''Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson'' is a 1993 anthology by

George Alec Effinger George Alec Effinger (January 10, 1947 – April 27, 2002) was an American science fiction author, born in Cleveland, Ohio. Writing career Effinger was a part of the Clarion class of 1970 and had three stories in the first Clarion anthology ...

, collecting all of his stories (up to 1993) about Maureen "Muffy" Birnbaum, a

Jewish-American princess Stereotypes of Jews are generalized representations of Jews, often caricatured and of a prejudiced and antisemitic nature. Common objects, phrases and traditions which are used to emphasize or ridicule Jewishness include bagels, the complaining ...

who is magically teleported to various

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving 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 literature and d ...

and

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

universes, and later recounts the tales to her best friend, "Bitsy" Spiegelman. Originally written on his own initiative, the character proved popular enough for Effinger to gain several requests from authors to have versions of their work visited by Muffy. In addition to satirizing and spoofing the various themes, the stories had a feminist undertone, as Maureen dealt with the often sexist reactions of the inhabitants of the worlds she met, struggled to find the

Martian Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. It became the most popular celestial object in fiction in the late 1800s as the Moon was evidently lifeless. At the time, the pr ...

prince she had fallen in love with, and contrasted her adventures with the life of Bitsy, a

housewife A housewife (also known as a homemaker or a stay-at-home mother/mom/mum) is a woman whose role is running or managing her family's home—housekeeping, which includes caring for her children; cleaning and maintaining the home; making, buying an ...

with an increasingly unhappy marriage. The anthology had two editions: * Swan Press

trade paper A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular trade or industry. The collective term for this ...

(June 1993, ) cover and interior illustrations by Peggy Ranson. * Guild America/ SFBC hardcover (Aug. 1994, ) cover and interior illustrations by Ken Kelly. : The hardcover reused the trade paper’s copyright page (i.e. date and illustration credit). The hardcover's jacket has the correct credit, and the correct date was advertised in ''Locus'' magazine.

{, class="wikitable" , + Details of included stories , - !style="text-align:left;", Title !style="text-align:left;", Story parodied !style="text-align:left;", Original publication !style="text-align:left;", Notes , - , "A Few Words from Muffy Birnbaum's Most Passionate Admirer" , , — , , this anthology , , Introduction by

Mike Resnick Michael Diamond Resnick (; March 5, 1942 – January 9, 2020) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He won five Hugo awards and a Nebula award, and was the guest of honor at Chicon 7. He was the executive editor of the defunct ma ...

, - , "Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson" , , Barsoom , , ''

Fantasy & Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher ...

'', January 1982 , , , - , "Maureen Birnbaum at the Earth's Core" , ,

Pellucidar Pellucidar is a fictional Hollow Earth invented by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs for a series of action adventure stories. In a crossover event, Tarzan, who was also created by Burroughs, visits Pellucidar. The stories initially involv ...

, , ''

'', February 1986 , , , - , "Maureen Birnbaum on the Art of War" , ,

Horseclans Horseclans is a science fiction series by American writer Robert Adams, set in a North America that had been thrown back to a medieval level by a full-scale nuclear war. Background The books mainly concern the doings of the "Horseclans", a noma ...

, , '' Friends of the Horseclans'' (1987) , , , - , "Maureen Birnbaum After Dark" , , " Nightfall" , , '' Foundation's Friends'' (1989) , , , - , "Maureen Birnbaum Goes Shopynge" , ,

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...

, , '' The Fantastic Adventures of Robin Hood'' (1991) , , , - , "Maureen Birnbaum and the Saint Graal" , ,

Grail legend The Holy Grail (french: Saint Graal, br, Graal Santel, cy, Greal Sanctaidd, kw, Gral) is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. Various traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, or stone with miracul ...

, , written for '' Grails: Visitations of the Night'' (1994) , , , - , "Maureen Birnbaum and the Looming Awfulness" , , Cthulhu Mythos , , this anthology , , , - , "Maureen Birnbaum's Lunar Adventure" , ,

feghoot A feghoot (also known as a story pun or poetic story joke) is a humorous short story or vignette ending in a pun (typically a play on a well-known phrase), where the story contains sufficient context to recognize the punning humor. History Ferdinan ...

, ,

science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expre ...

program (1986) , , Revised for this anthology{{cite web , url=http://www.erbzine.com/mag64/6465.html , title=Maureen Birmbaum's Lunar Adventure, 1986 version , first=R. , last=Johnson , work=ERBzine , volume=6465 , publisher=Bill Hillman

References

Science fiction short story collections Feminist science fiction Birnbaum, Maureen Birnbaum, Maureen 1993 short story collections Adaptations of works by Edgar Rice Burroughs Pellucidar Modern Arthurian fiction Cthulhu Mythos anthologies Short stories set on the Moon

Contents

Other stories

References