“The Only Neat Thing To Do”
1985-10-00
novella
By James Tiptree, Jr.

Rift


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Synopsis

A young woman steals a starship intending to go to a certain planet, but she falls ill with a virus.

History

First publication: The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, October 1985

Review

This is a great story, kind of a modern Cold Equations, but with the usual Tiptree weirdness. Definitely recommended, very powerful and well written. Tiptree does not make easy situations for her characters.


Videos


We have the story in these editions:

The Starry Rift, hardcover, Tor / SFBC, 1986-10-00

The Voice That Murmurs in the Darkness, hardcover, Subterranean Press, 2023-09-00

The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, October 1985, edited by Edward L. Ferman, magazine, Mercury Press, 1985-10-00

The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Third Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois, hardcover, Bluejay Books / SFBC, 1986-11-00



All of the stories in the Rift series:
Brightness Falls from the Air
The Only Neat Thing To Do
Good Night, Sweethearts
Collision
At the Library
In the Great Central Library of the Deneb University