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Conscientious Inconsistencies
Second in PS Publishing's Showcase series presents five stories from a relatively new author. Ordinary women called on to transcend to the extraordinary in defence of herself or others in a variety of SF situations... well-worth reading.
Contents:
Introduction / L. Timmel Duchamp --
A mere scutcheon --
The first condition of immortality --
Thirty-one rules for fulfilling your destiny --
Homesteading --
Three o'clock in the morning.
Contents:
Introduction / L. Timmel Duchamp --
A mere scutcheon --
The first condition of immortality --
Thirty-one rules for fulfilling your destiny --
Homesteading --
Three o'clock in the morning.
- GenresFantasy
67 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2008
About the author
Nancy Jane Moore
42 books8 followersNancy Jane Moore is the author of the science fiction novel, The Weave; the novellas Changeling and Ardent Forest; and the collections Conscientious Inconsistencies, Flashes of Illumination, and Walking Contradiction and Other Futures. Her short fiction has appeared in a number of anthologies and in magazines ranging from Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet to the National Law Journal.
A native Texan, Moore lives for many years in Washington, DC, and now makes her home with her sweetheart in Oakland, CA.
She has studied martial arts since 1979 and holds a fourth degree black belt in Aikido.
A native Texan, Moore lives for many years in Washington, DC, and now makes her home with her sweetheart in Oakland, CA.
She has studied martial arts since 1979 and holds a fourth degree black belt in Aikido.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 22, 2023
This book contains a small collection of short stories; all told from a feminist point of view. The stories take us to a medieval world featuring a different take on the lady-in-waiting; with well armored protrectresses not afraid of sparring with their male counterparts in their line of duty. We then are transported to a take on loss and Death (the grim reaper, that is). Then on to a tale of clusters of survivors in a post apocalyptic world, where the women are dominated by men; except in this case the tables are turned. Some of the details of the catastrophic events leading up to this post apocalyptic world sound terrifyingly familiar in today's chaotic world. Finally, a science fiction type story of a woman's world closing in around her, quite literally. Again, there are echoes of the dire consequences our current situation is leading us to. All-in-all these were very entertaining stories, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book; which was received through the Library Thing Early Reviewers program.
May 20, 2019
How does one rate a short story collection? There will always be better and not so good stories. There will always be ones that one prefers. There may be a need to get used to a style and a first reading will mean some stories suffer.
Here I have rated the collection at its best. “Homesteading” is a stunningly good story. Full of tension and jeopardy but tempered with compassion and hope.
Beside that are an impressive variety of stories. A mixture of ideas and themes and tones, of locations and of details that enrich rather than distract.
I struggled with the worthy introduction and a first story that was maybe coloured for me by that introduction, but I persisted and was hugely rewarded. Three O’clock in the Morning is a triumph of imagination. It is just a new thing, looking very much like a mundane thing, which is quite a feat.
One to keep and re-read. A good read.
Here I have rated the collection at its best. “Homesteading” is a stunningly good story. Full of tension and jeopardy but tempered with compassion and hope.
Beside that are an impressive variety of stories. A mixture of ideas and themes and tones, of locations and of details that enrich rather than distract.
I struggled with the worthy introduction and a first story that was maybe coloured for me by that introduction, but I persisted and was hugely rewarded. Three O’clock in the Morning is a triumph of imagination. It is just a new thing, looking very much like a mundane thing, which is quite a feat.
One to keep and re-read. A good read.
October 14, 2020
A short collection of five stories in an expensive format, which made some careless errors stand out: people paying £25 for a 66pp book expect a bit better. I quite enjoyed "A Mere Escutcheon", a Three Musketeers pastiche. The hero of "Homesteading" was an admirable woman. "Three O'Clock in the Morning" was interestingly nightmarish.
July 5, 2016
A short story collection.
The introduction to this collection is written by L. Timmel Duchamp who equates writing with martial arts and at first this seemed a strange idea to me. But then it all came clear: “To write, to practice martial arts, one must be prepared to take falls, to get bruised, to risk one’s ego – and to expect to keep learning for as long as one pursues the vocation, without regard for one’s ease or safety.”
I loved “A Mere Scutcheon”. It’s set in a world similar to the Three Musketeers, except that a woman’s honor is the same as a man’s, and not between her legs. The Queen has her guardswomen and the King his guardsmen, and they are often dueling each other. The Queen gives Anna D’Gart a mission: to get back the Queen’s necklace before the ball where the Queen is expected to wear the necklace. Anna and her loyal friend Asamir set out to retrieve it. Asamir is aiming to become a nun but not before she has lots of intimate meetings with a married count.
In “The First Condition of Immortality” the main character’s friend has just died. When she travels to the funeral, she feels a shadow following her.
“Thirty-One Rules of Fulfilling You Destiny” is a fun way of breaking pretty much all of storytelling rules.
“Homesteading” is set after the collapse of civilized society. Isabel has had to learn to survive and she’s also trying to teaching her headstrong young protégé to choose her battles and not to fight every time.
“Three O’clock in the Morning” is a horror story.
I enjoyed all of the stories, some more than others; I’m not really a horror reader. The first one is my favorite, though. Even those that start with a familiar setting have a twist I enjoyed. They all look at women characters which is still unusual in SFF books. The women are all competent at what they do, but none of them are superhuman fighters, just more or less ordinary people.
The ebook is available at BookView Café which also has an excerpt: http://bookviewcafe.com/blog/2013/05/...
The introduction to this collection is written by L. Timmel Duchamp who equates writing with martial arts and at first this seemed a strange idea to me. But then it all came clear: “To write, to practice martial arts, one must be prepared to take falls, to get bruised, to risk one’s ego – and to expect to keep learning for as long as one pursues the vocation, without regard for one’s ease or safety.”
I loved “A Mere Scutcheon”. It’s set in a world similar to the Three Musketeers, except that a woman’s honor is the same as a man’s, and not between her legs. The Queen has her guardswomen and the King his guardsmen, and they are often dueling each other. The Queen gives Anna D’Gart a mission: to get back the Queen’s necklace before the ball where the Queen is expected to wear the necklace. Anna and her loyal friend Asamir set out to retrieve it. Asamir is aiming to become a nun but not before she has lots of intimate meetings with a married count.
In “The First Condition of Immortality” the main character’s friend has just died. When she travels to the funeral, she feels a shadow following her.
“Thirty-One Rules of Fulfilling You Destiny” is a fun way of breaking pretty much all of storytelling rules.
“Homesteading” is set after the collapse of civilized society. Isabel has had to learn to survive and she’s also trying to teaching her headstrong young protégé to choose her battles and not to fight every time.
“Three O’clock in the Morning” is a horror story.
I enjoyed all of the stories, some more than others; I’m not really a horror reader. The first one is my favorite, though. Even those that start with a familiar setting have a twist I enjoyed. They all look at women characters which is still unusual in SFF books. The women are all competent at what they do, but none of them are superhuman fighters, just more or less ordinary people.
The ebook is available at BookView Café which also has an excerpt: http://bookviewcafe.com/blog/2013/05/...
July 17, 2013
Conscientious Inconsistencies by Nancy Jane Moore is a short story collection with a difference – all the heroes/main characters of each story happen to be female. These women are capable of defending themselves and don’t need any men to protect them. They take action and are in control of their fate. There are five short stories in all ranging from historical to post-apocalyptic and so on.
The first story: A Mere Scutcheon is a story set in a France that had both a Royal guard for the King made up of males and one for the Queen made up of females. The Queen asks one of her guards to go on a mission of a personal and private nature that could split the nation if not resolved quickly. This story is the longest one and is a rollicking adventure.
The other stories, as previously mentioned, cover different genres. The last story really packed a wallop for me. It reminds me of the excellent Twilight Zone episodes that made you think long after the program finished. It is a bit of a bummer and leaves you with a feeling of hopelessness, but again, it is a well written piece of fiction. It is also told from a unique perspective as if you are the woman who is going through these events.
These stories are well worth a read!
The first story: A Mere Scutcheon is a story set in a France that had both a Royal guard for the King made up of males and one for the Queen made up of females. The Queen asks one of her guards to go on a mission of a personal and private nature that could split the nation if not resolved quickly. This story is the longest one and is a rollicking adventure.
The other stories, as previously mentioned, cover different genres. The last story really packed a wallop for me. It reminds me of the excellent Twilight Zone episodes that made you think long after the program finished. It is a bit of a bummer and leaves you with a feeling of hopelessness, but again, it is a well written piece of fiction. It is also told from a unique perspective as if you are the woman who is going through these events.
These stories are well worth a read!
August 31, 2016
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
This is a collection of short prose by author Jane Moore Nancy. The selections featured are from the fantasy, science-fiction and/or horror genres and all are told from a strong feminist perspective.
One standout story, "Homesteading" is set in a nebulous, post-apocalyptic Earth and features a protagonist who, as a practical and resourceful survivor, must be the change her brave new world so desperately needs.
"The First Condition of Immortality" and "Three O'Clock in the Morning" are two tight horror vignettes that are delightful examples of surrealist short fiction. The former is a mediation on living with the knowledge that a person will eventually die. The latter is a about a nightmare future-now where the divisions that humanity has created manifest to destroy us.
Another selection exists simply as a 31 entry manifesto.
The final story, "A Mere Scutcheon" is gender-bending riff on the Three Musketeers. It is witty and charming enough, but fantasy period romance is just not my cuppa.
This is a collection of short prose by author Jane Moore Nancy. The selections featured are from the fantasy, science-fiction and/or horror genres and all are told from a strong feminist perspective.
One standout story, "Homesteading" is set in a nebulous, post-apocalyptic Earth and features a protagonist who, as a practical and resourceful survivor, must be the change her brave new world so desperately needs.
"The First Condition of Immortality" and "Three O'Clock in the Morning" are two tight horror vignettes that are delightful examples of surrealist short fiction. The former is a mediation on living with the knowledge that a person will eventually die. The latter is a about a nightmare future-now where the divisions that humanity has created manifest to destroy us.
Another selection exists simply as a 31 entry manifesto.
The final story, "A Mere Scutcheon" is gender-bending riff on the Three Musketeers. It is witty and charming enough, but fantasy period romance is just not my cuppa.
March 6, 2014
These stories were all interesting, but not all were my cup of tea. I enjoyed "A Mere Schutcheon", probably because I am a fan of high fantasy. "The First Condition of Immortality" is probably the best of the bunch, a very unique look at mortality. "Homesteading" was a solid dystopia, but left me feeling rather sick. And "Three O'Clock in the Morning" was incredibly disturbing, even more so with the second person narrative.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews