To Shape the Dark by Athena Andreadis

To Shape the Dark Reviews

• 
  Kaa

  Update: Finally finished reading the last four stories. Can't say they really changed my overall feelings about the book - no new favorites, but none that were totally terrible either.
  
  I actually didn't read 4 of the stories at the end, because the book had to go back to the library, so this is for the part that I did read. Some really excellent stories, quite a few that were enjoyable, and only a few I really didn't care for. Many of my favorites were by authors I was already familiar with (Vandana Singh, Aliette de Bodard, Melissa Scott, Kiini Ibura Salaam), but "Carnivores of Can't-Go-Home", "Fieldwork", and "Building for Shah Jehan" stood out as great entries by new-to-me authors.
• 
  Tehani

  An excellent anthology which uses the theme very well. A few stories I didn't love, but some excellent and challenging reads overall that I thoroughly enjoyed. Highly recommended! See my full review here:
  https://thebooknut.wordpress.com/2016...
• 
  James

  I preferred this book to the previous compilation (The Other Half of the Sky). The stories in this are self contained and.i found a lot more tales that I really enjoyed. I've also added Melissa Scott and Jack McDevitt to my list of authors so I can explore their other works.
  
  Definitely worth reading
• 
  Veronica Strachan

  The only frustrating thing about this anthology was that I wanted each short story to be longer. Great tales of women and science and other worlds. So many strokes of alternate realities and possible futures. A perfect blending of science and fiction.
• 
  Cindy

  Received for free through Goodreads giveaways
  
  Intellectual and well written sci-fi short stories featuring female scientists. Of course, I liked some stories more than others but as an anthology I was quite please with the variety of plots/problems and ability to catch and hold my attention.
• 
  Suzi

  Really good anthology. Very strong work. Loved making my way through so much sci fi filled with strong complex women and fascinating science.
• 
  Katharine (Ventureadlaxre)

  Read for "Crossing the Midday Gate" by Aliette de Bodard.
• 
  Cindywho

  I like to read a short story in between novels, but it makes it hard to remember the stories later. I do remember liking most of them...
• 
  Cheryl

  on paperbackswap wishlist
• 
  Catherine

  Things I loved about this anthology: older women as scientists! Queer women as scientists! Women of color as scientists! And while we're at it, I really liked the cover, too. Favorite stories included Constant Cooper's "Carnivore's of Can't-Go-Home,"a botanical murder mystery, M. Fenn's "Chlorophyll is Thicker Than Water," featuring an older lesbian couple, both scientists dealing with a corporate saboteur, Jacqueline Koyanagi's "Sensorium," featuring a bisexual protagonist in a poly relationship looking for a new way to communicate with an alien race, Shariann Lewitt's "Fieldwork," featuring a mathematician/astronaut trying to come to terms with her family's troubled past and complete her mission and Vandana Singh's "Of Wind and Fire," featuring a self-taught engineer and single mother wrestling with the perils of a fantastical world. There really isn't a bad story in the bunch, though some didn't speak to me as much as others. "To Shape the Dark" is definitely an anthology you should be reading. I expect to see some of these stories on award lists and year's best for this this year.
• 
  Heather D.

  Wonderfully eclectic, imaginative and thought-provoking.
  
  Presenting fresh takes on the themes within, this collection deftly explores a diverse assortment of worlds, each one as strikingly constructed as the next, where an equally varied range of absorbing narratives through the eyes of female scientists unfold. While each protagonist’s vocation is naturally a prominent element to her character, aspects of her personal life are also smoothly incorporated as important parts of her journey. The individual distinctiveness of the characters is just as unforgettable, from the resourcefulness and wry humor of the two protagonists of “Chlorophyll Is Thicker Than Water” by M. Fenn (one of the stories I enjoyed most) to the curiosity and determination of the narrator in Vandana Singh’s “Of Wind and Fire.” All told, an incisive and thoroughly enjoyable collection that’s as much food for the mind as it is entertaining. It’s refreshing and provocative, science fiction at its best.
  
  Highly recommended!