tanith Lee, Kristine Karthryn Rusch, and more as they explore out-of-this-world moms and stellar parent-child relations in this unique collection from the award-winning pages of Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine.

1 • Even the Queen • (1992) • shortstory by Connie Willis
23 • Lovestory • (1998) • novelette by James Patrick Kelly
49 • Jenny • (1993) • novelette by Melanie Tem
74 • A Touch of Lavender • (1989) • novella by Megan Lindholm
127 • Tiger I • (1995) • shortstory by Tanith Lee
143 • Bibi • (1995) • novella by Mike Resnick and Susan Shwartz
200 • Reflections on Life and Death • (1998) • shortstory by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
218 • Nine-Tenths of the Law • (1991) • shortstory by Susan Casper (aka Nine Tenths of the Law)
226 • Mrs. Lincoln's China • (1994) • shortstory by M. Shayne Bell

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, Speculative Fiction

240 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 2000

About the author

Gardner Raymond Dozois was an American science fiction author and editor. He was editor of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine from 1984 to 2004. He won multiple Hugo and Nebula awards, both as an editor and a writer of short fiction.
Wikipedia entry: Gardner Dozois

http://us.macmillan.com/author/gardne...

Reviews

[Book2Dragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two of these stories are really imaginative and brilliant. The others are pretty good. All have mothers as the protagonist. I thought it would be a good read for the month of Mother's Day, and that was true. Authors are Connie Willis, James Patrick Kelly, Melanie Tem, Megan Lindholm (the best : A Touch of Lavender), Tanith Lee, Mike Resnick and Susan Schwartz, Kristine Katherine Rusch, Susan Casper, and M. Shayne Bell.
What I like about this genre is how it is completely different from our present civilization and yet oddly familiar as far as feelings, prejudices and insecurities. Good stories make you think, and that is a good thing.

[Nessa Glowczewski · Rating 1 out of 5]

Extremely disappointed. I didn't find a single story that I actually enjoyed.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting anthology with a "Mother" theme. Within the stories, there are young mothers, ancient mothers, kind mothers and selfish mothers.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good anthology of short stories revolving around one theme: mothers. I enjoyed every story.

[A~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

One thing I really liked about this collection is that most of the writers were women.
Also didn’t find any duds in this one.

Even The Queen by Connie Willis (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conni...)
Set in a world where science has made it so unless actively trying to conceive women no longer have to experience a period. There is a bit tongue in cheek humor regarding feminist theory going to extreme.

Lovestory by James Patrick Kelly (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James...)
A weird imagining of a world where there are three genders and how love binds the three together

Jenny by Melanie Tem (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melan...)
Not really Science Fiction it is instead horror. After a young girl dies the story deals with how her mother allows the grief to take over and control more and more of the family.

A Touch of Lavender by Megan Lindholm (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin...)
A young boy deals with the loss of the one father figure he has ever had, while dealing with his mother’s alien drug addiction, and the birth of his sister who may or may not be an alien. Sad.

Tiger I by Tanith Lee (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanit...)
The closest, for me, to a dud. A woman gives birth to sentient large cats.

Bibi by Mike Resnick and Susan Schwartz (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_...) (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan...)
The longest of the stories. Heart stirring story set in the 90’s dealing with the aids crisis in the US gay community and the wholesale eradication of villages by the disease in Africa. A bit of a commentary on the “white messiah” belief that is prevalent among fiction where a white person fixes a different race’s problems. Still it has a mixed message as the “White Messiah” is black and eventually it is the white guy who understands and learns how to help.

Reflections on Life and Death by Kristine Kathryn Rush (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krist...)
A mother dealing with the impending death of her mother juxtaposed against how her mother handled her own mothers death. A bit hard and scary for me to read.

Nine-Tenths of the Law by Susan Casper (http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/...) Humorous story about the Mother who refuses to let such a simple thing such as death keep her from meddling in her daughter’s life.

Mrs Lincoln’s China by M. Shayne Bell (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Sh...)
A mother in a world on the verge of apocalypse tries to save something nice.