Futuristic novel
Air: Or Have Not Have wins Tiptree Award

Geoff Ryman's novel Air: Or, Have Not Have has won the James Tiptree Jr. Award, which honors science fiction and fantasy works that explore and expand gender roles. Ryman is the author of numerous award-winning books, including 253, or Tube Theatre.

Ryman's novel takes place in a remote Asian village that is being wired for a new communications system that implants an Internet equivalent into people's minds. During a test run, a young woman is sucked into the system and her mind is meshed with that of a 90-year-old woman who died during the trial.

The Tiptree award, handed out since 1991, is named after Alice Sheldon, an ex-CIA operative, artist, and experimental psychologist who wrote science fiction under the pseudonym James Tiptree Jr.

The award ceremony will take place during the WisCon 30, a feminist science fiction convention taking place in Madison, Wis., May 26-29. (The Advocate)