"Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death" is a short story by

James Tiptree, Jr. Alice Bradley Sheldon (born Alice Hastings Bradley; August 24, 1915 – May 19, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author better known as James Tiptree, Jr., a pen name she used from 1967 to her death. It was not publicly known ...

, a pen name used by American writer Alice Sheldon. The novella won a

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...

for Best Short Story in 1974. It first appeared in the anthology ''The Alien Condition'', edited by

Stephen Goldin Stephen Charles Goldin (born February 28, 1947) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. Biography Goldin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A graduate of UCLA with a bachelor's degree in Astronomy, he worked for the U.S. Navy a ...

, published by

Ballantine Books Ballantine Books is a major book publisher located in the United States, founded in 1952 by Ian Ballantine with his wife, Betty Ballantine. It was acquired by Random House in 1973, which in turn was acquired by Bertelsmann in 1998 and remains ...

in April 1973.

Plot

The story is told in the first person by Moggadeet, a self-aware male of a species which appears to be a top predator in its environment. This species seems to be cold-blooded, possibly an arthropod, with various features that come into play in battle, nurturing the young (for females), and sex. Moggadeet's mother and an older male have supplemented his instincts by making him aware of the Plan, i.e., the normal life-cycle of his species. The element of this Plan he most resists is cannibalism of other members of the species. Moggadeet narrates his life from the moment he meets his mate in the spring of his second year, including his memories of his first year. After a while he remembers what his mate said at various points, expressing fears and concerns. By the end it becomes clear that Moggadeet is telling this story to his mate while she is eating him; he assumes she agrees with his recollections.

Collections

"Love is the Plan the Plan is Death" has appeared in the following collections:"Bibliography: Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death"
ISFDB. Retrieved June 11, 2013 *''

The Alien Condition ''The Alien Condition'' is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by American writer Stephen Goldin and published in 1973 by Ballantine Books.The Alien Condition' Internet Speculative Fiction Database (ISFDB). Retrieved on June 11, ...

'' edited by Stephen Goldin (1973) * ''Nebula Award Stories 9'' edited by

Kate Wilhelm Kate Wilhelm (June 8, 1928 – March 8, 2018) was an American author. She wrote novels and stories in the science fiction, mystery, and suspense genres, including the Hugo Award–winning ''Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang''. Wilhelm established ...

(1974) *

Warm Worlds and Otherwise ''Warm Worlds and Otherwise'' is a short story collection by American writer Alice Sheldon, first published in 1975 under her pen name James Tiptree Jr. In its introduction, "Who is Tiptree, What is He?", fellow science fiction author Robert Silv ...

James Tiptree Jr Alice Bradley Sheldon (born Alice Hastings Bradley; August 24, 1915 – May 19, 1987) was an American science fiction and fantasy author better known as James Tiptree, Jr., a pen name she used from 1967 to her death. It was not publicly known u ...

(1975) * ''The Future I'' edited by Joseph D. Olander, Martin H. Greenberg, and

Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...

(1981) * ''Great Science Fiction: Stories by the World's Great Scientists'' edited by

, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh (1985) *'' Byte Beautiful: Eight Science Fiction Stories'' by

(1985) * ''The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume IV'' edited by

Terry Carr Terry Gene Carr (February 19, 1937 – April 7, 1987) was an American science fiction fan, author, editor, and writing instructor. Background and discovery of fandom Carr was born in Grants Pass, Oregon. He attended the City College of San ...

(1986) * The Best of the Nebulas edited by

Ben Bova Benjamin William Bova (November 8, 1932November 29, 2020) was an American writer and editor. During a writing career of 60 years, he was the author of more than 120 works of science fact and fiction, an editor of '' Analog Science Fiction and F ...

(1989) * ''

Her Smoke Rose Up Forever ''Her Smoke Rose Up Forever'' is a collection of science fiction and fantasy stories by author James Tiptree, Jr. It was released in 1990 by Arkham House. It was originally published in an edition of 4,108 copies and was the author's second book ...

'' by

(1990)

Reception

"Love is the Plan the Plan Is Death" won the 1974

Nebula Award for Best Short Story The Nebula Award for Best Short Story is a literary award assigned each year by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for science fiction or fantasy short stories. A work of fiction is defined by the organization as a short stor ...

and was nominated for the

Hugo Award for Best Novelette The Hugo Award for Best Novelette is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. The novelette award is available for works of fiction of ...

, and was ranked 3rd in the

Locus Magazine ''Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field'', founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in Oakland, California. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and fantasy (genre ...

poll for Best Short Fiction. ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' called it "highly lauded."The Slow Unveiling of James Tiptree Jr.
by Andrew Liptak; published November 6, 2014; retrieved August 18, 2016 ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' considered that the "image (of) an intelligent species whose biological imperatives compel females to devour their mates (...) is dramatized with the directness of an arrow striking a bullseye".Love Is the Plan, the Plan Is Death
by

Gregory Feeley Gregory Patrick Feeley is an American teacher, critic, essayist and author of speculative fiction, active in the field since 1972. He writes as Gregory Feeley, with some of his early works appearing under the name Greg Feeley. Biography Feeley res ...

; published August 19, 1990; retrieved August 18, 2016

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * Clute, John and Peter Nicholls. ''

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...

''.

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

St. Martin's Griffin St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the pub ...

, 1993 (2nd edition 1995). .

External links

Text of the story
at '' Lightspeed'' * * {{Nebula Award for Best Short Story 1973 short stories Nebula Award for Best Short Story-winning works Works by James Tiptree Jr.