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Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 49, June 2014: Women Destroy Science Fiction!

Christie Yant

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Similar in characterization + relationships

These books are ranked using the characterization + relationships labels extracted for Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 49, June 2014: Women Destroy Science Fiction!. Books rank higher when they are close on every selected axis.

Characterization labels used: women protagonists, female soldiers, scientists, explorers, artists, detectives, robots, sentient ships, modified humans, mermaids, mythic reworking, strong women, working women, alien beings

Relationships labels used: female friendship, romance, rivalry, mentor-mentee, mother-child, sisters, marriage, friend betrayal, power imbalance, government control, community bonds, professional hierarchy

This does not mean the books share the same plot, setting, quality, or difficulty. It means their characterization + relationships embeddings are close.

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Titan

John Varley · 1987 · Gaea

A Saturn expedition is swallowed by a living alien habitat, forcing its captain to reunite the crew and survive its strange world.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: female captain · strong female protagonist · female crew · crew ensemble · competent leader · alien intermediaries · shape-shifted survivors · clone sisters · lesbian characters

Relationships labels: crew dynamics · female friendship · romantic partnership · lesbian relationship · rivalry · sexual assault · forced impregnation · family resemblance · power imbalance · dependency

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1417

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The Future is Female! Women's Science Fiction Stories from the Pulp Era to the New Wave

Lisa Yaszek, Leslie F. Stone, Judith Merril, Leigh Brackett, Kit Reed, Joanna Russ, Ursula K. Le Guin, James Tiptree Jr. · 2018

A chronological anthology of classic sci-fi stories by women, tracing the genre from pulp-era invention to New Wave experimentation.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: female protagonists · strong women · heroines · matriarchs · housewives · mothers · scientists · psychologists · super-intelligent child · alien beings

Relationships labels: family · motherhood · parent-child · gender roles · marriage · marital conflict · power imbalance · colonizer-colonized · rivalry

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1461

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Nevertheless, She Persisted: Flash Fiction Project

Diana M. Pho, Charlie Jane Anders, Brooke Bolander, Amal El-Mohtar, Maria Dahvana Headley, Kameron Hurley, Seanan McGuire, Nisi Shawl, Catherynne M. Valente, Carrie Vaughn, Jo Walton, Alyssa Wong · 2020

Eleven SFF writers turn a famous act of silencing into flash fiction about women refusing to be محدود.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: determined women · defiant heroines · female protagonists · strong women · oppressed women · curious women · surviving women · women inventors · women seekers · women resisting · powerful women · moral ambiguity

Relationships labels: sisterhood · women's solidarity · mentor opposition · power imbalance · community resistance · female bonds · family tension · rivalry · dependency

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1534

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Girls with Razor Hearts

Suzanne Young · 2020 · Girls with Sharp Sticks

Escaped girls infiltrate a new school to destroy the corporation behind them, but freedom brings new threats.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: female ensemble · female friendship · strong women · traumatized protagonist · feminist heroine · double agent · rogue investor · love interest · rogue girl

Relationships labels: sisterhood · female solidarity · friendship · romance · power imbalance · manipulation · betrayal · dependency · protective bond

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1614

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Grey Sister

Mark Lawrence · 2018 · Book of the Ancestor

A deadly novice must choose her path while enemies, politics, and buried truths close in on Sweet Mercy.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: female protagonist · powerful protagonist · angry protagonist · loyal protagonist · resourceful protagonist · cunning leader · mastermind · mischievous side character · secondary cast focus · mean girl antagonist · teen girls · novice trainees · assassin nun

Relationships labels: friendship · female friendship · sisterhood · loyalty · betrayal · rivalry · mentor-mentee · family conflict · power imbalance · community bonds · chosen family

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1643

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She Walks in Shadows

Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Gemma Files, Jilly Dreadful, Arinn Dembo, Eugenie Mora, Ann K. Schwader, Rodopi Sisamis, Angela Slatter, Priya Sridhar, Benjanun Sriduangkaew, Molly Tanzer, Laura Blackwell, E. Catherine Tobler, Mary Turzillo, Valerie Valdes, Wendy N. Wagner, Nadia Bulkin, Selena Chambers, Pandora Hope, Lyndsey Holder, Sharon Mock, Amelia Gorman, Nelly Geraldine García-Rosas, Inkeri Kontro · 2015

Women authors reimagine Lovecraftian horror through female-centered retellings, experiments, and new mythos riffs.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: female protagonists · women writers · cultists · archivists · scientists · scholars · teenagers · mothers · adventurers · bull rider · unlikeable protagonist · rebellious women · monstrous women · powerful women · smart women · twisted women

Relationships labels: mother-daughter · family dysfunction · estrangement · community · cult dynamics · colonial power · female/female relationships · romance absence · lust · betrayal · loyalty

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1662

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The Natural Way of Things

Charlotte Wood · 2015

Ten women wake in an isolated prison camp and must survive abuse, secrecy, and one another to escape.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: young women · female ensemble · survivors · captors · sadistic guards · inept authority · female alliance · resourceful heroine · dehumanized victims

Relationships labels: female friendship · alliance · bonding · group conflict · power imbalance · guard-prisoner · female rivalry · solidarity · betrayal · dependency

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1665

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Wizard

John Varley · 1987 · Gaea

Two damaged human pilgrims join an ex-wizard’s journey across a sentient Saturn-orbit world that demands heroism for healing.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: female lead · older protagonist · drunken protagonist · alcoholism · troubled protagonists · disabled protagonists · queer protagonists · strong women · alien species · ambassadors

Relationships labels: friendship · romance · same-sex relationships · mentor-protégé · companionship · traveling companions · power imbalance · community conflict · gender conflict

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1666

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Crossover

Joel Shepherd · 2006 · Cassandra Kresnov

An escaped android super-soldier seeks a normal life in enemy territory, but politics, violence, and identity questions pull her back in.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: female protagonist · android heroine · super-soldier · kickass heroine · conflicted protagonist · sympathetic protagonist · witty protagonist · empathetic protagonist · strong supporting women · bisexual supporting character · politically aware characters

Relationships labels: female friendship · unlikely alliance · enemies-to-allies · defector relationship · team dynamics · protective partnership · trust issues · forged friendships · institutional hostility

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1670

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The Year of the Flood

Margaret Atwood · 2009 · MaddAddam

Two women survive a man-made apocalypse while moving through a world of eco-faith, corporations, and engineered life.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: female protagonists · survivors · eco-activists · cult members · religious adherents · resilient women · resourceful · naive youth · mature survivor · moral ambiguity · antagonistic survivors

Relationships labels: friendship · female friendship · romantic breakup · lover loss · stepfamily · community bonds · cult belonging · power imbalance · betrayal · loyalty

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1675

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Stiletto

Daniel O'Malley · 2016 · The Checquy Files

Two women from rival secret organizations must broker peace while stopping attacks that could trigger a supernatural war.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: female leads · strong women · competent women · bureaucratic competence · snarky lead · bodyguard · diplomat · operative · scientific specialist · reluctant allies · professional women · quirky characters · bizarre abilities · supporting protagonist

Relationships labels: female friendship · reluctant partnership · forced proximity · adversaries to allies · institutional rivalry · ancestral enmity · factional hostility · bodyguard bond · alliance building · trust issues · hesitant friendship

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1679

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The Starlit Wood

Dominik Parisien, Margo Lanagan, Marjorie M. Liu, Seanan McGuire, Garth Nix, Naomi Novik, Sofia Samatar, Karin Tidbeck, Catherynne M. Valente, Genevieve Valentine, Amal El-Mohtar, Charlie Jane Anders, Aliette de Bodard, Jeffrey Ford, Max Gladstone, Theodora Goss, Daryl Gregory, Kat Howard, Stephen Graham Jones · 2016 · The Universe of Xuya

An anthology of fairy tale retellings that reworks familiar and obscure tales across fantasy, SF, horror, and western modes.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: female protagonists · women-centered · strong women · heroines · feminist reinterpretation · agency-seeking characters · abused women · resourceful women · smart heroine · queens · witches · girls · princesses

Relationships labels: female friendship · women saving each other · sapphic romance · abusive marriage · parent-child conflict · motherhood · found family · power imbalance · sisterhood · romantic rescue subversion

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1682

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