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Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy #36
The Sex Is Out of This World: Essays on the Carnal Side of Science Fiction
"Science fiction" can be translated into "real unreality." More than a genre like fantasy, which creates entirely new realms of possibility, science fiction constructs its possibilities from what is real, from what is, indeed, possible, or conceivably so. This collection, then, looks to understand and explore the "unreal reality," to note ways in which our culture's continually changing and evolving mores of sex and sexuality are reflected in, dissected by, and deconstructed through the genre of science fiction. This book is a collection of new essays, with the general objective of filling a gap in the literature about sex and science fiction (although some work has gone before, none of it is recent). The essays herein explore the myriad ways in which authors--regardless of format (print, film, television, etc.)--envision very different beings expressing this most fundamental of human behaviors.
- GenresEssaysScience Fiction
259 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
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February 15, 2013
"The Sex" wasn't so great for me
Full disclosure: I received a free review copy of this book.
It's to be expected that a book that's a collection of articles by several authors is going to provide less of a comprehensive and organized look at its subject than a book written by a single author would. But even taking that expectation into account, I found this book somewhat disappointing.
Prior to this volume, the last scholarly look at sex in science fiction was the 1986 Erotic Universe: Sexuality and Fantastic Literature. Although that book was also a collection of essays by various authors, its chapters looked at some broad topics: "Technology and Sexuality in Science Fiction," "Sex with Aliens in Science Fiction," "Homosexuality in Science Fiction and Fantasy," and so on.
In this book, by contrast, most of the chapters focus on extremely narrow sub-topics. To give just a few examples, there's a chapter about the movie "Star Trek: First Contact" -- certainly a minor film, and one that provides far more fodder for discussion of gender and colonial politics than it does for sex and carnality. Another chapter indulges in an old-fashioned Freudian analysis of the little-known Italian SF writer Primo Levi, and yet another looks at homoerotic imagery in some "boys' series books" -- a branch of fiction only tangentially connected to SF.
On the plus side, there's an interesting chapter on the extravagantly bizarre sexuality in some of J.G. Ballard's fiction, and an engaging discussion of the role (if any) of fatherhood under various alternative modes of reproduction that have been postulated in SF. I found these and several other chapters well worth the read, even if they were on narrow topics.
Undoubtedly, many readers will likewise find at least a few of this book's essays interesting. But personally I was left wishing for something this book isn't, and doesn't attempt to be: An up-to-date volume that's really "about" sex and science fiction -- one that takes a broad-brush approach and covers the topic. While I'm waiting for that book (Come on, SF scholars! Don't any of you like sex?), I think I'll reread Erotic Universe.
Full disclosure: I received a free review copy of this book.
It's to be expected that a book that's a collection of articles by several authors is going to provide less of a comprehensive and organized look at its subject than a book written by a single author would. But even taking that expectation into account, I found this book somewhat disappointing.
Prior to this volume, the last scholarly look at sex in science fiction was the 1986 Erotic Universe: Sexuality and Fantastic Literature. Although that book was also a collection of essays by various authors, its chapters looked at some broad topics: "Technology and Sexuality in Science Fiction," "Sex with Aliens in Science Fiction," "Homosexuality in Science Fiction and Fantasy," and so on.
In this book, by contrast, most of the chapters focus on extremely narrow sub-topics. To give just a few examples, there's a chapter about the movie "Star Trek: First Contact" -- certainly a minor film, and one that provides far more fodder for discussion of gender and colonial politics than it does for sex and carnality. Another chapter indulges in an old-fashioned Freudian analysis of the little-known Italian SF writer Primo Levi, and yet another looks at homoerotic imagery in some "boys' series books" -- a branch of fiction only tangentially connected to SF.
On the plus side, there's an interesting chapter on the extravagantly bizarre sexuality in some of J.G. Ballard's fiction, and an engaging discussion of the role (if any) of fatherhood under various alternative modes of reproduction that have been postulated in SF. I found these and several other chapters well worth the read, even if they were on narrow topics.
Undoubtedly, many readers will likewise find at least a few of this book's essays interesting. But personally I was left wishing for something this book isn't, and doesn't attempt to be: An up-to-date volume that's really "about" sex and science fiction -- one that takes a broad-brush approach and covers the topic. While I'm waiting for that book (Come on, SF scholars! Don't any of you like sex?), I think I'll reread Erotic Universe.
Displaying 1 of 1 review