The Sharers of Shora are a nation of women on a distant moon in the far future. They are pacifists, they are highly advanced in biological sciences, and they reproduce by parthenogenesis—because there are no males. Conflict erupts when a militaristic neighboring civilization sends an army to develop their ocean world.

A groundbreaking work both of feminist science fiction and of world-building, hard science fiction, A Door into Ocean is the novel that solidified Joan Slonczewski’s reputation as an important science fiction writer.