On the other hand, as a sometime sci-fi-fantasy fan myself--my God, many of the classic authors--Howard, Niven, Lovecraft (considered horror now, but part of that crowd then), etc.--really couldn't write a half-decent female character. Tolkien has his moments, but they are moments (and the dialogue in The Lord of the Rings is... hit-and-miss), and Sweet Baby Jesus, have you ever seen an issue of Heavy Metal? I agree with Walter, re: Citizen not being very good, but there has been a tendency in sci-fi and fantasy to particularly lay on the gender stereotypes. One might argue that some corrections are overcorrections, but the gender stuff especially gets between me and authors whom I love, but as I get older, love in that way one loves that uncle who's great fun at parties but has an unfortunate tendency to forward ethnic jokes to everyone he knows.
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