This book contains a small collection of short stories; all told from a feminist point of view. The stories take us to a medieval world featuring a different take on the lady-in-waiting; with well armored protrectresses not afraid of sparring with their male counterparts in their line of duty. We then are transported to a take on loss and Death (the grim reaper, that is). Then on to a tale of clusters of survivors in a post apocalyptic world, where the women are dominated by men; except in this case the tables are turned. Some of the details of the catastrophic events leading up to this post apocalyptic world sound terrifyingly familiar in today's chaotic world. Finally, a science fiction type story of a woman's world closing in around her, quite literally. Again, there are echoes of the dire consequences our current situation is leading us to. All-in-all these were very entertaining stories, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book; which was received through the Library Thing Early Reviewers program. ( )

These stories were all interesting, but not all were my cup of tea. I enjoyed "A Mere Schutcheon", probably because I am a fan of high fantasy. "The First Condition of Immortality" is probably the best of the bunch, a very unique look at mortality. "Homesteading" was a solid dystopia, but left me feeling rather sick. And "Three O'Clock in the Morning" was incredibly disturbing, even more so with the second person narrative. ( )

I really enjoyed this book.The list of rules was fun to read. There were variations in style and many entertaining surprises. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. This is light reading, and worth the effort. ( )

(I received this book in electronic format via the Early Reviewers program.)

A good, too short read, leaving one wanting more.
"Homesteading" is definitely the best in this short collection. "A Mere Scutcheon" is a fun riff on The Three Musketeers. "Three O'Clock in the Morning" is the strangest, with an almost Ionesco quality.

Looking forward to more. ( )

I received this book as an early reviewer from LibraryThing... and I have to tell the truth. I started reading the introduction but I couldn't really connect with what was being said, so I put the book down. However, after reading some of the other reviews in LibraryThing (about how I shouldn't be put off by the Introduction) , I decided to give the book a second chance, and I actually enjoyed reading the short stories quite a lot, some more than the others. Thanks! ( )