The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
Magill's Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature
Twentieth-century science-fiction writersTwentieth-Century American Science-Fiction WritersThe Science Fiction Encyclopedia
Gender and Environment in Science Fiction
Gender and Environment in Science Fiction focuses on the variety of ways that gender and "nature" interact in science fiction films and fictions, exploring questions of different realities and posing new ones. Science fiction asks questions to propose other ways of living; it asks what if, and that question is the basis for alternative narratives of ourselves and the world we are a part of. What if humans could terraform planets? What if we could create human-nonhuman hybrids? What if artificial intelligence gains consciousness? What if we could realize kinship with other species through heightened empathy or traumatic experiences? What if we imagine a world without oil? The texts analyzed in this book ask these questions and others, exploring how humans and nonhumans are connected; how nonhuman biologies can offer diverse ways to think about human sex, gender, and sexual orientation; and how interpretive strategies can subvert the messages of older films and written texts.
The Golden Age of Science Fiction by
John Wade grew up in the 1950s, a decade that has since been dubbed the 'golden age of science fiction'. It was a wonderful decade for science fiction, but not so great for young fans. With early television broadcasts being advertised for the first time as 'unsuitable for children' and the inescapable barrier of the 'X' certificate in the cinema barring anyone under the age of sixteen, the author had only the radio to fall back on - and that turned out to be more fertile for the budding SF fan than might otherwise have been thought. Which is probably why, as he grew older, rediscovering those old TV broadcasts and films that had been out of bounds when he was a kid took on a lure that soon became an obsession.For him, the super-accuracy and amazing technical quality of today's science fiction films pale into insignificance beside the radio, early TV and B-picture films about people who built rockets in their back gardens and flew them to lost planets, or tales of aliens who wanted to take over, if not our entire world, then at least our bodies. This book is a personal account of John Wade's fascination with the genre across all the entertainment media in which it appeared - the sort of stuff he revelled in as a young boy - and still enjoys today.
Modern Science Fiction: a Critical Analysis by
James Gunn--one of the founding figures of science fiction scholarship and teaching--wrote in 1951 what is likely the first master's thesis on modern science fiction. Portions were in the short-lived pulp magazine Dynamic but it has otherwise remained unavailable. Here in its first full publication, the thesis explores many of the classic Golden Age stories of the 1940s and the critical perspective that informed Gunn's essential genre history Alternate Worlds and his anthology series The Road to Science Fiction. The editor's introduction and commentary show the historical significance of Gunn's work and its relevance to today's science fiction studies.
Animating the Science Fiction Imagination by 
Imagining the Future of Climate Change: world-making through science fiction and activism by
From the 1960s to the present, activists, artists, and science fiction writers have imagined the consequences of climate change and its impacts on our future. Authors such as Octavia Butler and Leslie Marmon Silko, movie directors such as Bong Joon-Ho, and creators of digital media such as the makers of the Maori web series Anamata Future News have all envisioned future worlds during and after environmental collapse, engaging audiences to think about the earth's sustainability. As public awareness of climate change has grown, so has the popularity of works of climate fiction that connect science with activism. Today, real-world social movements helmed by Indigenous people and people of color are leading the way against the greatest threat to our environment: the fossil fuel industry. Their stories and movements--in the real world and through science fiction--help us all better understand the relationship between activism and culture, and how both can be valuable tools in creating our future. Imagining the Future of Climate Change introduces readers to the history and most significant flashpoints in climate justice through speculative fictions and social movements, exploring post-disaster possibilities and the art of world-making.