The Geek Feminist Revolution

Starred review from March 14, 2016
Hugo Award–winning writer Hurley (Empire Ascendant) places some of her best previously published essays and nine new pieces into a collection that loudly highlights the limiting, raw deal women get in the science fiction and fantasy genre as authors, readers, and characters. She points out the dangers of trying to subvert gender norms rather than overturning them, and the impact that the science fiction writing tropes of the 1980s still have on today’s popular imagination, while encouraging writers to create, and readers to demand, stories that really push the edges of what we can imagine. She writes in an exquisitely crafted yet deceptively casual, profanity-laced style, linking her experiences to universal issues with rousing conviction. Hurley is certainly not the first to point out the deep misogyny in 21st-century popular culture, but she articulates the problems in an incisive, opinionated, and demanding blend of analysis and personal storytelling that will inspire her readers and peers in the science fiction community to work toward change. Agent: Hannah Bowman, Liza Dawson Associates.

June 1, 2016

This collection of personal essays, including the Hugo Award-winning "We Have Always Fought," runs the gamut from memoir to cultural criticism, with a common connecting thread of what it means to be a woman creator in the constellation of geek cultures--sf, comics, gaming, etc.--in the Internet age. Major fandom-centric controversies such as #Gamergate and the Sad/Rabid Puppies Hugo slates are addressed, as well as pop-culture icons from films Die Hard to Mad Max. Hurley is clear sighted about intersectionality and what's incumbent on public figures facing criticism, even when they don't feel powerful. What's not here are next steps, personal or systemic, beyond not shutting or giving up that readers seeking revolution might have come for. VERDICT A great introduction for geek guys seeking to understand and reassurance for women that the injustices, while real, are survivable.--Meredith Schwartz, Library Journal

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2016
Novelist and Hugo-winning essayist Hurley presents a brash call to action in the form of short, personal exhortations. The collection includes 36 essays, many originally published as blog posts, and concludes with the Hugo Award-winner, We Have Always Fought, on the subject of women in combat. Using the lens of personal experience, Hurley tackles the speculative fiction publishing landscape and online harassment, interrogates the question of privilege, emphasizes the importance of controlling narrative, and declares her fearlessness on every page. While Hurley consistently demonstrates a high level of engagement with her subject matter, her think pieces sometimes only scratch the surface, leaving the reader with a pithy pull quote rather than in-depth understanding or concrete ways to take action. Those who would benefit most from a radical shift in their perspective on women are among those least likely to pick up this collection, but it will spark conversation and could serve as an introductory text. Recommended for newer writersparticularly womenand readers looking for a follow-up to Roxanne Gay's Bad Feminist (2014).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)