Thanks for the recommendations, I'll give them a go (Asimov I've been all over, but only a handful of Lem and Le Guin). Excellent points - I grew up with a sin

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll give them a go (Asimov I've been all over, but only a handful of Lem and Le Guin). Excellent points - I grew up with a single mom and often semi-joke that sci-fi/fantasy provided all of my adult role models. There's a disturbing connection between my failed personal expectations of myself and the stereotypes you called out.