Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death
"Love Is the Plan the Plan is Death" is also the name of an album by James Blackshaw.
| "Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death" | |
|---|---|
| Author | James Tiptree, Jr. |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction short story |
| Published in | The Alien Condition |
| Publication type | Anthology |
| Publisher | Ballantine Books |
| Media type | |
| Publication date | April 1973 |
"Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death" is a short story by James Tiptree, Jr. which won a Nebula Award for Best Short Story in 1973.[1] The novella first appeared in the anthology The Alien Condition, edited by Stephen Goldin, published by Ballantine Books in April 1973.[2]
Plot
Moggadeet is a spider-like creature who has decided that, since he is intelligent, he will resist the instincts which lead his species through an exceptionally violent life-cycle which they call "the Plan" — including a drop in intelligence during winter.
As the years go by, Moggadeet gradually realizes that the winters are becoming longer and longer, and it is more and more difficult for him to resist becoming an unintelligent animal. In summer, he devises a plan to break out of the cycle: he captures and stockpiles prey for himself and his mate Lillliloo to eat during the winter, while holed up in a relatively warmer zone, in an attempt to keep his intelligence. However, after Lillilloo grows bigger than Moggadeet, she ends up eating him. This too turns out to be part of the Plan, which Moggadeet was unable to escape.
Collections
"Love is the Plan the Plan is Death" has appeared in the following collections:[3]
- The Alien Condition edited by Stephen Goldin (1973)
- Nebula Award Stories 9 edited by Kate Wilhelm (1974)
- Warm Worlds and Otherwise by James Tiptree Jr (1975)
- The Future I edited by Joseph D. Olander, Martin H. Greenberg, and Isaac Asimov (1981)
- Great Science Fiction: Stories by the World's Great Scientists edited by Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and Charles G. Waugh (1985)
- Byte Beautiful: Eight Science Fiction Stories by James Tiptree Jr (1985)
- The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume IV edited by Terry Carr (1986)
- The Best of the Nebulas edited by Ben Bova (1989)
- Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by James Tiptree Jr (1990)
Reception
"Love is the Plan the Plan Is Death" won the 1974 Nebula Award for Best Short Story and was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novelette, and was ranked 3rd in the Locus Magazine poll for Best Short Fiction.
Kirkus Reviews called it "highly lauded",[4] while Lewis Call described it as a "bizarre but beautiful alien love story", emphasizing the contrast between Moggadeet's relationship with Lillliloo, and BDSM.[5] The Washington Post considered that the "image (of) an intelligent species whose biological imperatives compel females to devour their mates (...) is dramatized with the directness of an arrow striking a bullseye".[6]
References
- Notes
- ↑ Clute and Nicholls 1995, p. 1231.
- ↑ Von Ruf, Al. "Publication Listing "The Alien Condition"". Internet Speculative Fiction Data Base. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
- ↑ "Bibliography: Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death". ISFDB. Retrieved June 11, 2013
- ↑ The Slow Unveiling of James Tiptree Jr., by Andrew Liptak; published November 6, 2014; retrieved August 18, 2016
- ↑ BDSM in American Science Fiction and Fantasy, by Lewis Call; published October 19, 2012, by Springer Publishing (via Google Books); retrieved August 18, 2016
- ↑ LOVE IS THE PLAN, THE PLAN IS DEATH, by Gregory Feeley; published August 19, 1990; retrieved August 18, 2016
- Bibliography
- Clute, John and Peter Nicholls. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. New York City: St. Martin's Griffin, 1993 (2nd edition 1995). ISBN 0-312-13486-X.
External links
- Text of the story at Lightspeed
- Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Tiptree, Jr., James (2001). "Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death". replay.web.archive.org. Internet Archive. Archived from the original on 5 December 2005. Retrieved 19 May 2011.