★★★★☆ Provocative and Thought-Provoking
(Military SF) If gender has always been a construct, then why not construct new ones? Why not weaponize it for military use? (7,726 words; Time: 25m)
Although the author chose to withdraw this story following a sequence of attacks on Twitter, it is still available on Kindle to Clarkesworld subscribers.
"I Sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter," by Isabel Fall (edited by Neil Clarke), appeared in Clarkesworld issue 160, published on January 1, 2020.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2020.030 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: Barb (the narrator) and Axis (the gunner) are not cyborgs. On the outside, they look like more-or-less ordinary military folks. What’s happened is that someone has figured out how to repurpose the part of the brain that handles gender identity and adapt that to making Barb a better helicopter pilot and Axis a better gunner.
The story operates on at least two levels. First, it describes a raid by the US government against a splinter republic in what used to be the US southwest before a combination of climate and biological disasters broke the country up. This part of the story has a good bit of tension and excitement, but it also has its share of laughs. E.g. the splinter government is descended from a credit union.
On another level, it describes what it feels like to have your gender identity modified in this way. Barb tries to explain it to us through a wide variety of analogies, making the whole experience feel very real. Perhaps more important, it makes Barb feel very human.
On a third level, I think the author is trying to convey to cis people a bit about what it means to be trans, and she does this in a very different way than anything I’ve ever seen before. However, I should note that although this story really speaks to some trans people, it also rubs some people the wrong way.
Beyond that, the story is well-written, with transparent narration and good dialogue. Despite the risk of infodumps in a story of this kind, I found it a smooth, captivating read.
Con: The story didn’t make me feel anything. Barb is a very prickly character (as you’d expect from that handle), and nothing in the story made me feel any emotion about her or anyone else.
On the technical side, I wonder why Barb doesn’t feel acutely uncomfortable outside the helicopter—as a naked person might feel.
Other Reviews: Search Web
Isabel Fall Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Pro: Barb (the narrator) and Axis (the gunner) are not cyborgs. On the outside, they look like more-or-less ordinary military folks. What’s happened is that someone has figured out how to repurpose the part of the brain that handles gender identity and adapt that to making Barb a better helicopter pilot and Axis a better gunner.
The story operates on at least two levels. First, it describes a raid by the US government against a splinter republic in what used to be the US southwest before a combination of climate and biological disasters broke the country up. This part of the story has a good bit of tension and excitement, but it also has its share of laughs. E.g. the splinter government is descended from a credit union.
On another level, it describes what it feels like to have your gender identity modified in this way. Barb tries to explain it to us through a wide variety of analogies, making the whole experience feel very real. Perhaps more important, it makes Barb feel very human.
On a third level, I think the author is trying to convey to cis people a bit about what it means to be trans, and she does this in a very different way than anything I’ve ever seen before. However, I should note that although this story really speaks to some trans people, it also rubs some people the wrong way.
Beyond that, the story is well-written, with transparent narration and good dialogue. Despite the risk of infodumps in a story of this kind, I found it a smooth, captivating read.
Con: The story didn’t make me feel anything. Barb is a very prickly character (as you’d expect from that handle), and nothing in the story made me feel any emotion about her or anyone else.
On the technical side, I wonder why Barb doesn’t feel acutely uncomfortable outside the helicopter—as a naked person might feel.
Other Reviews: Search Web
Isabel Fall Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
The story is also available if you subscribe or purchase the issue from Weightless Books.
ReplyDeleteOut of curiosity, I downloaded a new copy of the issue today, and this story is now removed from the ebook as well...at least at Weightless Books, can't say for other vendors.
DeleteWhat bugs me is all the SFF writers speaking out against this story, then admitting they never even read passed the title.
ReplyDeleteIt is also available via Kobo, if you buy Clarkesworld Issue 160, which I just did.
ReplyDeleteI've read about 2 pages so far and it reads like Military SF, and quite good writing too.
This fantastic story is still available via the Internet Archive:
ReplyDeletehttps://web.archive.org/web/20200111194207/http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/fall_01_20/
Thanks! I'm really hoping the author relents and lets this one get reprinted.
DeleteNot available any more: "
DeleteSorry.
This URL has been excluded from the Wayback Machine."
Here's an insightful article posted yesterday (June 30, 2021) by the first journalist that Isabel Fall talked to about the attacks on her story (and her). https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/22543858/isabel-fall-attack-helicopter
ReplyDeleteYes, this makes me sad for what might have been.
DeleteThis is the part of the article that really gets me the most:
Delete"I believe the story’s detractors were hurt by the title or some of the content or the very idea of the story. I believe they truly feel that trans stories should only be written by trans people and that Fall should have had to out herself before publishing. I believe they believe — still — that they did the right thing.
"They still destroyed a woman’s life."
This quote really hit me: "Most of all, I wanted people to say, ‘This story was written by a woman who understands being a woman.’ I obviously failed horribly."
DeleteIn my eyes she absolutely did not fail in this. I remember aspects of the story really resonating for me as a woman.
I agree with Laura - the points the author of the story made about gender resonated with me too as a woman.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the RSR rating and the review. It is worth reading - Do Not let the title put you off. It is a Very thought-provoking story.
ReplyDeleteStory is also archived at Archive.is (for now). https://archive.is/oXDEt I wasn't aware of this archive site until I came across it in the Seattle Public Library's list of 2021 Hugo Award Finalists.
ReplyDelete