“The volume as a whole successfully acquaints diligent readers with an array of substantive avenues of critical inquiry into science fiction … Highly recommended.” Choice
“[This] Companion provides unusual depth and detail … The main strengths here are the distinguished roster of contributors, who have plenty of thought-provoking ideas … Anyone seeking an immersion course in the history and criticism of [science fiction] today will find that their time is well repaid.”
Science Fiction Studies
A Companion to Science Fiction assembles essays by an international range of scholars that discuss the contexts, themes and methods used by science fiction writers. It conveys the scale and variety of science fiction and also shows how science fiction novels have been used as a means of debating cultural issues.
The first section of the volume 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. It also maps out connections between science fiction, television, the cinema, virtual-reality technology, and other aspects of the culture. The next section is devoted to major figures, such as H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ursula Le Guin. Finally, the Companion offers close discussions of key novels, from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
From the Back Cover
A Companion to Science Fiction assembles essays by an international range of scholars that discuss the contexts, themes and methods used by science fiction writers. It conveys the scale and variety of science fiction and also shows how science fiction novels have been used as a means of debating cultural issues.
The first section of the volume 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. It also maps out connections between science fiction, television, the cinema, virtual-reality technology, and other aspects of the culture. The next section is devoted to major figures, such as H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, and Ursula Le Guin. Finally, the Companion offers close discussions of key novels, from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein to Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
About the Author
David Seed is Professor in the School of English at Liverpool University. He has published books on Joseph Heller, Thomas Pynchon, science fiction and the Cold War, and cultural representations of brainwashing. He edits the Science Fiction series of Liverpool University Press and serves as a consulting editor for the journal Science Fiction Studies.
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