Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death

"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	Print
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 -- 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 captures and stockpiles prey for himself and his mate to eat during the winter, but when the food runs out, his mate eats him.

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)

Awards

"Love is the Plan the Plan Is Death" won or was nominated for several awards:

• 1974 Hugo Award—Best Novelette (Nominated)
• 1974 Locus Magazine Poll Award—Best Short Fiction (Place: 3)
• 1974 Nebula Award—Short Story (Win)

References

Notes

1. Clute and Nicholls 1995, p. 1231.
2. Von Ruf, Al. "Publication Listing "The Alien Condition"". Internet Speculative Fiction Data Base. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
3. "Bibliography: Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death". ISFDB. Retrieved June 11, 2013

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

• 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.