Sci Fi Author Shocks World With GIRL Protagonist!

[james_davis_nicoll]

Your next book will have a woman as the central character. Given that “gender wars” in science fields is still a contentious topic, why did you decide to go with a lady lead? What kinds of challenges does your protagonist face, and does her gender play any role in those challenges?

I don’t take part in any political debates. So I’m certainly not trying to make a point by having a female lead. She’s just a character I came up with that I thought was cool, so she’s the lead.

The book is another scientifically accurate story. The main character is a low-level criminal in a city on the moon. Her challenges are a mix of technical/scientific problems, as well as juggling personal interactions—staying a step ahead of the local police, working with shady and dangerous people to do illegal things.

She doesn’t encounter any distinctly “female” challenges. There’s no love plot. And the story takes place in a future society where there is practically no sexism.

Comments

[marfisa.livejournal.com]

Where did the Smithsonian (the Smithsonian!) find an interviewer so blinkered by Golden Age of SF-era gender preconceptions that he thinks attempting to write about a "lady lead" is some kind of startling and unprecedented move? Weir himself sounds positively non-retro by comparison.

[ansiblenews.livejournal.com]

"... that she thinks ..."

[marfisa.livejournal.com]

Oh my God, you're right. That's even worse. I suppose it could be less sheer sexism than a case of a reporter who's unfamiliar with recent science fiction beyond movie blockbusters and bestsellers like "The Martian," and thus genuinely believes Weir is being daringly innovative by opting for a female protagonist. But you'd think that somebody on the *Smithsonian* editorial staff would have at least questioned the 1950's-ish phrase "lady lead."

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

"The Martian" is a fun book, but it struck me as being written not so much in a core-SF as in a technothriller mode. Something about the way the narration drops into a lofty third-person-omniscient every time something terrible is about to happen, and the way that, while there's almost no physical description of any characters, Weir makes sure you know that two of the women are really hot.