We Who Are About To...

'In the event of mechanical dysfunction, the ship's computer goes for the nearest "tagged" planet, ie where human life is supposed to be possible, then ejects the passenger compartment separately. Lays an egg you might say . . .'

After an accident destroys their starship and leaves them stranded on an uncharted but apparently hospitable planet - crewless, with few supplies and without tools - the five female and three male passengers debate how to survive. When it is decided that it is their human duty to colonize and populate their new home, one woman resists. But on an alien world where survival dictates conformity, her rebellion is seen as the worst kind of betrayal . . .

About the Author

Joanna Russ was born in 1937 in New York City. She was an academic and feminist who authored numerous works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as How to Suppress Women's Writing. She is best known for her 1975 satirical utopian novel The Female Man; We Who Are About To was her fourth novel, originally published in 1977. Joanna Russ died in 2011 and her work is still widely taught on literature courses throughout the English speaking world.