It's time for another embarrassingly late book review, this time for LibraryThing Early Reviewers. Nancy Jane Moore's _Walking Contradiction_ is an entertaining collection of science fiction stories -- well outside the normal purview of my LibraryThing collection, but well worth reading. The common thread between these eight stories is the question of what it means to be human; in most cases here, that question centers on what role gender plays in identity. That question is front and center in the title story and "Nohow Permanent," as both stories' narrators are "ambi" (or, as the latter narrator puts it, "mostly" female). "Walking Contradiction" itself is skillfully told, full of intrigue and estranged regret; if it's over-exposited at times, that's made forgivable by the narrator's film-noir profession and tone. Here and elsewhere, there are moments when Moore starts to sound like Robert Heinlein, whether in references to the "troubled" years or in sentences like "All the people -- and not people, and not quite people -- made Vlad nervous" (113), reminiscent of gender-bending stories like Heinlein's "All You Zombies." The stories "Borders," "Gambit," and "In Demeter's Gardens" are a little less memorable, all featuring female protagonists in (relatively) near-future military scenarios, but told capably. "Blindsided by Venus in the House of Mars" is a tragic love story that weaves a nice twist into interstellar travel; if it challenges gender assumptions, it's only because of assumptions the reader may bring to the text. "Or We Will All Hang Separately" completes the collection, with a post-apocalyptic tone that still manages to remain more hopeful than some of the other stories included here. Altogether, Moore's talent shines frequently in this book. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for more of her work. ( )

Preface: My reviews, aren't really reviews, they're commentary. I can't tell you about literary quality or whether it was objectively "good", and I don't believe anyone else can either. What I can tell you is what I think of a book or what it makes me think of

2023-09-22: I hope to clean this up soon but for now it's the notes I made as I was reading, and I read it twice because eight years later I didn't really remember it but I remembered that I liked it.

2015-01-27/0%: Something about this one has me really interested. Love the dedication.

2015-02-09/100%: Some good stuff, some weird stuff, some meh stuff. Overall pretty good. I think this is the best Early Reviewer I've read so far.

2015-04-30: I wish I'd left myself a few clues about what I did or didn't like.

2023-01-26: Re-reading because I was curious to recall what I liked about it. Digging the first story.

2023-01-27: Second story was good, but a downer. I want to comment on "duty" and the dishonor of the military, any military, and on morality and human behavior... but I don't have time to write a book and I don't have words to say it in a paragraph.

2023-01-30: Moore's a very good writer. All of the stories were good. More MilSF than I remember and I wonder where she got her military knowledge. Her's wasn't the shitty MilSF of glorified violence but a more human MilSF about internal conflicts caused by violence and also the way the military puts people in shitty situations. ( )

10 Words: Future worlds, Future worries. All based off current problems extended.

Walking Contradiction is a collection of seven short stories. Each story is set in some time along the Earth's future. All the stories are self contained, but I do think a few of them are directly related. It also feels like its possible that they all are related.
The stories talk about the consequences of the actions of present day people living on earth, the way we have treated natural resources, the way we are often at war. They expand and explore the direction our actions could take us, and show a not too hopeful future, yet for the most part it is one that is trying to redeem itself. ( )

A collection of previously published stories imagining life in the near or more distant future. Most of the stories feature female or mostly female protagonists. All of them grab your attention from the start and keep you wondering what will happen next and how it will all turn out. Some have a dystopian aspect or demonstrate the wide-ranging effects of war. A creative anthology. ( )

Like many of the other reviewers, I began reading with an expectation of some serious sci-fi schtick. I was pleased to discover that, like the very best sci-fi out there, these stories are about the characters. Sure it takes place in imagined futures, but the character is in the driver's seat. I found myself actually reluctant to start reading the second story, having become somewhat attached to the protagonist of the first. Definitely worth your time. ( )