I got this book just to read "The Blazing World," but I found that particular story tedious (mostly, I think, because many of the "scientific" beliefs of Cavendish's day are so utterly ridiculous to me as a modern reader that I kept half-expecting the story to disprove them, although of course it didn't).
The other two stories included in this collection, however, are both pretty interesting, even if you know what's going to happen before you even start due to the editor's introduction at the beginning of the book. "Assaulted and Pursued Chastity" especially, in spite of the title and even the editor's description, is quite entertaining. If you can imagine Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" and L.A. Meyer's "Bloody Jack" series all rolled into one novella (it only takes up 74 pages), you have some idea of the shenanigans you are in for with that one. This is especially significant considering that the story was originally published 70 years before before "Gulliver's Travels" (and centuries before "Bloody Jack"). Seriously, I would recommend this book for those 74 pages. For that same reason, I can't bear to part with my copy.
The other two stories included in this collection, however, are both pretty interesting, even if you know what's going to happen before you even start due to the editor's introduction at the beginning of the book. "Assaulted and Pursued Chastity" especially, in spite of the title and even the editor's description, is quite entertaining. If you can imagine Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" and L.A. Meyer's "Bloody Jack" series all rolled into one novella (it only takes up 74 pages), you have some idea of the shenanigans you are in for with that one. This is especially significant considering that the story was originally published 70 years before before "Gulliver's Travels" (and centuries before "Bloody Jack"). Seriously, I would recommend this book for those 74 pages. For that same reason, I can't bear to part with my copy.
