Depth, Height, and Mass of SF

How to read (and critique) a book, especially a science fiction book:

A tale is a magic trick, a glamor, a mesmeric spell, a craft of illusion. The reader of a storybook attempts to deceive himself into believing the dreams in the book are real, so that, in the case of mainstream books, he may visit other lives vicariously, and, in the case of science fiction, other worlds.

The writer’s task is to assist the deception insofar as possible by means of two sleights of hand.

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