A Companion to Science Fiction

A Companion to Science Fiction
Author: David Seed
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 631
Release: 2008-06-09
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0470797010

A Companion to Science Fiction assembles essays by an international range of scholars which discuss the contexts, themes and methods used by science fiction writers. This Companion conveys the scale and variety of science fiction. Shows how science fiction has been used as a means of debating cultural issues. Essays by an international range of scholars discuss the contexts, themes and methods used by science fiction writers. Addresses general topics, such as the history and origins of the genre, its engagement with science and gender, and national variations of science fiction around the English-speaking world. Maps out connections between science fiction, television, the cinema, virtual reality technology, and other aspects of the culture. Includes a section focusing on major figures, such as H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ursula Le Guin. Offers close readings of particular novels, from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.

The Rise and Fall of American Science Fiction, from the 1920s to the 1960s

The Rise and Fall of American Science Fiction, from the 1920s to the 1960s
Author: Gary Westfahl
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 312
Release: 2019-10-04
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1476638519

 By examining important aspects of science fiction in the twentieth century, this book explains how the genre evolved to its current state. Close critical attention is given to topics including the art that has accompanied science fiction, the subgenres of space opera and hard science fiction, the rise of SF anthologies, and the burgeoning impact of the marketplace on authors. Included are in-depth studies of key texts that contributed to science fiction's growth, including Philip Francis Nowlan's first Buck Rogers story, the first published stories of A. E. van Vogt, and the early juveniles of Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke and Robert Heinlein.

The History of the Science-fiction Magazine

The History of the Science-fiction Magazine
Author: Michael Ashley
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
Total Pages: 316
Release: 2000-01-01
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9780853238553

This is the first of three volumes that chart the history of the science fiction magazine from the earliest days to the present. This first volume looks at the exuberant years of the pulp magazines. It traces the growth and development of the science fiction magazines from when Hugo Gernsback launched the very first, Amazing Stories, in 1926 through to the birth of the atomic age and the death of the pulps in the early 1950s. These were the days of the youth of science fiction, when it was brash, raw and exciting: the days of the first great space operas by Edward Elmer Smith and Edmond Hamilton, through the cosmic thought variants by Murray Leinster, Jack Williamson and others to the early 1940s when John W. Campbell at Astounding did his best to nurture the infant genre into adulthood. Under him such major names as Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, A. E. van Vogt and Theodore Sturgeon emerged who, along with other such new talents as Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke, helped create modern science fiction. For over forty years magazines were at the heart of science fiction and this book considers how the magazines, and their publishers, editors and authors influenced the growth and perception of this fascinating genre.

Heavy Planet and Other Science Fiction Stories

Heavy Planet and Other Science Fiction Stories
Author: Milton A. Rothman
Publisher: Wildside Press LLC
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2004-05-31
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0809515725

Milton A. Rothman was best known to generations of science-fiction readers for a single classic story written at age 19: "Heavy Planet," published under the byline of "Lee Gregor" in 'Astounding Science Fiction' in 1939 at the beginning of the Golden Age and kept in print for decades in the classic anthology 'Adventures in Time and Space'. He was also a pioneer of early fandom, a founder of the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, a fanzine publisher, and a World Science Fiction Convention chairman. After World War II, he became one of the country's leading nuclear physicists, but continued to write science fiction throughout his life. Here, for the first time, all his science fiction stories are collected in one volume, giving a clear picture of the author's development from youth to old age, reflecting lifelong preoccupations with physics, mathematics, music, the futility of war, and, of course, science fiction itself. Here is an authentic voice from the early years of the modern science fiction field. Features an introduction by science fiction master Frederik Pohl.

Science Fiction Magazine Story Index, 1926-1995

Science Fiction Magazine Story Index, 1926-1995
Author: Terry A. Murray
Publisher:
Total Pages: 644
Release: 1999
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

Since the appearance of the first science fiction magazine in 1926, thousands of short stories have been published in periodicals devoted to the genre. These stories cover a wide range of subjects, from spacecraft to the human condition, and feature little-known authors as well as masters like Ellison and Asimov. In the past, finding which issue of what magazine ran a certain story was nearly impossible. This much-needed reference tool provides valuable assistance in the daunting task of locating short stories published in science fiction magazines, providing exhaustive indexes to magazines, authors, and titles, allowing a variety of options for research on 34,000 stories appearing in nearly 5,000 issues of 133 genre magazines. Stories from all major American publications, as well as from several minor periodicals, are indexed. Also included is an appendix of the best known and most prolific contributors, giving the titles of all their stories in this work (necessary because the huge author index does not show titles). A guide to how to use this book clarifies its features for the researcher.

Black Priestess of Varda

Black Priestess of Varda
Author: Erik Fennel
Publisher: eStar Books
Total Pages: 33
Release: 2011-11-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1612104215

She was well-named-Sin-foul witch and raving beauty. Black Priestess and beloved of Sasso, the Dark Power from another dimension who strove to capture, with her help, Varda, a lovely little world. Outlawed, sentenced to the Vat, a few foresters still defied foul Sasso's loveliest witch. ExcerptA shriveled blood-red moon cast slanting beams through gigantic, weirdly distorted trees. The air was dead still where he lay, but overhead a howling wind tossed the top branches into eerie life. He was lying on moss. Moss that writhed resentfully under his weight. His stomach was heaving queasily and his head was one throbbing ache. His right leg refused to move. It seemed to be stuck in something.He was not alone. Something was prowling nearby among the unbelievably tall trees. He sat up weakly, automatically, but somehow he did not care very deeply what happened to him. Not at first.The prowling creature circled, trying to outline him against the slanting shafts of crimson moonlight. He heard it move, then saw its eyes blue-green and luminous in the shadows, only a foot or two from the ground.Then his scalp gave a sudden tingle, for the eyes rose upward. Abruptly they were five feet above ground level. He held his breath, but still more wondering than afraid. A vagrant gust brought a spicy odor to his nostrils, something strongly reminiscent of sandalwood. Not an animal smell.He moved slightly. The moss beneath him squeaked a protest and writhed unpleasantly.The thing with the glowing eyes moved closer. Squeak-squeak, squeak-squeak, the strange moss complained. And then a human figure appeared momentarily in a slender shaft of red light.

A Frozen Hell

A Frozen Hell
Author: William R. Trotter
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Total Pages: 474
Release: 2013-06-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 1565126920

In 1939, tiny Finland waged war-the kind of war that spawns legends-against the mighty Soviet Union, and yet their epic struggle has been largely ignored. Guerrillas on skis, heroic single-handed attacks on tanks, unfathomable endurance, and the charismatic leadership of one of this century's true military geniuses-these are the elements of both the Finnish victory and a gripping tale of war.