Even when we do get published, we get fewer buzz, fewer reviews, fewer awards fewer sales and of course fewer chances of selling another book to a publisher.

We have aged or sick relatives to take care of difficulties with publishers or poor sales. We become mothers and struggle to conciliate family and writing family and careers. In real life, women all too often vanish. To the end, she remains the moral core of the story, fighting for what she has and what she believes in. She never takes a back seat while men sort out the problems for her never becomes kidnapped, and never fades into a featureless prize handed to the hero. She’s good at her job compassionate and strong. She doesn’t require saving or killing to motivate the hero. Here is a woman who has a healthy (if sometimes rocky) relationship with her husband and with her three children, one that feels real. She doesn’t get raped or beaten up or fridged, or the myriad clichéd fates for women present in Hollywood movies.

Here is a woman who isn’t background noise, a reward for the hero, a dead mother or girlfriend, an overbearing harpy, a misguided rebel in need of rescue. She very clearly has a role of her own and her own preoccupations. I wasn’t quite sure why she left such a strong impression on me, until I realised: she’s no accessory. In the midst of a powerful ensemble cast, I was struck by the figure of the mother, Inger Engman, a hard-working lawyer in an average Swedish family. You can read Athena Andreadis’ HERE.Īs part of our evening series watching, the husband and I have discovered Äkta människor ( Real Humans), a Swedish production set in a world where humanoid robots are commonplace.

Following Aliette de Bodard’s recent Nebula Award for the novelette “The Waiting Stars,” her contribution to the anthology The Other Half of the Sky, we invited the author as well as editor Athena Andreadis over to talk about women, Science Fiction and memory.īelow is Aliette de Bodard’s post. Today, we continue our ongoing new series “SFF in Conversation” with two guest posts. Anyone can participate and we are welcoming emailed topic submissions from authors, bloggers, readers, and fans of all categories, age ranges, and subgenres beneath the speculative fiction umbrella.

Our vision is to create a safe (moderated) space for thoughtful conversation about the genre, with a special focus on inclusivity and diversity in SFF. SFF in Conversation is a new monthly feature on The Book Smugglers in which we invite guests to talk about a variety of topics important to speculative fiction fans, authors, and readers.

Breakpoint by Alison Sinclair