''Chicks 'n Chained Males'' is an
anthology
In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors.
In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...
of
fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
stories, edited by
Esther Friesner
Esther Mona Friesner-Stutzman, née Friesner (born July 16, 1951) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. She is also a poet and playwright. She is best known for her humorous style of writing, both in the titles and the works themsel ...
with the assistance of
Martin H. Greenberg
Martin Harry Greenberg (March 1, 1941 – June 25, 2011) was an American academic and anthologist in many genres, including mysteries and horror, but especially in speculative fiction. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned ov ...
, with a cover by
Larry Elmore
Larry Elmore (born August 5, 1948) is an American fantasy artist whose work includes creating illustrations for video games, comics, magazines, and fantasy books. His list of work includes illustrations for ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Dragonlance'', ...
.
It consists of works featuring female protagonists by (mostly) female authors. It was first published in
paperback
A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...
by
Baen Books
Baen Books () is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher an ...
in May 1999. It was the third of a number of similarly themed anthologies edited by Friesner.
The book collects 18 short stories by various fantasy authors, with an introduction by Friesner.
As per the volume's title, most of the stories involve heroic women having to rescue men from captivity, reversing the
damsel in distress
The damsel in distress is a recurring narrative device in which one or more men must rescue a woman who has either been kidnapped or placed in general peril. Kinship, love, or lust (or a combination of those) gives the male protagonist the motiv ...
trope.
Contents
* "Introduction" (
Esther Friesner
Esther Mona Friesner-Stutzman, née Friesner (born July 16, 1951) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. She is also a poet and playwright. She is best known for her humorous style of writing, both in the titles and the works themsel ...
)
* "Myth Manners' Guide to Greek Missology #1: Andromeda and Perseus" (
Harry Turtledove
Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed ...
)
* "Chain, Link, Fence" (
Steven Piziks
Steven Harper Piziks is an American author of science fiction.
Piziks writes mostly science fiction, fantasy, steampunk, and film and television series novelizations. He has also written science fiction books with LGBT themes under his "Steven Har ...
)
* "Fool's Gold" (
Elizabeth Moon
Elizabeth Moon (born March 7, 1945) is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. Her other writing includes newspaper columns and opinion pieces. Her novel '' The Speed of Dark'' won the 2003 Nebula Award. Prior to her writing career, s ...
)
* "In for a Pound" (
Lawrence Watt-Evans
Lawrence Watt-Evans (born 1954) is one of the pseudonyms of American science fiction and fantasy author Lawrence Watt Evans (another pseudonym, used primarily for science fiction, is Nathan Archer).
Biography
Born in Arlington, Massachusetts, as ...
)
* "Death Becomes Him" (
Marina Frants) - sequel to "A Bone to Pick" from
the previous volume
* "Straight Arrow" (
Susan Shwartz
Susan Shwartz (born December 31, 1949) is an American author.King, T. Jackson. "SFC Interview: Susan Shwartz". ''Science Fiction Chronicle'' 16(7): 5, (pp. 30-33). June/July 1995.
Education and career
She received her B.A. in English from M ...
)
* "Bad Heir Day" (
Rosemary Edghill
Rosemary Edghill (born 1956) is an American writer and editor. Some of her work has appeared under her original name, eluki bes shahar (lower case intentional). Her primary genres are science fiction and fantasy, but she began by writing Rege ...
)
* "Why Do You Think They Call It Middle Earth?" (
Susan Casper)
* "Leg Irons, the Bitch, and the Wardrobe" (
Laura Frankos
Laura Frankos-Turtledove is an American author born February 9, 1960. She writes as Laura Frankos.
Biography
Frankos is married to the science fiction author Harry Turtledove and has three daughters: Alison, Rachel, and Rebecca. Her brother is ...
)
* "Shiftless" (
Josepha Sherman
Josepha Sherman (December 12, 1946 – August 23, 2012) was an American author, folklorist, and anthologist. In 1990 she won the Compton Crook Award for the novel ''The Shining Falcon''.
Works
Series
Buffyverse
*'' Visitors'' (1999) (wit ...
)
* "May/December at the Mall" (
Brian D. Akers)
* "Yo, Baby!" (
Jan Stirling)
* "Don't Break the Chain!" (
Jody Lynn Nye
Jody Lynn Nye (born 1957 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American science fiction writer. She is the author or co-author of approximately forty published novels and more than 100 short stories. She has specialized in science fiction or fantasy acti ...
)
* "Cross CHILDREN Walk" (
Esther Friesner
Esther Mona Friesner-Stutzman, née Friesner (born July 16, 1951) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. She is also a poet and playwright. She is best known for her humorous style of writing, both in the titles and the works themsel ...
)
* "...But Comedy is Hard" (
Kate Daniel)
* "Baubles, Bangles and Beads" (
Kevin Andrew Murphy
Kevin Andrew Murphy is an American novelist and game writer from Northern California.
Education
He is a graduate of University of California at Santa Cruz and has a Master of Arts from University of Southern California.
Career
He has written g ...
)
* "Hallah Iron-Thighs and the Five Unseemly Sorrows" (
K. D. Wentworth
Kathy Diane Wentworth (January 27, 1951 – April 18, 2012), known as K. D. Wentworth, was an American science fiction author. A University of Tulsa graduate, she got her start winning the Writers of the Future Contest in 1988, and then late ...
)
* "Miss Underwood and the Mermaid" (
Sarah Zettel)
References
External links
*
1999 anthologies
Fantasy anthologies
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