Woman on the Edge of Time

Marge Piercy     1976     384p     MMPB Connie Ramos, a woman in her mid-thirties, has been declared insane. But Connie is overwhelmingly sane, merely tuned to the future, and able to communicate with the year 2137. As her doctors persuade her to agree to an operation, Connie struggles to force herself … Continue reading Woman on the Edge of Time

Planet of Exile

Ursula K. Le Guin     1966     113p    MMPB The fourth installment of the Hainish Cycle, this story is set on Werel, the third planet of the Gamma Draconis system. The planet has an orbital period of 60 Earth years, and is approaching its correspondingly long winter. The main characters belong to … Continue reading Planet of Exile

Orsinian Tales

Stories Ursula K. Le Guin     1976     240p     MMPB Orsinia . . . a land of medieval forests, stonewalled cities, and railways reaching into the mountains where the old gods dwell. A country where life is harsh, dreams are gentle, and people feel torn by powerful forces and fight to … Continue reading Orsinian Tales

The Lathe of Heaven

A Novel Ursula K. Le Guin     1971     192p     5 x 8 In a future world racked by violence and environmental catastrophes, George Orr wakes up one day to discover that his dreams have the ability to alter reality. He seeks help from Dr. William Haber, a psychiatrist who immediately … Continue reading The Lathe of Heaven

He, She and It

Body of Glass Marge Piercy    1991    448p    6 x 9 A dystopian future novel in the 22nd century where corporations control scarce world resources and remain luxurious, spick and span, while independent free zones remain in squalor but free and dangerous. The story follows Shira Shipman, working at one such corp called … Continue reading He, She and It

The Giver

Lois Lowry    1993    192p    MMPB Jonas’s world is perfect. Everything is under control. There is no war or fear of pain. There are no choices. Every person is assigned a role in the community, and when Jonas turns 12 he is sent to train under The Giver. The Giver alone holds the … Continue reading The Giver

The Eye of Heron

Ursula K. Le Guin 1978 192p 5 x 8 In Victoria on a former prison colony, two exiled groups–the farmers of Shantih and the City dwellers–live in apparent harmony. All is not as it seems, however. While the peace-loving farmers labor endlessly to provide food for the City, where the City Bosses rule the Shantih … Continue reading The Eye of Heron

Changing Planes

Ursula K. Le Guin   2003   256p   MMPB In this collection of short stories each chapter describes a different world and the society that inhabits it; these societies share similarities with Earth’s cultures in some respects, but may be notably dissimilar in other respects. Many of the chapters are brief vignettes or ethnographic … Continue reading Changing Planes

The Blind Assassin

Margaret Atwood 2001 521p 6 x 9 The Blind Assassin opens with these simple, resonant words: ‘Ten days after the war ended, my sister Laura drove a car off a bridge.’ They are spoken by Iris, whose terse account of her sister’s death in 1945 is followed by an inquest report proclaiming the death accidental. … Continue reading The Blind Assassin

The Handmaid’s Tale

Margaret Atwood     1985     311p     MMPB Written after a visit to afghanistan in the ’80s, this is a dystopian tale about what could be the role of women in an american theocracy. $2-5 The Handmaid’s Tale in spanish   Other works involving margaret atwood, misogyny, feminsim, patriarchy, science fiction