A Guide to Speculative Fiction at Gustavus Library: Science Fiction

"A comprehensive three-volume reference work offers six hundred entries, with the first two volumes covering themes and the third volume exploring two hundred classic works in literature, television, and film." - from the publisher

"The first historical dictionary devoted to science fiction, this shows how science-fictional words and their associated concepts have developed over time, with full citations and bibliographic information. It also documents the enduring legacy of authors and their fans." - from the publisher

"This reference tracks the development of speculative fiction influenced by the advancement of science and the idea of progress from the eighteenth century to the present day. It provides an account of the major authors of works marketed under the genre label, various subgenres perceptible within the commercial genre, significant sf magazines and their editors, and neologisms coined by genre writers. Included are entries on authors of works of science-based speculative fiction that were, for one reason or another, spared the indignity of the genre label, and on authors in the fields of science and technology which have been particularly prolific in provoking such speculation. The list of acronyms and abbreviations, chronology covering the literature from the 1700s through the present, introductory essay, and dictionary entries provide science fiction novices and enthusiasts as well as serious writers and critics with a foundation for understanding the realm of science fiction literature. The bibliography includes books, journals, fanzines, and websites."--Jacket.

"Plot summaries and analyses of 180 major books and series in the fields of science fiction and fantasy ... all but eight of the essays in these volumes are taken directly from Salem Press's four-volume Magill's guide to science fiction and fantasy literature, which was published in 1996"--Publisher's note.

"The most current and complete guide to a favorite teen genre, this book maps current releases along with perennial favorites, describing and categorizing fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction titles published since 2006"-- Provided by publisher.

"Science Fact and Science Fiction examines in one volume how science has propelled science-fiction and, to a lesser extent, how science fiction has influenced the sciences. The goal of the Encyclopedia is not to present a catalog of sciences and their application in literary fiction, but rather to study the ongoing flow and counterflow of influences, including how fictional representations of science affect how we view its practice and disciplines. Although the main focus is on literature, other forms of science fiction, including film and video games, are explored and, because science is an international matter, works from non-English speaking countries are discussed as needed." - from the publisher

"Speculative fiction is a particularly international genre and an ever-increasing percentage of it is translated and published in English. Out of This World is the first book to explore this trend, highlighting novels, collections, and anthologies translated into English from fourteen different source languages since 1960. Each chapter includes text summaries, analysis, and references to secondary scholarship in an effort to reveal the diversity of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and magical realism available to Anglophone readers since the mid-twentieth century. Lay readers and scholars will discover much about Middle Eastern dystopias, Polish tales of alien encounters, French space-adventure novels, Japanese horror, and everything in between. With chapter introductions by authors, editors, translators, and scholars deeply familiar with speculative fiction in their respective source languages, Out of This World will add to the growing field of world speculative fiction studies and encourage current and future scholars to teach and write about speculative fiction in translation (SFT)." - from the publisher

"Science Fiction has proved notoriously difficult to define, but has emerged as one of the most popular genres of our time; not only in literature, but also in drama, poetry, and film. David Seed explores this often unconventional genre in relation to themes such as science and technology, space, aliens, utopias, gender, and its relation to time past, present, and future."--Jacket.

"The first science fiction course in the American academy was held in the early 1950s. In the sixty years since, science fiction has become a recognized and established literary genre with a significant and growing body of scholarship. The Cambridge History of Science Fiction is a landmark volume as the first authoritative history of the genre. Over forty contributors with diverse and complementary specialties present a history of science fiction across national and genre boundaries, and trace its intellectual and creative roots in the philosophical and fantastic narratives of the ancient past. Science fiction as a literary genre is the central focus of the volume, but fundamental to its story is its non-literary cultural manifestations and influence. Coverage thus includes transmedia manifestations as an integral part of the genre's history, including not only short stories and novels, but also film, art, architecture, music, comics, and interactive media." - from the publisher

Librarian's note: An excellent resource for every period of sf. Each chapter focuses on a particular era or area of science fiction, and the bibliography for each chapter can lead to numerous further resources.

" The Science Fiction Handbook offers a comprehensive and accessible survey of one of the literary world's most fascinating genres. Includes separate historical surveys of key subgenres including time-travel narratives, post-apocalyptic and post-disaster narratives and works of utopian and dystopian science fiction Each subgenre survey includes an extensive list of relevant critical readings, recommended novels in the subgenre, and recommended films relevant to the subgenre Features entries on a number of key science fiction authors and extensive discussion of major science fiction novels or sequences Writers and works include Isaac Asimov; Margaret Atwood; George Orwell; Ursula K. Le Guin; The War of the Worlds (1898); Starship Troopers (1959); Mars Trilogy (1993-6); and many more A 'Science Fiction Glossary' completes this indispensable Handbook" - from the publisher

"This book, first published in 1980, is a guide to the major forces in the subculture of science fiction. It analyses the history of the field and the related developments, for instance the Bomb, that have shaped the literature. It examines the complex of activity and background tradition, the body of accepted beliefs and conventions, and the ethics and values of the world of science fiction." - from the publisher

Librarian's note: Insider view of the rise of the science fiction, from an author-turned-influential-editor active from the beginning of the Golden Age.

"From science fiction writer Thomas M. Disch comes The Dreams Our Stuff Is Made Of, a perceptive account of the impact science fiction has had on American culture. Disch provides a view of this world and its inhabitants, tracing science fiction's phenomenal growth into the multibillion-dollar global entertainment industry it is today. From the protoscience-fiction tales of Edgar Allan Poe, to the utopian dreams and technological nightmares of European writers H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and J.G. Ballard, to American conservatives Robert Heinlein and Jerry Pournelle, liberals Joe Haldemann and Ursula le Guin, flakes William Burroughs and Philip K.Dick, and outright charlatans Ignatius Donnelly and various UFO "witnesses," Disch emphasizes science fiction's cultural role as both a lens and a medium for the very rapid changes driven by modern technology, highlighting its powers of prediction and prevarication."

Librarian's note: Disch, an author of the New Wave generation, has a perhaps more biting and sarcastic take on the genre's history than Del Rey.

"This guide will appeal to both newcomers and connoisseurs of the genre. Informative and readable, Pringle's choices focus on landmarks by Ray Bradbury, Alfred Bester and J. G. Ballard, unearth such lesser known talents as Ian Watson, Octavia Butler and Joanna Russ, and highlights breakthrough novels by William Gibson and Philip K. Dick."

Librarian's note: A good guide to genre highlights from the rise of the sf paperback to the beginnings of cyberpunk in the early 1980s, by a longtime editor of Interzone and influential figure in the "Hard SF Renaissance."

"'Science fiction is the characteristic literary genre of the century. It is the genre that stands in opposition to literary modernism.' So says David G. Hartwell in his introduction to The Science Fiction Century, an anthology spanning a hundred years of science fiction, from its birth in the 1890s to the future it predicted. David G. Hartwell is a World Fantasy Award-winning editor and anthologist who has twice before redefined a genre--first the horror field with The Dark Descent, then the subgenre of hard science fiction with The Ascent of Wonder, coedited with Kathryn Cramer. Now, Hartwell has compiled the mother of all definitive anthologies, guaranteed to change not only the way the science fiction field views itself but also the way the rest of literature views the field. The Science Fiction Century includes stories from the founding fathers of the field, such as H.G. Wells, C.S. Lewis, Jack London, and Rudyard Kipling; beloved mainstays of the genre, such as Philip José Farmer, Roger Zelazny, Jack Vance, and Poul Anderson; noted female writers, including Connie Willis, Nancy Kress, and James Tiptree, Jr.; and writers who have hit their stride in the last two decades, such as Bruce Sterling, William Gibson, Michael Swanwick, and James Morrow. Hartwell has also included writers widely recognized outside the genre, such as E.M. Forster, Michael Shaara, and John Crowley; and translations of foreign writers' formative works, including Dino Buzzati and Wolfgang Jeschke. This is must-have anthology for all literary interests."

"This is the definitive collection of the twentieth-century's most characteristic genre-science fiction. The tales are organized chronologically to give readers a sense of how the genre's range, vitality, and literary quality have evolved over time. Each tale offers a unique vision, an altered reality, a universe all its own. Readers can sample H.G. Well's 1903 story "The Land Ironclads" (which predicted the stalemate of trench warfare and the invention of the tank), Jack Williamson's "The Metal Man," a rarely anthologized gem written in 1928, Clifford D. Simak's 1940s classic, "Desertion," set on "the howling maelstrom that was Jupiter," Frederik Pohl's 1955 "The Tunnel Under the World" (with its gripping first line, 'On the morning of June 15th, Guy Burckhardt woke up screaming out of a dream'), right up to the current crop of writers, such as cyberpunks Bruce Sterling and William Gibson, whose 1982 story 'Burning Chrome' foreshadows the idea of virtual reality, and David Brin's 'Piecework,' written in 1990. In addition, Shippey provides an informative Introduction, examining the history of the genre, its major themes, and its literary techniques."

"US editor who, in collaboration with J Francis McComas, compiled the 35-story, thousand-page Adventures in Time and Space: An Anthology of Modern Science-Fiction Stories (anth 1946; cut 1952; differently cut 1953; cut vt Selections from Adventures in Time and Space 1954; recut vt More Adventures in Time and Space: Selections from Adventures in Time and Space 1955; text restored, vt Famous Science-Fiction Stories: Adventures in Time and Space 1957), which remains a definitive anthology of magazine sf up to 1945 and is credited with considerable influence in helping to give Genre SF literary respectability, as well as making widely available tales that had only appeared in magazines." - Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, "Raymond J. Healey"

"US editor who began his career as manager of Doubleday Book Stores 1930-1934, and who intermittently held various editing positions, in and out of commercial publishing, for the rest of his life; he was, however, primarily a freelance. The first of his many sf Anthologies was The Best of Science Fiction (anth 1946; vt The Golden Age of Science Fiction 1980), a huge compendium which vied in size and potential influence with Raymond J Healy's and J Francis McComas's Adventures in Time and Space (1946), although the latter book was contracted earlier and had first pick of the material. [...] Conklin's anthologies were never definitive but were always considered and capable; as an enabler, through these anthologies and as a series editor, Conklin was of considerable importance in legitimizing American Genre SF for the book markets it only began to penetrate after World War Two. For more recent readers, his 41 anthologies now seem to be the best and most sustained presentation imaginable of the virtues of the Golden Age of SF." - Encylopedia of Science Fiction, "Groff Conklin"

"The present anthology is an attempt to provide, for the readers of the 1980s and beyond, the same kind of powerful impact that Adventures in Time and Space and The Best of Science Fiction delivered thirty years back. It is the largest possible book that modern publishing economics could support, and if it is not the 997 pages at $2.95 that the original Adventures in Time and Space was, the fault is not ours but time's, for we live in the future, and the future is an expensive place. Still, what we offer here is a book of robust size, full of robust stories of the centuries to come--a book of dreams, visions and carefully imagined fantasies, chosen for their ability to delight, amaze, startle and entertain. Arbitrarily we have chosen to use no stories written before 1946 on the grounds that they fall into the province of our distinguished predecessors. Indeed, only a handful of the stories here date from the 1940s. Most first appeared in the 1950s and 1960s, and there are some here from the 1970s, so that we provide an extensive panorama of the evolution of science fiction since those wonderful days.

"For years, The Year's Best Science Fiction has been the most widely read short science fiction anthology of its kind. Now, after twenty-one annual collections, comes the ultimate in science fiction anthologies, The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction, in which legendary editor Gardner Dozois selects the very best short stories for this landmark collection. Contributors include: * Stephen Baxter * Greg Bear * William Bigson * Terry Bisson * Pat Cadigan * Ted Chiang * John Crowley * Tony Daniel * Greg Egan * Molly Gloss * Eileen Gunn * Joe Haldeman * James Patrick Kelly * John Kessel * Nancy Kress * Ursula K. Le Guin * Ian R. MacLeod * David Marusek * Paul McAuley * Ian McDonald * Maureen F. McHugh * Robert Reed * Mike Resnick * Geoff Ryman * William Sander * Lucius Shepard * Robert Silverberg * Brian Stableford * Bruce Sterling * Charles Stross * Michael Swanwick * Steven Utley * Howard Waldrop * Walter Jon Williams * Connie Willis * Gene Wolfe -- With work spanning two decades, The Best of the Best stands as one of the ultimate science fiction anthologies ever published." - from the publisher

"For more than twenty years The Year's Best Science Fiction has been recognized as the best collection of short science fiction writing in the universe and an essential resource for every science fiction fan. In 2005 the original Best of the Best collected the finest short stories from that series and became a benchmark in the SF field. Now, for the first time ever, Hugo Award-winning editor Gardner Dozios sifts through hundreds of stories and dozens of authors who have gone on to become some of the most esteemed practitioners of the form, to bring readers the ultimate anthology of short science fiction novels from his legendary series."

"For the first time in a decade, a compilation of the very best in science fiction, from a world authority on the genre. For decades, the Year's Best Science Fiction has been the most widely read short science fiction anthology of its kind. Now, after thirty-five annual collections. comes the ultimate in science fiction anthologies. In The Very Best of the Best, legendary editor Gardner Dozois selects the finest short stories for this landmark collection." - from the publisher

Librarian's note: Despite the subtitle, this book does not overlap with the previous two anthologies but rather collects stories and novellas in the Year's Best Science Fiction anthologies from the decade and a half spanning the years between the previous retrospective anthology and editor Dozois's passing away in 2018.

"A classic must-have for all readers and writers of science fiction! Damon Knight effectively invented science fiction criticism. His reviews were not mere statements of his personal preferences—his skillful essays analyzed the books and told why they were good or bad, to the edification of readers, the delight of good writers, and the embarrassment of bad ones. In this unique critical study of science fiction, Mr. Knight works on the principle that science fiction is a form of literature which needs no apologies and no special dispensations: it can and should be judged by the same high standards that apply to all literature. His incisive and knowing criticism covers the field brilliantly, from "Classics" to "Chuckleheads." Readers will delight in his laser-sharp thoughts on favorite books, and writers will find his criqitues of the classics invaluable in improving their own craft." - from the publisher

"For several years, hiding under a cloak of anonymity, the most penetrating critic of the field of magazine science fiction was known as 'William Atheling, Jr'. it soon became a challenge to guess his real identity. And that was no easy game, for Atheling's dissection did not spare even his alter ego, the noted science fiction writer James Blish. Here, then, is a collection of William Atheling's critiques of SF magazines covering the period 1952 - 1963. no subject is too sacred or taboo for Atheling's shredding typewriter: from sex to God, from religion to satirical poetry. No author, however fragile, is spared the bloody mark of his relentless ;ash; from Anderson to Heinlein to Wyndham, and all stops in between. A vastly entertaining collection in its own right, The Issue at Hand is also a first-class primer for new writer and seasoned professional alike."

"This collection of essays displays the talent and insight that make the Panshins the obvious and worthy successors to Damon Knight and James Blish in the field of science fiction and fantasy criticism. The Panshins document the evolution of a new and fruitful paradigm and offer a challenge to all conventional opinion about science fiction. They demonstrate that the conception of science fiction as fiction about science was fatally compromised from the outset. They trace the continuity of science fiction with man's most ancient and meaningful stories, the great fantasy of the past, and find this continuity in symbols of transcendent mystery. Nearly half of this book is devoted to studying the works of Robert Heinlein, extending and reconsidering the analysis begun in Heinlein in Dimension, and concluding with a long discussion of "The Number of the Beast--." The Panshin team applies theories of human psychological development to show the deeper meanings of the stories of Heinlein and other authors. They say: 'In the mirror of a science fiction story may be seen a reflection of the author. In the mirror of science fiction stories may be seen a reflection of an era. And in our reading of science fiction--the stories we choose and what we make of them--may be seen a reflection of ourselves. We read science fiction to know ourselves better.'"

"A Nebula and Hugo Award-winning writer of science fiction presents a collection of essays that explores the various issues, concepts, challenges, and paradoxes that confront the science fiction writer." - from the publisher

"Samuel R. Delany's The Jewel-Hinged Jaw appeared originally in 1977, and is now long out of print and hard to find. The impact of its demonstration that science fiction was a special language, rather than just gadgets and green-skinned aliens, began reverberations still felt in science fiction criticism. This edition includes two new essays, one written at the time and one written about those times, as well as an introduction by writer and teacher Matthew Cheney, placing Delany's work in historical context. Close textual analyses of Thomas M. Disch, Ursula K. Le Guin, Roger Zelazny, and Joanna Russ read as brilliantly today as when they first appeared. Essays such as 'About 5,750 Words' and 'To Read The Dispossessed' first made the book a classic; they assure it will remain one." - description of newer edition

"Including more than 30 essential works of science fiction criticism in a single volume, this is a comprehensive introduction to the study of this enduringly popular genre. Science Fiction Criticism: An Anthology of Essential Writings covers such topics as: Definitions and boundaries of the genre; The many forms of science fiction, from time travel to "inner space"; Ideology and identity: from utopian fantasy to feminist, queer and environmental readings; The non-human: androids, aliens, cyborgs, and animals; Race and the legacy of colonialism." - from the publisher

"Returning to print for the first time since the 1980s, Metamorphoses of Science Fiction is the origin point for decades of literary and theoretical criticism of science fiction and related genres. Darko Suvin’s paradigm-setting definition of SF as «the literature of cognitive estrangement» established a robust theory of the genre that continues to spark fierce debate, as well as inspiring myriad intellectual descendants and disciples. Suvin’s centuries-spanning history of the genre links SF to a long tradition of utopian and satirical literatures crying out for a better world than this one, showing how SF and the imagination of utopia are now forever intertwined. In addition to the 1979 text of the book, this edition contains three additional essays from Suvin that update, expand and reconsider the terms of his original intervention, as well as a new introduction and preface that situate the book in the context of the decades of SF studies that have followed in its wake." - description of 2016 reprint

" Although published in 1986, Demand the Impossible was written from inside the oppositional political culture of the 1970s. Reading works by Joanna Russ, Ursula K. Le Guin, Marge Piercy, and Samuel R. Delany as indicative texts in the intertext of utopian science fiction, Tom Moylan originated the concept of the «critical utopia» as both a periodizing and conceptual tool for capturing the creative and critical capabilities of the utopian imagination and utopian agency. This Ralahine Classics edition includes the original text along with a new essay by Moylan (on Aldous Huxley’s Island) and a set of reflections on the book by leading utopian and science fiction scholars." - from the publisher

"The idea that nature is constructed, not discovered - that truth is made, not found - is the keynote of recent scholarship in the history of science. Tracing the gendered roots of science in culture, Donna Haraway's writings about scientific research on monkeys and apes is arguably the finest scholarship in this tradition. She has carefully studied the publications, the papers, the correspondence, and the history of the expeditions and institutions of primate studies, uncovering the historical construction of the pedigrees for existing social relations - the naturalization of race, sex, and class. Throughout this book she is analysing accounts, narratives, and stories of the creation of nature, living organisms, and cyborgs (cybernetic organisms: systems which embrace organic and technological components). She also looks critically at the immune system as an information system, and shows how deeply our cultural assumptions penetrate into allegedly value-neutral medical research. In several of these essays she explores and develops the contested terms of reference of existing feminist scholarship; and by mapping the fate of two potent and ambiguous words-'nature' and 'experience'-she uncovers new visions and provides the possibility of a new politics of hope." - publisher description

Librarian's note: Contains the influential essay, "A cyborg manifesto : science, technology, and socialist-feminism in the late twentieth century"

"Worlds Apart provides a comprehensive theoretical model for science fiction by examining the worlds of science fiction and the discourse which inscribes them. Malmgren identifies the basic science fiction types, including alien encounters, alternate societies and worlds, and fantasy, and examines the role of the reader in concretizing and interpreting these science fiction worlds." - from the publisher

"Adam Roberts examines the history of science fiction and the critical debate which surrounds this, providing beginners with a springboard for further study, but also challenging more advanced students with original interpretations of key SF texts. These range from Ursula Le Guin's 1969 feminist SF novel The Left Hand of Darkness, to Barry Sonnenfeld's 1997 blockbuster film Men in Black. Roberts introduces essential critical terminology, looking in detail at concepts of alien, cyborg, spaceship and robot, and tackling issues such as gender, race, technology and science fiction/science fact." - from the publisher

"From its beginnings in the works of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne to the virtual worlds of William Gibson's Neuromancer and The Matrix, Science Fiction: A Guide to the Perplexed helps students navigate the often perplexing worlds of a perennially popular genre. Drawing on literature as well as example from film and television, the book explores the different answers that criticism has offered to the vexed question, 'what is science fiction?' Each chapter of the book includes case studies of key texts, annotated guides to further reading and suggestions for class discussion to help students master the full range of contemporary critical approaches to the field, including the scientific, technological and political contexts in which the genre has flourished. Ranging from an understanding of the genre through the stereotypes of 1930s pulps through more recent claims that we are living in a science fictional moment, this volume will provide a comprehensive overview of this diverse and fascinating genre." - from the publisher

"'The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction' is a comprehensive overview of the history and study of science fiction. It outlines major writers, movements, and texts in the genre, established critical approaches and areas for future study. Fifty-six entries by a team of renowned international contributors are divided into four parts which look, in turn, at: history -- an integrated chronological narrative of the genre's development; theory -- detailed accounts of major theoretical approaches including feminism, Marxism, psychoanalysis, cultural studies, postcolonialism, posthumanism and utopian studies; issues and challenges -- anticipates future directions for study in areas as diverse as science studies, music, design, environmentalism, ethics and alterity; [and] subgenres -- a prismatic view of the genre, tracing themes and developments within specific subgenres. Bringing into dialogue the many perspectives on the genre The Routledge Companion to Science Fiction is essential reading for anyone interested in the history and the future of science fiction and the way it is taught and studied." - from the publisher

Librarian's note: Individual chapters summarize literary developments of particular decades and a number of subgenres and topics.

"The Handbook begins with a focus on questions of genre, covering topics such as critical history, keywords, narrative, the fantastic, and fandom. A subsequent section on media engages with film, television, comics, architecture, music, video games, and more. The genre's role in the convergence of art and everyday life animates a third section, which addresses topics such as UFOs, the Atomic Era, the Space Race between the US and USSR, organized religion, automation, the military, sexuality, steampunk, and retrofuturism. The final section on worldviews features perspectives on science fiction's relationship to the gothic, evolution, colonialism, feminism, afrofuturism, utopianism, and posthumanism." - from the publisher

"Science fiction is at the intersection of numerous fields. It is literature which draws on popular culture, and engages in speculation about science, history, and all varieties of social relations. This volume brings together essays by scholars and practitioners of science fiction, which look at the genre from different angles. It examines science fiction from Thomas More to the present day; and introduces important critical approaches (including Marxism, postmodernism, feminism and queer theory)." - from the publisher

"Provides more than 300 cross-referenced dictionary entries on the people, films, companies, techniques, and themes that have made the genre a vital part of world cinema. An extensive chronology, introductory essay, and bibliography add to the volume, making it accessible and enlightening to fans of science fiction cinema." - from the publisher

""For the contemporary film audience, science fiction has become a key locus for displaying-and imaginatively addressing-its most pressing concerns. Those concerns increasingly surface not just as displaced subjects, injected into conventional sf narratives, but as inflections in the very nature of the genre. We might describe these issues that bulk so large in our everyday world as angling into the world of science and technology, becoming a kind of slant presence in the genre, and in the process altering the thrust of our sf films and other screen media, resulting in what seems like a proliferation of sub-genre labels that mark off a substantially "new" group of sf cinemas. These cinemas challenge us to view or "read" them differently, from perspectives that are just coming into focus. Through an introductory overview and series of articles on various of these contemporary "slants" and the theories that drive them, this volume offers a guide to both what the new sf cinemas are about and how we have come to think about or "read" them differently. In the process, it also links these fragments of the constantly growing sf supertext to our changing sense of how genres function as a process, marked by consistent growth and evolution, and discussed in ways that reflect contemporary culture's own constant changes."

"Cinema and science fiction were made for each other. The science fiction genre has produced some of the most extraordinary films ever made, yet science fiction cinema is about more than just special effects. It has also provided a vehicle for filmmakers and writers to comment on their own societies and cultures. This new exploration of the genre examines landmark science fiction films from the 1930s to the present. They include genre classics such as 'Things to Come', 'Forbidden Planet' and '2001: A Space Odyssey' alongside modern blockbusters 'Star Wars' and 'Avatar'. Chapman and Cull consider both screen originals and adaptations of the work of major science fiction authors. They also range widely across the genre from pulp adventure and space opera to political allegory and speculative documentary - there is even a science fiction musical." - from the publisher

"In this book, a scientist and dedicated film enthusiast discusses the portrayal of science in more than one hundred films, including science fiction, scientific biographies, and documentaries. Beginning with early films like Voyage to the Moon and Metropolis and concluding with more recent offerings like The Matrix, War of the Worlds, A Beautiful Mind, and An Inconvenient Truth, Sidney Perkowitz questions how much faith we can put into Hollywood's depiction of scientists and their work; how accurately these films capture scientific fact and theory; whether cataclysms like our collision with a comet can actually happen; and to what extent these films influence public opinion about science and the future." - from the publisher

"From Star Trek to Farscape and Stargate SG-1, and the epic series Babylon 5, Jan Johnson-Smith shows how, in line with national political upheavals in the 1960s, this vibrant and perplexing genre set about developing the myth of the Western frontier into deep space. Looking at the sense of wonder that infuses science fiction, she traces the genre back to the heroic journeys of the Classical epic as well as to the notion of the sublime so deeply embedded in the American consciousness. Drawing on Caldwell's notion of televisuality, she shows how sfx and cgi technologies have made it possible to." - from the publisher

"Designed to trick the eye and stimulate the imagination, special effects have changed the way we look at films and the worlds created in them. Computer-generated imagery (CGI), as seen in Hollywood blockbusters like Star Wars, Terminator 2, Jurassic Park, Independence Day, Men in Black, and The Matrix, is just the latest advance in the evolution of special effects. Even as special effects have been marveled at by millions, this is the first investigation of their broader cultural reception. Moving from an exploration of nineteenth-century popular science and magic to the Hollywood science fiction cinema of our time, Special Effects examines the history, advancements, and connoisseurship of special effects, asking what makes certain types of cinematic effects special, why this matters, and for whom. Michele Pierson shows how popular science magazines, genre filmzines, and computer lifestyle magazines have articulated an aesthetic criticism of this emerging art form and have helped shape how these hugely popular on-screen technological wonders have been viewed by moviegoers." - from the publisher

"Reddell assembles a staggering array of movies from sixty years of film history--including classics, blockbusters, B-movies, and documentaries from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union--all in service to his powerful conception of sound making as a speculative activity in its own right. Reddell recasts debates about noise and music, while arguing that sound in the science fiction film provides a medium for alien, unknown, and posthuman sound objects that transform what and how we hear." - from the publisher

"The Apocalypse in Film: Dystopias, Disasters, and Other Visions about the End of the World offers an overview of Armageddon in film from the silent era to the present. This collection of essays discusses how such films reflect social anxieties--ones that are linked to economic, ecological, and cultural factors. Featuring a broad spectrum of international scholars specializing in different historical genres and methodologies, these essays look at a number of films, including the silent classic The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the black comedy Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, the Mayan calendar disaster epic, 2012, and in particular, Lars Von Trier's Melancholia, the focus of several essays. As some filmmakers translate the anxiety about a changing global climate and geo-political relations into visions of the apocalypse, others articulate worries about the planet's future by depicting chemical warfare, environmental disasters, or human made destruction. This book analyzes the emergence of apocalyptic and dystopic narratives and explores the political and social situations on which these films are based. Contributing to the dialogue on dystopic culture in war and peace, The Apocalypse in Film will be of interest to scholars in film and media studies, border studies, gender studies, sociology, and political science." - from the publisher

"Popular media has become a common means by which students understand both the present and the past. Consequently, more teachers are using various forms of popular culture as pedagogical tools in the history classroom. Science fiction is one of the most popular genres of contemporary film, a genre that permeates much of the current culture. In order to facilitate the use of science fiction films as learning tools, teachers of history need a dependable resource. Teaching History with Science Fiction Films is a guide for teaching U.S. and world history. In addition to covering key themes and concepts, the volume provides an era-by-era overview of significant issues and related films, a tutorial in using film in historical methodology, user guides for 10 key science fiction films, and sample exercises and assignments for direct classroom use. Among the films covered in this book are staples of American cultural literacy, including Things to Come, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Soylent Green, and Independence Day. Covering conceptual topics such as geopolitics, environmental consciousness, imperialism, immigration, gender roles, and technological innovation across the decades, Teaching History with Science Fiction Films will enable classroom teachers to effectively use movies to examine key social and cultural issues, concepts, and influences in their historical context. With a list of more than 90 recommended films, this volume will be an invaluable asset to any teacher of history." - from the publisher