MITCHISON, Naomi (Margaret)

(1897-)

   Scottish novelist, story writer, cattle breeder and polemicist, sister of J.B.S. HALDANE. She is known mainly for her work outside the sf field - her bibliography includes over 100 books and over 1000 shorter pieces, beginning with Saunes Bairos: A Study in Recurrence: A Play in Three Acts, a Prologue and Epilogue (1913 chap) as by N.M.Haldane, thefirst performance of which featured an appearance by the young Aldous HUXLEY - and includes such historical novels as The Conquered (1923) andThe Corn King and the Spring Queen (1931; vt The Barbarian 1961 US), the latter an ANTHROPOLOGICAL fantasy about Sparta. Some of her earlier stories, such as "The Goat", published in Barbarian Stories (coll 1929), the short novel The Powers of Light (1932 chap), which deals with prehistory, and many of the tales and fables in The Fourth Pig (coll 1936), use sf or fantasy elements for allegorical purposes. We Have BeenWarned (1935) is a NEAR FUTURE political novel involving the oppression of the Left in the UK. Beyond this Limit (1935 chap), whose illustrations by Wyndham LEWIS constitute a co-creation of the book, is an afterlifefantasy with some satirical impact. The Big House (1950) is a fairy tale for children, set within a Celtic frame. Travel Light (1952) is an historical fantasy. To the Chapel Perilous (1955) is a witty account of the Grail legend which pits rival anthropological and historical theories together as if, in a sense, they were all true. Behold Your King (1957) is a novel about Christ's crucifixion, told in a slangy, contemporary idiom to demystify it. Images of Africa (coll 1980) assembles short fantasies told in a folktale idiom. Early in Orcadia (1987), also fantasy, is set in prehistoric Orkney. Of her 30 or more books for children, many are fantasy. Two late collections, Beyond this Limit: Selected Shorter Fiction (coll 1986), which assembles pre-WWII work, and A Girl Must Live: Storiesand Poems (coll 1990), which assembles work from the following half-century, include a considerable amount of sf.NM's first genuine sf novel was MEMOIRS OF A SPACEWOMAN (1962), a ruminative picaresque comprising a series of episodes recollected by the narrator, Mary, a COMMUNICATIONS expert dealing with ALIEN intelligences. Most of theepisodes contain ingenious biological (or exobiological) speculations. Mary's reminiscences are warm and urgent; her job necessitatesinterstellar travel, which requires "time blackouts", so that she constantly returns to a changed world. She loves her work, however, and intends to continue; it is a radiant book. Solution Three (1975) is a less sustained examination of a CLONE solution to the problems of a post-catastrophe Earth. Heterosexuality is out; but a new generation is beginning to question the rigidity of the homosexual Solution Three. Not by Bread Alone (1983) suggests that the sudden distribution of free food worldwide will create serious problems; the Australian Aborigines wisely refuse the offer.Though NM's fiction is both copious and fluent, her writing is primarily motivated by extrinsic concerns. Where these concerns are successfully embedded in her stories, she is a writer of glowing power.

   JC

   See also: GENETIC ENGINEERING; INTELLIGENCE; MYTHOLOGY; WOMEN AS PORTRAYED IN SCIENCE FICTION.