Mike Ashley

[silk_noir]

I did a little looking around on Mike Ashley, editor of The Mammoth Book of Mindblowing Science Fiction. (See previous post). Seems he's been doing this editor thing for a while, and has a whole bunch of Mammoth short story collections running around.

Comments

[jwgh]

It looks like he also edited a book called "Unforgettable Ghost Stories by Women Writers". The table of contents is:The Lost Ghost by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
Kerfol by Edith Wharton
The Green Road by Ruth Rendell
The Apartment by Jessica Amanda Salmonson
The Victim by May Sinclair
The Shell of Sense by Olivia Howard Dunbar
The Shadow in the Moonlight by Mary Molesworth
From the Dead by Edith Nesbit
The Mad Lady by Harriet Prescott Spofford
The Lovely House by Shirley Jackson
The Footsteps in the Dust by Alice Perrin
Perdita by Hildegarde Hawthorne
The Open Door by Charlotte Riddell
An Urban Paradox by Joyce Carol Oates
Unseen-Unfeared by Francis Stevens
The Wax Doll by Greye La Spina
The Scarecrow by Gwendolyn Ranger Wormser
The Striding Place by Gertrude Atherton

[oldcharliebrown]

I've known Mike, and Mike's work, for nearly fifteen years. He knows his history of the science fiction / fantasy magazines like the back of his hand, and is very well-respected. There's more about him at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Ashley_(writer)

He's also releasing THE DARKER SEX, around the same month, "stories by Britain and America's greatest Victorian women, proving their talent for creating dark, sensational, and horrifying tales of the supernatural."

I think that people should cut him a little slack, perhaps, as he's probably aware of the criticisms. He might strive to do something different, next time.

[silk_noir]

That's what puzzles me, is that his anthologies are quite varied, and I was impressed with what I read from the google book.

If he's aware of the criticism and issues, though, then why should he be cut any slack?

I'd like to hear his side of the story....

[icecreamempress]

I think that people should cut him a little slack

Why?

Seriously, why? Spouting bullshit like "women don't write about hard science" doesn't win him my respect.

Women in SF

[anonymous]

It seems the male-only content of my MAMMOTH BOOK OF MINDBLOWING SF has caused quite a bit of angst, and a lot of questions have been asked. Since the one on this blog is direct, I thought maybe I'd comment

Re: Women in SF

[ktempest]

Dear Mike Ashley,

Even if I were to accept this as a reasonable reason, that does not explain where all the people of color are. Just sayin'.

Re: Women in SF

[silk_noir]

Mike, thank you!

After looking through your work, I thought it was supremely peculiar (mind blowing, in fact, in I may) that someone as cognizant as you would have left out the women. I for one look forward to the apocalyptic sf anthology, as I'm fond of that trope.

As for your statement about stories concentrating on people, etc., rather than hard science concepts, I can't say whether I hope that will change or whether that's all to the good.

Perhaps one day the woman writer who obviously employs both concerns will show herself.

--Marguerite

Re: Women in SF

[catvalente]

Women are every bit as capable of writing mindblowing sf as men are, but with women the stories concentrate far more on people, life, society and not the hard-scientific concepts I was looking for.

I can't believe this statement is even remotely acceptable, being a gross generalization and a repetition of something we've heard over and over from male editors, most memorably in the F&SF debate. I find it nearly as offensive, if not more, than the TOC itself.

Women's stories and men's stories are not different. To make a vast, sweeping statement about all women's fiction as a defense against not including them is revolting, and Not Helping.

Deja vu all over again

[annburlingham]

Sometimes I wonder why Joanna Russ bothered to write _How to suppress women's writing_. Oh, wait, so there'd be really no excuse for this crap anymore. Not here in the 21st century.

Re: Deja vu all over again

[sparkymonster]

I think I'm going to sit down and re-read How to suppress women's writing.

Le plus ça change, le plus c'est la même chose

[helivoy]

Particularly discouraging is the frequency of this mindset among people who consider themselves "progressive" or "futurists". Space Age technology, Stone Age mentalities. I run into it constantly as a scientist and as a writer with multiple connections to the space exploration and speculative fiction communities. Most recently, I bumped into it in the transhumanist movement. If anyone is interested, here is my take on it, which might as well be the Mammoth issue in stereo:

Girl Cooties Menace the Singularity!
http://www.starshipreckless.com/blog/?p=658