James Nicoll Reviews

The James Tiptree, Jr. Award is an ​“annual literary prize for science fiction or fantasy that expands or explores our understanding of gender.” Details on its history and why it has the name it does, as well as a list of winners, the honor lists and other notable works can be found here.

I had the privilege to be a jurist in 2011. For that and other reasons, this is an award for which I have a personal interest, as should you all. Accordingly, over the next year or so, I will be reviewing the Tiptree winners in the chronological order in which they won, more or less [1], as copies fall into my hand.

My current list, in reverse chronological order. Checks indicate that I currently have access to a copy:

The Girl in the Road, Monica Byrne ✔

My Real Children, Jo Walton

Rupetta, N. A. Sulway

The Drowning Girl, Caitlín R. Kiernan 

Ancient, Ancient, Kiini Ibura Salaam

Redwood and Wildfire, Andrea Hairston ✔ 

Baba Yaga Laid an Egg, Dubravka Ugresic

Ooku: The Inner Chambers, Volumes 1 & 2, Fumi Yoshinaga

Cloud & Ashes: Three Winter’s Tales, Greer Gilman

The Knife of Never Letting Go, Patrick Ness

Filter House, Nisi Shawl

The Carhullan Army, Sarah Hall

The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden, Catherynne M. Valente

Half Life, Shelley Jackson

Air, Geoff Ryman

Camouflage, Joe Haldeman ✔

Not Before Sundown (Troll: A Love Story), Johanna Sinisalo

Set This House In Order: A Romance Of Souls, Matt Ruff

Light, M. John Harrison

“Stories for Men”, John Kessel

The Kappa Child, Hiromi Goto

Wild Life, Molly Gloss

The Conqueror’s Child, Suzy McKee Charnas

“Congenital Agenesis of Gender Ideation by K. N. Sirsi and Sandra Botkin, Raphael Carter ✔

“Travels With the Snow Queen”, Kelly Link

Black Wine, Candas Jane Dorsey

“Mountain Ways”, Ursula K. Le Guin

The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell

Waking the Moon, Elizabeth Hand ✔

The Memoirs of Elizabeth Frankenstein, Theodore Roszak

The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin ✔

Motherlines, Suzy McKee Charnas

Walk to the End of the World, Suzy McKee Charnas ✔

“When It Changed”, Joanna Russ ✔

The Female Man, Joanna Russ ✔

Larque on the Wing, Nancy Springer

“The Matter of Seggri”, Ursula K. Le Guin ✔

Ammonite, Nicola Griffith ✔

China Mountain Zhang, Maureen F. McHugh ✔

White Queen, Gwyneth Jones

A Woman of the Iron People, Eleanor Arnason ✔ 

There is also an Angela Carter Fairy Godmother Award but if I understand it correctly, it is given to authors, not specific works. 

I may or may not also review some of the works that made it onto the Honor Lists and the Long Lists; the limiting factors are time, my puckish whimsy, and whether or not anyone sees fit to sponsor those reviews. 

1: Except for Ammonite, already reviewed here and Walk to the End of the World, reviewed here.