Her Smoke Rose Up Forever

By: James Tiptree Jr.

Narrated by: Dina Pearlman, Adam Grupper

Length: 23 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

These 18 darkly complex short stories and novellas touch upon human nature and perception, metaphysics and epistemology, and gender and sexuality, foreshadowing a world in which biological tendencies bring about the downfall of humankind. Revisions from the author's notes are included, allowing a deeper view into her world and a better understanding of her work. The Nebula Award-winning short story "Love Is the Plan, the Plan Is Death", the Hugo Award-winning novella The Girl Who Was Plugged In, and the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novella Houston, Houston, Do You Read? are included.

The stories of Alice Sheldon, who wrote as James Tiptree Jr. (Up the Walls of the World) until her death in 1987, have been heretofore available mostly in out-of-print collections. Thus the 18 accomplished stories here will be welcomed by new listeners and old fans. ''The Screwfly Solution'' describes a chilling, elegant answer to the population problem. In ''Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death,'' the title tells the tale - species survival insured by imprinted drives - but the story's force is in its exquisite, lyrical prose and its suggestion that personal uniqueness is possible even within biological imperatives. ''The Girl Who Was Plugged In'' is a future boy-meets-girl story with a twist unexpected by the players. ''The Women Men Don't See'' displays Tiptree's keen insight and ability to depict singularity within the ordinary. In Hugo and Nebula award-winning ''Houston, Houston, Do You Read?'' astronauts flying by the sun slip forward 500 years and encounter a culture that successfully questions gender roles in ours.

©2004 Jeffrey D. Smith (P)2020 Audible, Inc.

The Best of Her Fiction

Alice B. Sheldon, a.k.a. James Tiptree Jr., had a fascinating life story and a unique imagination. Each of these deeply moving, speculative stories is infused with the sadness all female creatives feel when excluded from the "boys' club." The fact that she wasn't a publishing sensation until mid-life, writing as a man, is just another cultural fault that can never be repaired. And despite #metoo and some small headway toward equality, so many female sf authors still publish under pseudonyms or their first initials to disguise gender. Listen to this collection for a mind-bending, unforgettable experience!

A wonderful reminder

I remember reading this book quite a while back when I was younger. It was a very pleasant surprise to find this audiobook then. The performances were very well done and actually brought to life the stories I had enjoyed a long time ago.

Extraordinary Science Fiction

intelligent stories, often with surprising turn of events. Depressive undertones, not exactly cheering up the reader..Sometimes longing for happier ends .

Visionary tales

I loved them even as I found parts of some stories difficult to listen to, even chilling.

Most were good, all were different

The stories were all very different. Many were good, some were excellent and a few were … too different?

Misogynistic classic sci-fi

James Tiptree is a pen-name for Alice Bradley Sheldon, who must have been compelled to entirely over-compensate by dialing up machismo into the realm of absurdity. These stories seem like products of somebody's tone deaf assumption that macho aggression is all that's needed to appeal to a male audience. Though sci-fi in Tiptree's era was especially marked by male readership, the author jumps sharks to create some of the most uselessly-shallow and unrelatable people I've ever "met" in any classic sci-fi.