Reviews

I get what it was doing, but it felt woefully second-wave. Disappointingly heterosexual, with very few non-white characters (aside from, well! in the future we are all brown, I guess!) and no space for female characters other than bratty, useless young girls for Alyx to be maternal to.

el_entrenador_loco's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

sarahvernall's review against another edition

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5.0

The Alyx story-cycle is a thing of beauty. From Leiber-esque Swords and Sandals fantasy in the ancient Mediterranean to time travel, science fiction and beautifully expressed culture shock in Picnic on Paradise. Alyx is a wonderfully realised heroine, sharp but warm at the same time, clever, practical, brave, competent. The wisest amongst a sex that is exceedingly wise, to paraphrase Russ. Alyx, the grey-eyed, the quiet wonag. Wit, arm, kill-quick for hire. I adore her and find her endlessly compelling. It was a treat to travel with her from fantastical Ourdh to brooding Tyre to the rocky snowscapes of Paradise.

lleullawgyffes's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

jvan's review against another edition

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4.0

What a strange and wonderful collection. The first three stories could fit into fantasy pulp easily (and in fact there's a mention that the main character Alyx hooked up with Fafhrd at some point in the past.) But then there's a bizarre turn, as Alyx ends up stolen into the future and serving as an escort for idle tourists in a warzone that is sweet and powerful and bitter at the same time; and finally, a gentle coda showing what came of that, told by a girl in 1925. Overall, it was delightful.

lordofthemoon's review against another edition

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3.0

This is a slightly odd book. It's composed of four loosely linked short stories and a novella (Picnic on Paradise) mostly with the same protagonist (the titular Alyx, although the last story, The Second Inquisition does away even with this). The first two stories are entirely set in the past with no SFnal element to them, and reminded me of some of the Conan stories that I've read. The third introduces a 'sorcerer' while the novella relocates Alyx to the far future as she's accidentally lifted from her own timeline and she's recruited to help a group of trapped civilians cross a planet to safety in the midst of a war. This is the contribution that gives Alyx the most depth as she has to shepherd her group and inevitably gets involved with their lives. The final story is set in 1925 and only obliquely references the rest.

The slim volume is dense in multiple senses of the word. The print is small and closely packed but the imagery and metaphor are also sometimes dense, requiring close reading to process and unpack. Not exactly the light lunchtime reading that I was expecting, but mostly worth it.

Russ is, of course, known for her feminist work and this woman who starts as a cipher, a female Conan, develops into something much more complex, having an inner life of her own. She is always an actor, always driving the story, never being a passive character to whom events happen, which is something that I always enjoy in a protagonist.

So an odd set of stories, but enjoyable both in themselves, and for their place in the greater history of the genre.

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