Illicit Passage

Illicit Passage is a 1993 science fiction novel by Alice Nunn.

Awards

• 1993 James Tiptree, Jr. Award short list.

Commentary and reviews

Notkin

This obscure Australian novel is one of the best SF novels ever written. Period. In the smaller category of novels that concern class, revolution, and radical politics, it is even more of a standout. It also features one of the best uses of the "unreliable narrator" technique in my experience. --Debbie Notkin

Quilter

Wondering where's the SF that addresses labor issues, sex and class discrimination, and actually mentions the word "union"? This remarkable work does all that, and more. Set in the early 2100s in a space colony, the story of Illicit Passage is told from several different perspectives through a series of interviews, memos, and excerpts from various documents. Through the mosaic of interviews, official correspondence, etc., the reader gradually pieces together the story. The space colony -- a mining operation -- is owned by a corporation, at war with another corporation. The colony's workers ("Nowts") are descended from a prison population (analogs to Australia, anyone?), and kept in a state of poverty and degradation by government authority and prejudice. The men are drafted to the war, and the women are left in the colony to suffer the deprivations caused by the war. Gillie Seaton and her crowd of friends and revolutionaries subvert the system in unexpected ways. The story revealed often shows the same incident from several viewpoints, thus letting the reader discover how ideology and perspective are constructed and filtered.

Remarkable aspects of this book: The vividness of the steady decline in quality of life in Anastasia Union -- chilling. The ability of Nunn to keep tension throughout the work, despite one of the major sources' interviews coming several years after the incidents in question. The very-subtle but strong feminism in the work. And finally, Nunn's skill in creating a wonderful political novel while never seeming didactic or cliched.

The more I think about it, the more impressed I am with Illicit Passage. This book was wholly engrossing and I unreservedly recommend it for any and all readers, period. -- Laura Quilter, 1997/6/3

Editions

• 1992: Women's Redress Press, Australia

Further reading

• Book discussion group on feministSF mailing list (Feb. 2002)