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Book Review of Chicks in Chainmail

Chicks in Chainmail
reviewed on + 1775 more book reviews


Following a tongue-in-cheek introduction by editor Esther Friesner, a very short story describing a skirmish reveals one of the female warriors is acutally a male, masquerading in order to distinguish himself, "to show I could work as well or better than a woman."
The next story (And Ladies of the Club by Elizabeth Moon) opens with: "'But you don't tax jockstraps,' Mirabel Stonefist glared." She is arguing with the king, who points out men are less expensive to employ because they need no bronze bra. The Ladies Aid Armor Society is more than an auxiliary to the king's army and includes Sophora, a warrior who finds a way to manipulate their health plan so that the royal treasury suffers increased expenses rather than higher revenues. All ends well in this clever tale.
There are eighteen more stories but I hasten to place this volume on the shelf at the old soldier's home in the prominent place it deserves.