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Tales of the Quintana Roo
Three stories deal with a realm of dead souls, a time warp that leads back to the Mayan past, and a mysterious world beneath the sea
111 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 1986
4 people are currently reading
215 people want to read
About the author
James Tiptree Jr.
243 books594 followers"James Tiptree Jr." was born Alice Bradley in Chicago in 1915. Her mother was the writer Mary Hastings Bradley; her father, Herbert, was a lawyer and explorer. Throughout her childhood she traveled with her parents, mostly to Africa, but also to India and Southeast Asia. Her early work was as an artist and art critic. During World War II she enlisted in the Army and became the first American female photointelligence officer. In Germany after the war, she met and married her commanding officer, Huntington D. Sheldon. In the early 1950s, both Sheldons joined the then-new CIA; he made it his career, but she resigned in 1955, went back to college, and earned a Ph.D. in experimental psychology.
At about this same time, Alli Sheldon started writing science fiction. She wrote four stories and sent them off to four different science fiction magazines. She did not want to publish under her real name, because of her CIA and academic ties, and she intended to use a new pseudonym for each group of stories until some sold. They started selling immediately, and only the first pseudonym—"Tiptree" from a jar of jelly, "James" because she felt editors would be more receptive to a male writer, and "Jr." for fun—was needed. (A second pseudonym, "Raccoona Sheldon," came along later, so she could have a female persona.)
Tiptree quickly became one of the most respected writers in the field, winning the Hugo Award for The Girl Who was Plugged In and Houston, Houston, Do You Read?, and the Nebula Award for "Love is the Plan, the Plan is Death" and Houston, Houston. Raccoona won the Nebula for "The Screwfly Solution," and Tiptree won the World Fantasy Award for the collection Tales from the Quintana Roo.
The Tiptree fiction reflects Alli Sheldon's interests and concerns throughout her life: the alien among us (a role she portrayed in her childhood travels), the health of the planet, the quality of perception, the role of women, love, death, and humanity's place in a vast, cold universe. The Otherwise Award (formerly the Tiptree Award) has celebrated science fiction that "expands and explores gender roles" since 1991.
Alice Sheldon died in 1987 by her own hand. Writing in her first book about the suicide of Hart Crane, she said succinctly: "Poets extrapolate."
Julie Phillips wrote her biography, James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon
At about this same time, Alli Sheldon started writing science fiction. She wrote four stories and sent them off to four different science fiction magazines. She did not want to publish under her real name, because of her CIA and academic ties, and she intended to use a new pseudonym for each group of stories until some sold. They started selling immediately, and only the first pseudonym—"Tiptree" from a jar of jelly, "James" because she felt editors would be more receptive to a male writer, and "Jr." for fun—was needed. (A second pseudonym, "Raccoona Sheldon," came along later, so she could have a female persona.)
Tiptree quickly became one of the most respected writers in the field, winning the Hugo Award for The Girl Who was Plugged In and Houston, Houston, Do You Read?, and the Nebula Award for "Love is the Plan, the Plan is Death" and Houston, Houston. Raccoona won the Nebula for "The Screwfly Solution," and Tiptree won the World Fantasy Award for the collection Tales from the Quintana Roo.
The Tiptree fiction reflects Alli Sheldon's interests and concerns throughout her life: the alien among us (a role she portrayed in her childhood travels), the health of the planet, the quality of perception, the role of women, love, death, and humanity's place in a vast, cold universe. The Otherwise Award (formerly the Tiptree Award) has celebrated science fiction that "expands and explores gender roles" since 1991.
Alice Sheldon died in 1987 by her own hand. Writing in her first book about the suicide of Hart Crane, she said succinctly: "Poets extrapolate."
Julie Phillips wrote her biography, James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 1, 2015
A beautiful little book. Made me really want to go and see the Yucatán Peninsula, hoping it still holds a bit of that magic and strangeness that you feel when reading these stories. Tiptree was a fascinating person, one whose friendship I'm sure I would have treasured were we to ever meet. A wonderful storyteller, with a very particular sense of humor and a kindness that transpires through her work.
The illustrations by Glennray Tutor are quite disturbing, and they add to the overall feeling of anxiety and the unknown.
The illustrations by Glennray Tutor are quite disturbing, and they add to the overall feeling of anxiety and the unknown.
August 15, 2013
While there are three stories in this book, the title story is the real reason to buy it. James Tiptree, Jr., is a pseudonym for Alice Bradley Sheldon; perhaps unsurprisingly, she plays some games with how gender is perceived in the story. (E.g., it took me years before I realized that the protagonist's gender -- which I'd assumed was male -- is never disclosed.) While gender plays a role, it's only ancillary to the power of the story. There's a snippet of poem that precedes it (from memory; forgive if I get it wrong):
Tourists throw spent Polaroids
Where Spaniards threw spent slaves
And now and then another joins
4,000 years of graves
For loves it's best to avoid
Smiles from those shining waves
I think that does a reasonable job of setting the tone.
As another reader noted, it is part ghost story -- or is it time travel? Combined with elements of lust, love, longing, desire... I do it a disservice; if you like short stories, a whiff of magic realism, and a haunting setting, go buy this book.
Tourists throw spent Polaroids
Where Spaniards threw spent slaves
And now and then another joins
4,000 years of graves
For loves it's best to avoid
Smiles from those shining waves
I think that does a reasonable job of setting the tone.
As another reader noted, it is part ghost story -- or is it time travel? Combined with elements of lust, love, longing, desire... I do it a disservice; if you like short stories, a whiff of magic realism, and a haunting setting, go buy this book.
Read
November 29, 2020This did not age well in some aspects, and I had issues with it in others too, but also has very unambiguously nonbinary content. Planning on writing a lengthier review, even though it is a very short book.
(An aside to the publisher: not having page numbers in a book is evil!)
_________
Source of the book: Got from book swap
(An aside to the publisher: not having page numbers in a book is evil!)
_________
Source of the book: Got from book swap
August 6, 2019
This review was previously posted on the Side Real Press website in 2012.
There are moments when I feel very ignorant indeed and in reviewing this book I felt that moment once again as I realized that I had missed out on this author until now.
'James Tiptree Jnr' was psuedonym of Alice Bradley Sheldon, who wrote a number of popular science fiction short stories and novels.
This slim volume is something of an anomaly in that contains three supernatural tales (all of which were either nominated or won awards) linked by their location - the Quintana Roo of the title.
They are also linked in that the sea plays a major part in proceedings, and Sheldon's overarching theme seems to be that of the eternal and mans place within it. However multiple interpretations could be put forward for the first story in which the protagonist comes into contact with something/someone washed ashore. Is it a revenant(?) a vampire(?), a Charon figure(?), Tiptree offers us an explanation of sorts at the end, but it remains an ambivalent tale. Does it mean anything that the stories subject is a designer of swimming pools? And what of the colour red?
In the second tale a sporting adonis may (or may not) become a literal God as he 'Waterskied to Forever', while the third tale 'Beyond the Dead Reef' maintains a sustained sinisterness almost from the casting off. Sheldon was, one assumes, an amateur diver, for much of the action takes place under water. Once again a rationale is offered but this seems to me as much a study in the mistakes that can be made when under pressure as its more overt interpretation.
Sheldon took holidays in the Yukatan before it became a tourist destination and, and her subtle evocation of a now lost locale (similar to that of Lucius Shepard's use of Honduras in 'Trujillo') adds to the uneasy atmosphere that runs through each of the stories as they slide inexorably from the 'known' into more nebulous territory.
I thoroughly enjoyed these tales and ordered her second Arkham collection ('Her Smoke Rose Up Forever') within a few hours of finishing them. I fear the bookshelves may soon be under the additional strain of a fair few 'Tiptree' books very soon...
There are moments when I feel very ignorant indeed and in reviewing this book I felt that moment once again as I realized that I had missed out on this author until now.
'James Tiptree Jnr' was psuedonym of Alice Bradley Sheldon, who wrote a number of popular science fiction short stories and novels.
This slim volume is something of an anomaly in that contains three supernatural tales (all of which were either nominated or won awards) linked by their location - the Quintana Roo of the title.
They are also linked in that the sea plays a major part in proceedings, and Sheldon's overarching theme seems to be that of the eternal and mans place within it. However multiple interpretations could be put forward for the first story in which the protagonist comes into contact with something/someone washed ashore. Is it a revenant(?) a vampire(?), a Charon figure(?), Tiptree offers us an explanation of sorts at the end, but it remains an ambivalent tale. Does it mean anything that the stories subject is a designer of swimming pools? And what of the colour red?
In the second tale a sporting adonis may (or may not) become a literal God as he 'Waterskied to Forever', while the third tale 'Beyond the Dead Reef' maintains a sustained sinisterness almost from the casting off. Sheldon was, one assumes, an amateur diver, for much of the action takes place under water. Once again a rationale is offered but this seems to me as much a study in the mistakes that can be made when under pressure as its more overt interpretation.
Sheldon took holidays in the Yukatan before it became a tourist destination and, and her subtle evocation of a now lost locale (similar to that of Lucius Shepard's use of Honduras in 'Trujillo') adds to the uneasy atmosphere that runs through each of the stories as they slide inexorably from the 'known' into more nebulous territory.
I thoroughly enjoyed these tales and ordered her second Arkham collection ('Her Smoke Rose Up Forever') within a few hours of finishing them. I fear the bookshelves may soon be under the additional strain of a fair few 'Tiptree' books very soon...
March 7, 2026
“Tales of the Quintana Roo” is entirely different from the rest of Tiptree/Sheldon’s work that I’ve read, though there were faint echoes in “The Women Men Don’t See”. It’s not just that these are all ghost stories, rather than works of science fiction, and that Tiptree’s usual theme, gender, is absent. It’s that they seem to me to belong to an older tradition, one derived from the adventure story, in which an old colonial hand — in India or Kenya or Malaya or the Scottish Highlands — tells spooky stories of the area to a (white) visitor, who is primed to believe that out here, well away from civilization, anything could happen. The teller feels a deep connection to the area and its people, but of course he — it’s always a he, and is in this book too, even though it had been known for years that Tiptree was a woman — is always living in relative comfort in a large house, while the people he admires so much are his servants and tenants. There’s no direct colonial connection between the US and Mexico, but otherwise the first two stories could, with a few tweaks, have been written by Kipling. The third one, “Beyond the Dead Reef”, varies the formula by admitting modernity in a way that doesn’t happen in the first two books, and giving the story itself an environmental theme. That makes it the best of the three, though the first two are also well-written and maintain a slow-burn spookiness. And Tiptree’s love of the Yucatan comes through clearly, even if the colonial tinge to that feeling is also obvious. The stories here aren’t as good as the best of her sci-fi — though they are a lot less depressing — but are still worth reading.
December 13, 2024
My least favorite Tiptree collection so far, but still good. Not really science fiction, more horror/mystery. Deals with themes of climate change, colonization, industrialization, and the terror/power of nature, the last being a common Tiptree theme. In this case the sea, specifically, is the center of all of these stories.
The three stories seem to share a common narrator, who is very easily read as male given the social milieu of the stories. But given that Tiptree/Sheldon herself spent time in the Quintana Roo, the gender of the narrator is actually rather ambiguous - it could be interpreted as semi-autobiographical - something that didn't occur to me until about halfway through the second story.
The three stories seem to share a common narrator, who is very easily read as male given the social milieu of the stories. But given that Tiptree/Sheldon herself spent time in the Quintana Roo, the gender of the narrator is actually rather ambiguous - it could be interpreted as semi-autobiographical - something that didn't occur to me until about halfway through the second story.
January 21, 2022
For what it is, this slim little volume is a gem. She's a terrific writer. Great sense of place, of pacing, of the twists and turns stories take in the minds of the teller. Also great attention to detail. She has a real feel for how the natural environment affects our feelings and perceptions and colors our memories of events. These may be short "weird" tales, but they are as good as just about any "literary" short story you might come across. Best 45 pesos I ever spent!
December 8, 2018
These are reasonably well crafted tales - I thought things got better as I went on. But they didn't really have much to do with the Maya, they could really have been told of any bit of the Caribbean or any other tropical coast, so a bit anonymous and free floating so to speak.
February 19, 2020
Beautiful strange stories, wonderfully evocative of a time and place. Each of the three tales gives a satisfying glimpse into mystery.
September 4, 2015
Hinter James Tiptree Jr. steht eine Frau. Und das ist nicht wörtlich sondern metaphorisch gemeint. Es war Alice B. Sheldon, die unter falschem Namen hauptsächlich Science-Fiction schrieb. Und zwar bemerkenswerten SciFi.
Zugegeben - viele ihrer Geschichten kreisten um das Thema Geschlecht. Aber das ist, angesichts der Tatsache, dass sie ihre Romane unter einem männlichen Pseudonym veröffentlichte um sich dadurch ein wenig Freiraum zu verschaffen, nicht weiter verwunderlich.
Selbstverständlich bedient sich Tiptree dabei selbst stellenweise furchtbar platter Stereotypen; eine Eigenschaft, die auch in der Kurzgeschichtensammlung "Quintana Roo" zum Tragen kommt. So sind die Fronten in ihren Geschichten meistens gut geklärt: Weiße Männer sind böse Eindringlinge, die ihrer Handlungen Folgen nicht abschätzen können oder wollen. Andere Männer sind zumeist ein wenig besser; sofern es sich um Maya handelt sogar ganz in Ordnung. Frauen sind generell nur gebeutelte Figuren. Sie trieb diese Einteilung so weit, dass man alleine aus ihren Geschichten darauf schloss, dass es sich beim Verfasser um eine Frau handelte. Die endgültige Enthüllung dieses Umstands war im Grunde nur noch Formsache.
Sieht man über diese Eindimensionalität allerdings hinweg, wird das Werk der Autorin plötzlich vielfältig und spannend. Und in ihrem Werk - generell eben angesiedelt im SciFi-Bereich - stellen die drei Kurzgeschichten, die in "Quintana Roo" zusammengefasst sind noch eine Ausnahme dar. Es handelt sich bei diesen Erzählungen nämlich mehr um Mystery- oder Gruselgeschichten denn um etwas anderes.
Alle angesiedelt im zu Mexiko gehörenden Yucatán, spielen sie sich am Rande der Fantasie ab. Der eingängige, altväterische Stil der Beschreibungen nämlich, wird nicht nur durch die völlig unmöglichen Ereignisse gestützt, sondern gleichzeitig durch eingestreute Bemerkungen zur tatsächlichen Zeit (in der die Geschichte angesiedelt ist) konterkariert. Stellenweise wirken die in der ICH-Form verfassten Erzählungen wie von Poe geschriebene Kurzgeschichten, in deren literarischen Körper an einigen Punkten Dieselmotoren und Kurzwellenradios wie Holzpflöcke getrieben wurden.
Aber genau das macht einen eigenen Reiz aus, den man kaum leugnen kann.
Wer sich also mit Tiptree auseinander setzen will, dem seien die Geschichten dieses Sammelbandes als antypisch ans Herz gelegt. Sie zeigen vor Allem die Autorin aus einer anderen Perspektive, auch wenn diese nicht gänzlich von ihrer SciFi-Persönlichkeit zu unterscheiden ist.
Zugegeben - viele ihrer Geschichten kreisten um das Thema Geschlecht. Aber das ist, angesichts der Tatsache, dass sie ihre Romane unter einem männlichen Pseudonym veröffentlichte um sich dadurch ein wenig Freiraum zu verschaffen, nicht weiter verwunderlich.
Selbstverständlich bedient sich Tiptree dabei selbst stellenweise furchtbar platter Stereotypen; eine Eigenschaft, die auch in der Kurzgeschichtensammlung "Quintana Roo" zum Tragen kommt. So sind die Fronten in ihren Geschichten meistens gut geklärt: Weiße Männer sind böse Eindringlinge, die ihrer Handlungen Folgen nicht abschätzen können oder wollen. Andere Männer sind zumeist ein wenig besser; sofern es sich um Maya handelt sogar ganz in Ordnung. Frauen sind generell nur gebeutelte Figuren. Sie trieb diese Einteilung so weit, dass man alleine aus ihren Geschichten darauf schloss, dass es sich beim Verfasser um eine Frau handelte. Die endgültige Enthüllung dieses Umstands war im Grunde nur noch Formsache.
Sieht man über diese Eindimensionalität allerdings hinweg, wird das Werk der Autorin plötzlich vielfältig und spannend. Und in ihrem Werk - generell eben angesiedelt im SciFi-Bereich - stellen die drei Kurzgeschichten, die in "Quintana Roo" zusammengefasst sind noch eine Ausnahme dar. Es handelt sich bei diesen Erzählungen nämlich mehr um Mystery- oder Gruselgeschichten denn um etwas anderes.
Alle angesiedelt im zu Mexiko gehörenden Yucatán, spielen sie sich am Rande der Fantasie ab. Der eingängige, altväterische Stil der Beschreibungen nämlich, wird nicht nur durch die völlig unmöglichen Ereignisse gestützt, sondern gleichzeitig durch eingestreute Bemerkungen zur tatsächlichen Zeit (in der die Geschichte angesiedelt ist) konterkariert. Stellenweise wirken die in der ICH-Form verfassten Erzählungen wie von Poe geschriebene Kurzgeschichten, in deren literarischen Körper an einigen Punkten Dieselmotoren und Kurzwellenradios wie Holzpflöcke getrieben wurden.
Aber genau das macht einen eigenen Reiz aus, den man kaum leugnen kann.
Wer sich also mit Tiptree auseinander setzen will, dem seien die Geschichten dieses Sammelbandes als antypisch ans Herz gelegt. Sie zeigen vor Allem die Autorin aus einer anderen Perspektive, auch wenn diese nicht gänzlich von ihrer SciFi-Persönlichkeit zu unterscheiden ist.
December 29, 2015
Quintana Roo ist der 5. Band in der Reihe der gesammelten Erzählungen von James Tiptree Jr. (Alice Sheldon).
Die drei Erzählungen des Bandes wurden zu Beginn der 80er Jahre, noch zu Lebzeiten der Autorin veröffentlicht, in dieser Ausgabe rundet das Buch das Nachwort von Anne Koenen ab.
Der Inhalt der drei Erzählungen ist schwer zu beschreiben, Sheldon versucht hier den magischen Realismus der Lateinamerikanischen Literatur, wiederzugeben.
Letztendlich geht es um Müll in allen Erscheinungsformen, ob als literarische Form oder als Anklage gegen die zunehmende Ökonomisierung der Alltagswelt.
Die Geschichten sind durchzogen von Bildern der Verschmutzung und des Niedergangs. Dreck am Strand, Leuchtstoffröhren und Waschmittelflaschen im Wasser, rücksichtsloser Tourismus, Überfischung, vom Salzwasser zerfressene Plastiktüten, die über ein Riff gleiten, ein Schildkrötenweibchen mit Stahlbolzen im Hals, Boote und Kreuzfahrtschiffe, die in den Nacht ihren Dreck in der See verklappen.
Insgesamt litararisch ansprechend mit phantastischen Einschlägen, wer sich aber an den wunderbaren SF-Stories von Tiptree orientiert, ist vieleicht etwas enttäuscht...
Die drei Erzählungen des Bandes wurden zu Beginn der 80er Jahre, noch zu Lebzeiten der Autorin veröffentlicht, in dieser Ausgabe rundet das Buch das Nachwort von Anne Koenen ab.
Der Inhalt der drei Erzählungen ist schwer zu beschreiben, Sheldon versucht hier den magischen Realismus der Lateinamerikanischen Literatur, wiederzugeben.
Letztendlich geht es um Müll in allen Erscheinungsformen, ob als literarische Form oder als Anklage gegen die zunehmende Ökonomisierung der Alltagswelt.
Die Geschichten sind durchzogen von Bildern der Verschmutzung und des Niedergangs. Dreck am Strand, Leuchtstoffröhren und Waschmittelflaschen im Wasser, rücksichtsloser Tourismus, Überfischung, vom Salzwasser zerfressene Plastiktüten, die über ein Riff gleiten, ein Schildkrötenweibchen mit Stahlbolzen im Hals, Boote und Kreuzfahrtschiffe, die in den Nacht ihren Dreck in der See verklappen.
Insgesamt litararisch ansprechend mit phantastischen Einschlägen, wer sich aber an den wunderbaren SF-Stories von Tiptree orientiert, ist vieleicht etwas enttäuscht...
July 14, 2023
I'd been looking for this book for years and I finally was able to get it on the kindle edition about three days ago (shout-out to Gateway for making it possible), it did not disappoint!
This is a work of pure poetry. Eventhough it took a while for me to get used to the author's style, I was hooked by page four. I just loved how simple these stories appeared to be, despite being packed with meaning. The author succedes not just at creating a quite effortless depiction of Quintana Roo's melancholy beauty, but also at discussing themes such as ecology without pretension.
Most importantly, I think the greatness of this books resides in its honesty. The love of the author for Quintana Roo and the Maya is made evident in every page, in every word, thus she is able to portray them with dignity and no trace of condecendance, which is common in books likes this.
I can clearly see myself returning to these stories very often, so I would recommend them to everyone, particularly, considering that James Tiptree Jr. is not as well known as she should be!
This is a work of pure poetry. Eventhough it took a while for me to get used to the author's style, I was hooked by page four. I just loved how simple these stories appeared to be, despite being packed with meaning. The author succedes not just at creating a quite effortless depiction of Quintana Roo's melancholy beauty, but also at discussing themes such as ecology without pretension.
Most importantly, I think the greatness of this books resides in its honesty. The love of the author for Quintana Roo and the Maya is made evident in every page, in every word, thus she is able to portray them with dignity and no trace of condecendance, which is common in books likes this.
I can clearly see myself returning to these stories very often, so I would recommend them to everyone, particularly, considering that James Tiptree Jr. is not as well known as she should be!
November 6, 2014
Should be 3.5 stars.
Picked this up at a local second-hand book fair. I'd heard that the author (aka Alice Sheldon) was very good at weird fiction and after reading this short collection set in the Quintana Roo region of Mexico I can only agree.
The author's style is great and the stories do have just that little touch of the weird that I like. My only issue is that the foreword hints that the stories are about the Quintana Roo and the remnant of the Mayan culture that is supposed to still exist there, but in reality they are more to do with the ocean off the coast and the way modern culture is changing that landscape. The stories aren't bad, it's just that they weren't what I was expecting.
A little gem that I am definitely going to keep.
Picked this up at a local second-hand book fair. I'd heard that the author (aka Alice Sheldon) was very good at weird fiction and after reading this short collection set in the Quintana Roo region of Mexico I can only agree.
The author's style is great and the stories do have just that little touch of the weird that I like. My only issue is that the foreword hints that the stories are about the Quintana Roo and the remnant of the Mayan culture that is supposed to still exist there, but in reality they are more to do with the ocean off the coast and the way modern culture is changing that landscape. The stories aren't bad, it's just that they weren't what I was expecting.
A little gem that I am definitely going to keep.
August 17, 2012
Old school ghost story style, lovely short ephemeral things in an environment I have no idea if would be accurate to the time/place(Yucatan). The illustrations were pretty scary/ugly, I didn't really care for most of them.
May 21, 2015
kurze kritik auf meinem blog.
November 17, 2015
Not really my thing, but an interesting mood piece.
January 31, 2021
Slim Arkham House publication of Tiptree's three Yucatan novellas. Moody and atmospheric - her stance on magic realism.
February 13, 2016
Good horror tales from this forgotten SiFi writer. Recommended
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews