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)