Over the last month or so, I read and reviewed a book called Outies, written by archaeologist Jennifer Pournelle as her entry into the social science fiction genre. My major complaint of the book was that the lead character, Asach Quinn, was not female--I thought Pournelle had wasted a great opportunity to explore women in leadership roles, and I mentioned that in my review posted last Wednesday.
Outies cover art
Photo: ©Jennifer Pournelle
Much to my surprise, Pournelle wrote back and told me that in the book she had deliberately left the gender of the lead character ambiguous, and in fact Asach was "gender neutral". My first reaction was to laugh--how funny is that, that I would have subconsciously chosen the gender of the lead character, and then complained about my choice--and my second reaction was to ask a whole bunch of questions.
My interview with Jennifer Pournelle strays wildly from pure archaeology, but since it touches on anthropological issues and writing--and how Outies fits in with her archaeological research--I think you'll find it worth reading.
- Outies, Gender Neutrality and Social Science Fiction: An Interview with Jennifer Pournelle
- Outies: A Review in which Kris misses the point entirely
Comments
A reviewer who admits, gleefully, to missing the point of the novel. That IS novel. And much appreciated. That admission made me read all the links associated and I look forward to actually reading the book in question.
Bravo, Kris, bravo!
Kia ora Kris – as an asexual, a writer, a totally untrained enjoyer of archaeology and an unabashed fan of much scific. may I thank you for the review & interview?
This work would probably never have come to my attention otherwise-and it is right within the parameters of my major interests-
and may I add, love your blog. Have learned much – ka mihi koa ki a koe n/n Keri
Thanks for this great interview and for what for many will be an introduction into the world of ‘serious’ historically informed sci-fi. I’ve long been an admirer of her father’s (and Larry Niven’s) work, and continue to read her father’s blog “chaos manor” even though our political perspectives are far apart. Where else can one find the history so richly detailed while bringing the future of human history into a plausible if fantastic story. I’ll look forward to reading Jennifer’s book and I’ll be adding a new dimension into my own ponderings about the future and the past. Cheers.
PS…another marvelous read in historical Sci-Fi which might equally qualify but for different reasons would be Neal Stephenson’s “The Baroque Cycle”.