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Posted By: Tom (Plasmid) Jan 25, 1999 - 11:41 am

During her 20 year career, James Tiptree Jr. (aka Alice Sheldon) wrote only two novels, Up the Walls of the World and Brightness That Falls From the Air.

Up the Walls of the World deals with two societies: a group of highly dysfunctional human pscychics working on a government project lead by a burnt-out doctor, and a group of ephemeral aliens on the wind-world of Tyree.

Brightness That Falls From the Air takes place on the planet Damiem, a site of terrible atrocties against the native inhabitants. A group of humans (with various motives, some good, some evil) arrive their to view the results of another atrocity, a war-destroyed sun, "The Murdered Star".

Both stories demonstrate Tiptree's ability to produce extremely moving and graphic prose, and to make one feel for her highly flawed characters.

However, I felt that the former was a better work, more consistant in its pace and characterizations, while the latter took too long to get started and didn't explore the characters enough.

Has anyone else read these? If you did, what did you think?

Posted By: The Master Jan 27, 1999 - 05:18 pm

I haven't, but it sounds like I should!

Posted By: Aslan Nov 24, 2001 - 12:29 pm

I haven't read either of her novels, but LOVE her short stories. I recommend the collection "Her Smoke Rose Up Forever", which has some award winners. Don't read the intro, though, because whoever wrote it is a goofball.

"Houston, Houston, Do You Read" is very cool and relevant to some current events.

Posted By: gnollslayer Feb 26, 2005 - 10:47 am

The novella "The Only Neat Thing to Do" is downright awesome.

Posted By: Magus Feb 26, 2005 - 02:46 pm

Sorry, no. I haven't even heard of her before I read this topic. But she seems like the kind I'll want to pick up and read.