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Reading Science Fiction
Science Fiction is illuminated by world class scholars and fiction writers, who introduce the history, concepts and contexts necessary to understanding the genre. Their groundbreaking approach provides insights into today's SF world and makes learning how to read Science Fiction an exciting collaborative process for teachers and students.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published October 30, 2008
About the author
James E. Gunn
265 books118 followersAmerican science fiction author, editor, scholar, and anthologist. His work from the 1960s and 70s is considered his most significant fiction, and his Road to Science Fiction collections are considered his most important scholarly books. He won a Hugo Award for a non-fiction book in 1983 for Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction. He was named the 2007 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.
Gunn served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, after which he attended the University of Kansas, earning a Bachelor of Science in Journalism in 1947 and a Masters of Arts in English in 1951. Gunn went on to become a faculty member of the University of Kansas, where he served as the university's director of public relations and as a professor of English, specializing in science fiction and fiction writing. He is now a professor emeritus and director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, which awards the annual John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award at the Campbell Conference in Lawrence, Kansas, every July.
He served as President of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1971–72, was President of the Science Fiction Research Association from 1980-82, and currently is Director of The Center for the Study of
Science Fiction. SFWA honored him as a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 2007.
Gunn began his career as a science fiction author in 1948. He has had almost 100 stories published in magazines and anthologies and has authored 26 books and edited 10. Many of his stories and books have been reprinted around the world.
In 1996, Gunn wrote a novelization of the unproduced Star Trek episode "The Joy Machine" by Theodore Sturgeon.
His stories also have been adapted into radioplays and teleplays:
* NBC radio's X Minus One
* Desilu Playhouse's 1959 "Man in Orbit", based on Gunn's "The Cave of Night"
* ABC-TV's Movie of the Week "The Immortal" (1969) and an hour-long television series in 1970, based on Gunn's The Immortals
* An episode of the USSR science fiction TV series This Fantastic World, filmed in 1989 and entitled "Psychodynamics of the Witchcraft" was based on James Gunn's 1953 story "Wherever You May Be".
Gunn served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, after which he attended the University of Kansas, earning a Bachelor of Science in Journalism in 1947 and a Masters of Arts in English in 1951. Gunn went on to become a faculty member of the University of Kansas, where he served as the university's director of public relations and as a professor of English, specializing in science fiction and fiction writing. He is now a professor emeritus and director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, which awards the annual John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award at the Campbell Conference in Lawrence, Kansas, every July.
He served as President of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1971–72, was President of the Science Fiction Research Association from 1980-82, and currently is Director of The Center for the Study of
Science Fiction. SFWA honored him as a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 2007.
Gunn began his career as a science fiction author in 1948. He has had almost 100 stories published in magazines and anthologies and has authored 26 books and edited 10. Many of his stories and books have been reprinted around the world.
In 1996, Gunn wrote a novelization of the unproduced Star Trek episode "The Joy Machine" by Theodore Sturgeon.
His stories also have been adapted into radioplays and teleplays:
* NBC radio's X Minus One
* Desilu Playhouse's 1959 "Man in Orbit", based on Gunn's "The Cave of Night"
* ABC-TV's Movie of the Week "The Immortal" (1969) and an hour-long television series in 1970, based on Gunn's The Immortals
* An episode of the USSR science fiction TV series This Fantastic World, filmed in 1989 and entitled "Psychodynamics of the Witchcraft" was based on James Gunn's 1953 story "Wherever You May Be".
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 8, 2013
This book is somewhat like 2003's The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, and features several of the same authors. Like that book, this one brings together several authors and scholars to provide an academic look at the field of science fiction. However, where The Cambridge Companion takes a broad-brush approach and tries to truly cover the field of SF, the scope and coverage of this book is rather spotty and narrowly focused. Thus, while The Cambridge Companion includes a section on the history of SF and another on SF's sub-genres and themes; this book has chapters on such relatively narrow topics as the feminist SF of Joanna Russ and Latin American SF and fantasy. But of course this "narrow-brush" approach isn't all bad; it allows the book's selected topics to be studied in greater detail.
The book is divided into five parts:
"I: Mapping Science Fiction" -- about defining SF and differentiating it from other branches of literature.
"II: Science Fiction and Popular Culture" -- is largely a look at SF in media such as movies, TV, and video games.
"III: Theoretical Approaches to Science Fiction" -- provides a sampling of the "literary theory" work that has been done with SF to examine it from various sociological and political viewpoints.
"IV: Reading Science Fiction in the Classroom" -- examines SF as a subject for classrooms.
"V: Science Fiction and Diverse Disciplines" -- looks at the uses of various scientific disciplines, as well as philosophy and the internet, in SF.
Beyond that overview, here are some high points...
Sherryl Vint and Mark Bould's interesting examination of different political angles from which Tom Godwin's classic story "The Cold Equations" can be read and how these expose some of the assumptions implicit in the story.
George Zebrowski's thoughtful consideration of the deeper meanings to be found in several SF films.
Michael Cassutt's discussion of how the overexposure of many SF tropes in popular media has led to them becoming "exhausted" and no longer usable fodder for SF writers. I'm not sure to what extent I agree with Cassutt, but the article was thought-provoking.
Most of part V, with its knowledgeable discussions of the various fields of science that have been used (and not used, and often misused) in SF.
... And some low-points:
Brian Stableford's turgidly-written "Narrative Strategies in SF." (First sentence: "There is an important sense in which the heterocosmic (that is to say, analogies between creating art and creating the universe) constructions of science fiction stand in crucial and fundamental opposition to those of folkloristic fantasy.") Some valid points are made, but they could have easily been made without the tripping-over-its-own-feet language.
It's only a brief mention, but how Brooks Landon's laughable misreading of "The Nine Billion Names of God" ever got past this book's editors is a mystery to boggle the mind.
Also brief but annoying: In no less than 14 of the book's articles, the authors preface their use of the term "SF" with the oh-so-helpful information that it stands for "science fiction." Thank you, Captain(s) Obvious!
=========
So all in all this is a good and interesting book of SF studies. But if you don't already have The Cambridge Companion to SF in your library, I'd recommend that book over this one.
The book is divided into five parts:
"I: Mapping Science Fiction" -- about defining SF and differentiating it from other branches of literature.
"II: Science Fiction and Popular Culture" -- is largely a look at SF in media such as movies, TV, and video games.
"III: Theoretical Approaches to Science Fiction" -- provides a sampling of the "literary theory" work that has been done with SF to examine it from various sociological and political viewpoints.
"IV: Reading Science Fiction in the Classroom" -- examines SF as a subject for classrooms.
"V: Science Fiction and Diverse Disciplines" -- looks at the uses of various scientific disciplines, as well as philosophy and the internet, in SF.
Beyond that overview, here are some high points...
Sherryl Vint and Mark Bould's interesting examination of different political angles from which Tom Godwin's classic story "The Cold Equations" can be read and how these expose some of the assumptions implicit in the story.
George Zebrowski's thoughtful consideration of the deeper meanings to be found in several SF films.
Michael Cassutt's discussion of how the overexposure of many SF tropes in popular media has led to them becoming "exhausted" and no longer usable fodder for SF writers. I'm not sure to what extent I agree with Cassutt, but the article was thought-provoking.
Most of part V, with its knowledgeable discussions of the various fields of science that have been used (and not used, and often misused) in SF.
... And some low-points:
Brian Stableford's turgidly-written "Narrative Strategies in SF." (First sentence: "There is an important sense in which the heterocosmic (that is to say, analogies between creating art and creating the universe) constructions of science fiction stand in crucial and fundamental opposition to those of folkloristic fantasy.") Some valid points are made, but they could have easily been made without the tripping-over-its-own-feet language.
It's only a brief mention, but how Brooks Landon's laughable misreading of "The Nine Billion Names of God" ever got past this book's editors is a mystery to boggle the mind.
Also brief but annoying: In no less than 14 of the book's articles, the authors preface their use of the term "SF" with the oh-so-helpful information that it stands for "science fiction." Thank you, Captain(s) Obvious!
=========
So all in all this is a good and interesting book of SF studies. But if you don't already have The Cambridge Companion to SF in your library, I'd recommend that book over this one.
November 18, 2010
It's not quite the primer I was hoping for, but it was interesting. It's a collection of thematic essays on science fiction, but a lot of the essays assume you know a fair amount about the topic already or have already read the seminal works.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews