Sisters of Tomorrow

The First Women of Science Fiction Lisa Yaszek & Patrick B Sharp Wesleyan University Pres 2016 Pb, 396pp, ilus, bib, ind, £29, ISBN 9780819576248 Early science fiction is often seen as a male affair; women such as authors Leigh Brackett and CL Moore, or artist Margaret Brundage, are well known, but the hundreds of other authors, artists, editors and journalists who contributed to the field during the pulp era are less celebrated. Sisters of

Tomorrow collects work by more than two dozen women from between 1929 and 1950.

Yaszek and Sharp divide the chosen work into five categories: authors, poets, journalists, editors and artists, with short introductions and examples of writing or art by the women, together with short biographies of the creators. ‘Authors’ takes up about two-thirds of the book’s length, with nine short stories. The other sections make for equally compelling reading, though, especially the journalism and editorial sections, which provide a fascinating image of a selfconscious fan community at a critical stage of its development.

Kathleen Ann Goonan’s conclusion discusses the connection between these early female SF authors and the ongoing fight to secure and recognise women’s role within the genre. She addresses recent incidents such as the battles over Hugo Award nominations that convulsed SF fandom between 2013 and 2016. Sisters

of Tomorrow is a fascinating look at a group of writers whose work is often forgotten. The decision to include journalists, editors, artists and poets highlights the role of women not only in SF literature but, equally importantly, in the genre’s community.