The Adventures of Alyx
Encyclopedia
The Adventures of Alyx is a 1976 collection of feminist science fiction
stories by Joanna Russ
.
It is composed of five stories:
These stories display elements of science fiction cloaked in fantasy
in a similar way to work by Mary Gentle
, who has cited them as an influence.
The eponymous heroine, Alyx, is (intentionally) described with different attributes across the different stories, although she remains reasonably constant inasmuch as she is depicted as a realistic human being, not the cliched fantasy woman prevalent across much of the genre.
At some point later, she is living in the hills above Ourdh. As part of an evangelical group devoted to the hill-god Yp, she comes to Ourdh. Her co-religionists are persecuted, and Alyx comes to the conclusion that the religion is ridiculous.
By thirty, she is still living in Ourdh, working as a pick-lock, among other things. (She mentions that she had a daughter, but when she lost the daughter or they were estranged is not detailed.) She helps a wealthy young woman named Edarra escape from an arranged marriage to an unpleasant and possibly murderous widower. They travel some distance away from the city by sea.
Some time later, Alyx is back in Ourdh, working as an assassin. She has, in the meantime, married. She enters the employ of a sorcerer. Recognizing his cruelty and malevolence, she destroys him.
Later, in Tyre, Alyx steals from the prince and is put to death by drowning. By coincidence, she's picked up by a time travel device being used by archaeologists in the distant future, the Trans-Temporal Authority. As the only living thing ever recovered by time travel, and a relic of a hardier age, she is employed for her expertise in outdoor survival. Overdosing on an unidentified drug during one of these assignments leaves her with permanent hallucinations of a dead friend.
Alyx grows in influence in the Trans-Temporal Authority and apparently reshapes the agency, leading to a rift between its members.
Her granddaughter also becomes a time-traveler and participates in this conflict.
Feminist science fiction
Feminist science fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction which tends to deal with women's roles in society. Feminist science fiction poses questions about social issues such as how society constructs gender roles, the role reproduction plays in defining gender and the unequal political and...
stories by Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as How to Suppress Women's Writing, as well as a contemporary novel, On Strike Against God, and one children's book, Kittatinny...
.
It is composed of five stories:
- "Bluestocking" (1967, as "The Adventuress" in Orbit 2) begins in the fantasy city of Ourdh. Alyx is hired by a young noblewoman to help the latter escape from an arranged marriage.
- "I Thought She Was Afeard Till She Stroked My Beard" (1967, as "I Gave Her Sack and Sherry" in Orbit 2) describes Alyx's escape from an abusive marriage to become a pirate.
- "The Barbarian" (1968 in Orbit 3) takes place again in Ourdh. Alyx, the titular barbarian, is employed by a sorcerer with little regard for human life.
- "Picnic on Paradise" (1968) presents Alyx as an agent of the Trans-Temporal Authority. Having been accidentally rescued from drowning in the bay of Tyre by a "time-scoop," she is employed to guide a group of ill-prepared vacationers across the treacherous landscape of an alien world.
- "The Second Inquisition" (1970 in Orbit 6) takes place in 1925. In it, a young woman befriends an odd visitor, who is eventually revealed to be a time-traveling granddaughter of Alyx. The Trans-Temporal Authority of "Picnic on Paradise" is explicitly mentioned.
These stories display elements of science fiction cloaked in fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
in a similar way to work by Mary Gentle
Mary Gentle
-Literary career:Mary Gentle's first published novel was Hawk in Silver , a young-adult fantasy. She came to prominence with the Orthe duology, which consists of Golden Witchbreed and Ancient Light ....
, who has cited them as an influence.
The eponymous heroine, Alyx, is (intentionally) described with different attributes across the different stories, although she remains reasonably constant inasmuch as she is depicted as a realistic human being, not the cliched fantasy woman prevalent across much of the genre.
Fictional Character Biography
The details of Alyx's birth and early life are not described. By seventeen, she was married to an abusive man, apparently one of some social standing. After retaliating and striking the man unconscious, she joins a group of smugglers and pirates.At some point later, she is living in the hills above Ourdh. As part of an evangelical group devoted to the hill-god Yp, she comes to Ourdh. Her co-religionists are persecuted, and Alyx comes to the conclusion that the religion is ridiculous.
By thirty, she is still living in Ourdh, working as a pick-lock, among other things. (She mentions that she had a daughter, but when she lost the daughter or they were estranged is not detailed.) She helps a wealthy young woman named Edarra escape from an arranged marriage to an unpleasant and possibly murderous widower. They travel some distance away from the city by sea.
Some time later, Alyx is back in Ourdh, working as an assassin. She has, in the meantime, married. She enters the employ of a sorcerer. Recognizing his cruelty and malevolence, she destroys him.
Later, in Tyre, Alyx steals from the prince and is put to death by drowning. By coincidence, she's picked up by a time travel device being used by archaeologists in the distant future, the Trans-Temporal Authority. As the only living thing ever recovered by time travel, and a relic of a hardier age, she is employed for her expertise in outdoor survival. Overdosing on an unidentified drug during one of these assignments leaves her with permanent hallucinations of a dead friend.
Alyx grows in influence in the Trans-Temporal Authority and apparently reshapes the agency, leading to a rift between its members.
Her granddaughter also becomes a time-traveler and participates in this conflict.