Guys Doing Gals

No, no, no. Getcher mind out of the gutter. I'm talking about male authors writing in a female POV. Certainly, Heinlein gave it a shot, but he pretty much wrote his women as men in drag. I'm not as wide-read as you guys, so feel free to throw in your favorites. Thinking about Science Fiction Romance a lot lately, and it occurred to me that there's a writer you might not know about, and you should.

I'm going to focus on an author whose work I've loved for years: John Varley. He's one of the few male writers that does women right. Matter of fact, he's so versatile, in some of his books his main characters switch between genders depending on their mood. No, they're human, but technology has advanced in the Varley future so folks can do that if they've a mind to.

Varley's last couple of books are more near future and situated on Mars. No gender bending, but a terrific concept of Mars colonization.

I'm eagerly, hopefully waiting for him to come out with another book. Any book! John, if you're googling yourself and happen to see this, tell me what's coming out next.

From his website, I glean that he's moving away from Los Angeles, but I don't see any new releases on the near horizon.

If you haven't read John Varley, hie thee to the nearest book outlet and pick up any of his books, but the ones I have on my bookshelf which I will read multiple times is the Gaean Trilogy. His portrayal of Captain Cirocco "Rocky" Jones is spot on. You'll recognize the kick-ass, tough-as-nails Rocky in recent SFR, but Varley did it first (1979) and he did it best in my humble opinion. Pop over to Mr. Varley's site to read movie reviews if nothing else. I was just there and was saddened to learn of the death of Jeanne Robinson, Spider Robinson's wife last May.

Check out Titan on Amazon. Mouse down and click the Buy All Three Books thing. You'll definitely want Wizard and Demon on hand since these are all can't put it down books. Also check out the rest of Varley's books.