I see what you did there, Surtac😊.
Exit party is a perfectly fine read, I just was hit in the face with what seems to be her idea of two possible futures for us, or maybe it’s just her what if for this book. I will keep going because I am engaged. Maybe it won’t end up being depressing. 

Most of my favorite authors are women. 

A review of The Rouse. https://locusmag.com/review/the-rouse-by-china-mieville-review-by-ian-mond/
 

Thanks for that link, mahe.  That review feels a bit more objective and balanced than the other one I've read, which was Jeff Vandermeer's in the NYT, if you're wondering - another author known for his weird fiction.

I'm still reading and enjoying The Rouse, but my progress has slowed a little as I get distracted by research rabbit-holes chasing down whether some of the books referred to actually exist or not.

And Star, you are not alone in that particular nostalgia - it is worth remembering that in the SF/F field, to be a novel, a book only needs to be 40,000 words or more.


 

Kokipy wrote:

I am now reading Exit Party by Emily St John. It’s gotten a bit depressing
also I have just seen some posts on social media suggesting that men don’t enjoy reading books by women in general, because women write about feelings and relationships and the men in question prefer sci- fi. Which got my attention as you might imagine. I believe that we have many brilliant men in this community who enjoy many female authors and in particular many female sci fi authors, am I quite correct about that? 

It's a stereotype, but sometimes the stereotypes are true. I can't say I've asked many of the men around me to know what they would be interested in. The few I've asked don't read much fiction in general.

For my part, I haven't paid attention to whether the author of a new book I read is a man or woman, but I'm a little bit bothered by how on the mark that description is as I recall my library. The stories that focus on relationships have been written by women, the stories that focus on science fiction have generally been written by men. And then there's Cherryh, who bridges the gap with relationships in science fiction. I'll be curious where my meandering path of book series leads me next.