The Sword and Laser discussion

Here we are reading a novel by James Tiptree Jr., yet she was known mostly as a writer of shorts. I knew I had read at least one of her collections, and The Man Who Walked Home remains prominent in my memory as a stark, apocalyptic look at time travel and its potential dangers.

A little digging shows the collection was Ten Thousand Light Years From Home. I recall the cover distinctly.

Story has a review (and you can see the cover) at the link:
https://outofeverywhere.wordpress.com...

Why are we reading a novel and not the shorts? Don't know, but I did notice that the collections are not available in e-format. But! Baen Books has a web page with the story. Presumably Baen has arranged the rights so this isn't piracy. I am heading off to read it and see if it is as I remember from 4+ decades ago. And if you have Tiptree stories you remember, have at it below!

Link to "The Man Who Walked Home"
https://www.baen.com/Chapters/9781625...

...Aaah. Beautiful story. Yep, memory served, but the details are even better on reread.

Oh, spoilers I suppose...(view spoiler)[
Science and industrial civilization takes longer to return that you'd expect, casually explained as the people shun "hardscience" presumably as a result of the technologically-caused apocalypse.

A museum preserves a record of the reason for the accident, in a bit of deus ex machina for explanations, but it works within the story.
(hide spoiler)]
What was the inspiration for the story? Tiptree must have seen some pretty outlandish things as an intelligence agent. Even if it was nothing esoteric, there's still the concept of titanium rods dropped from orbit. That idea was known then and could have caused the devastation at the start of the story, and provided a jumping off point. From there I will start to free associate to Niven's technology-suppressing ARM branch of the UN and, well, getting far afield. Which is one of the benefits of a well written story, makes you head off to fields of wondering (but not, in this case, of wonder.)

All in all a good read. Holds up well.

Damn good story. The writing is tight and precise. Not at all like the start of the novel we are reading.

Was a very good story. I'm glad you remembered it John, and brought it to our attention.

Moving on with the Tiptree lexicon is "The Women Men Don't See." The MC is a male-chauvinist, dismissing women and their accomplishments at every turn. It seems like a spy-thriller at first rather than SFF, and makes me openly wonder just what Tiptree learned in her years in intelligence.

The SFnal aspect creeps up on the reader and then BAM! You realize it's been there all along. (light spoiler next)(view spoiler)[The mother and daughter are on a quest, and have been for several trips to South America. Given the mother's position in intelligence, she would have availability to the information. And, she networks well. (hide spoiler)]How much of a self insert is this? Only Tiptree would have known for sure, but I'm thinking "lots."

Apparently legit copy available at an archive of the old scifi.com site:
https://lexal.net/scifi/scifiction/cl...

I also read The Girl Who Was Plugged In, a story that predicts our media-obsessed life a bit too well. A story about what constitutes identity, and just what you would do if granted your greatest wish. This one is easy to find online. Unfortunately no ebook format available for purchase.

a bit of a Crosspost from Discord...

So I got the wrong book from the libary. I was traveling and put it on hold. Came home and picked it up today and got The Science Fiction Century instead, Seeing this discussion here and on Discord, I am not going to try any more.

The book does have a James Tiptree Jr. story, Beam Us Up, so I am reading that in communal spirit.

"The Women Men Don't See." is another excellent read. We really should have done the short stories. I can see the same themes in this months pick just not as well executed. The short form cuts the excesses away.