Customer Reviews

Thought-provoking and helpful - By: Nicholas Whyte, 15 Jan 2007
We are all waiting for the third edition of the Clute/Nicholls Encyclopedia of Science Fiction to appear. In the meantime, this volume of 21 essays on various aspects of sf fulfills the two things I really want from a critical survey: it helps me better understand the sf I have already read, & gives me pointers to writers & books that I might enjoy.

Highlights for me: the sequence of five historical essays about the development of science fiction; the three essays basically about sf & sex (dressed up as "feminist theory", "queer theory" & "gender"); & Ken MacLeod's broad survey of sf & politics. I also felt that Andrew Butler's essay on "post-modernism & science fiction" succeeded by critically examining postmodernism as a concept, so that I felt I had learnt something at the end of it. Mark Bould's essay on sfin films & TV is also very good but runs out of steamin about 1970.

Two assertions that made me think: Ken MacLeod - a writer with things to say about religion? Alien - like "Bloodchild", a pregnant man story?

Low points: Istvan Csicsery-Ronay's essay on Marxist theory & science fiction is without redeeming features. The only interesting bit, his discussion of Jameson, is covered much better by Butler two chapters on. Several of the other chapters spurred me to think that had I the time & library resources I would have liked to try & do a better job.

General bias: Well, one can quibble about the omissions (graphic novels; Christopher Priest) but the top four namesin the index, ranked by numbers of cross-references, are Heinlein, Le Guin, Wells & Asimov, which seems to me pretty fair. Given the collection's emphasis on issues of sex & sexuality, it's not so very surprising to find Joanna Russin fifth place, but she is followed by the firmly traditional choices of John W. Campbell, Arthur C. Clarke, Philip K. Dick, & E.E. "Doc" Smith. I would have thought that fans who want to read more broadly about sf, but feel alienated by the Clute lit-crit stuff (as I saw it referred to somewhere; I am not among this number), will find enoughin this book to make them feel they got their money's worth.