Women writers are under-represented in Science Fiction. Of our final 16 novels, only two were written by women. And of course, the whims of fate mean they are put against each other in the payoffs round. The Handmaid's Tale is explicitly feminist, a dystopia of patriarchy and sexism run amok. Frankenstein is, on one level, a story about fathers and sons. Or on another level, God and mankind. But either way, not really feminist. But certainly a multileveled work which cinema has never really done justice to, in addition to getting the credit for being the first real science fiction novel ever.
Last week Foundation beat out 1984, which personally surprised me. 1984 won it's group, which included Cat's Cradle, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and Snow Crash. Whereas Foundation tied for second in it's group, getting the same vote total as four other novels, but beating them out in the tiebreaker poll.
