What do you think?
Rate this book
Speculations on Speculation: Theories of Science Fiction
Science fiction is a field of literature that has great interest and great controversy among its writers and critics. This book examines the roots, history, development, current status, and future directions of the field through articles contributed by well-respected science fiction writers, teachers, and critics. The articles 'speculate' on what is science fiction, is science fiction serious literature, which writers are considered good science fiction writers, and where the genre of science fiction is headed with 21st-century writers. Contributors include Brian W. Aldiss, Kathryn Cramer, Samuel R. Delany, David G. Hartwell, Ursula K. Le Guin, Barry N. Malzberg, Darko Suvin, Michael Swanwick, and many other outstanding authors. Examining all genres and subgenres of science fiction writing, this book provides differing viewpoints on science fiction, making it a great basis for dynamic classroom discussions.
396 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2004
3 people are currently reading
128 people want to read
About the author
James E. Gunn
268 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".
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 29, 2022
Just yesterday I received a notice in my email about how "sci-fi" deserves to be read so we can prepare for possible futures. A link was provided to the "best" 100 "sci-fi" books ever published.
It has become supremely tiresome to have to say, once again, that SF (not "sci-fi," a hideous neologism repudiated by all serious SF readers and critics) is not about predicting the future. It is a far more complicated genre than a kind of fictional version of Future Shock or all the other similar stuff churned out by so-called "futurologists."
There are now decades of excellent criticism on SF that treat it as serious literature with depth and complexity. In Speculations on Speculation James Gunn and Matthew Candelaria (why does Goodreads eliminate co-authors and co-editors in its algorithm?) have collected brief extracts from some of that rich literature. Selections include a couple of chapters from Dark Suvin's ground-breaking 1975 study, Metamorphoses of Science Fiction, which even now remains foundational for critical work in the field. Some of the disputes in the scholarship--like when SF began, and what exactly marks a work out as SF--can be traced through these essays; readers who want to know more can refer to the studies from which the selections are extracted.
In the broader literary world, SF remains an orphan; some big name critics have taken it very seriously--Frederic Jameson notably--but much of the criticism is still written by fans or practicing SF writers (see, for example, Damien Broderick's dense Reading by Starlight). An old essay by Samuel R. Delany in Gunn and Candelaria's collection can serve as a guide to why SF gets so little respect; he tried reading some SF with a group of literary colleagues with PhDs, and they were utterly incapable of understanding even one sentence (largely because of a combination of scientific ignorance and bias). One wonders how the same experiment, which Delany conducted in the 1960s, would go today. The prevalence of "sci-fi" does not bode well.
It has become supremely tiresome to have to say, once again, that SF (not "sci-fi," a hideous neologism repudiated by all serious SF readers and critics) is not about predicting the future. It is a far more complicated genre than a kind of fictional version of Future Shock or all the other similar stuff churned out by so-called "futurologists."
There are now decades of excellent criticism on SF that treat it as serious literature with depth and complexity. In Speculations on Speculation James Gunn and Matthew Candelaria (why does Goodreads eliminate co-authors and co-editors in its algorithm?) have collected brief extracts from some of that rich literature. Selections include a couple of chapters from Dark Suvin's ground-breaking 1975 study, Metamorphoses of Science Fiction, which even now remains foundational for critical work in the field. Some of the disputes in the scholarship--like when SF began, and what exactly marks a work out as SF--can be traced through these essays; readers who want to know more can refer to the studies from which the selections are extracted.
In the broader literary world, SF remains an orphan; some big name critics have taken it very seriously--Frederic Jameson notably--but much of the criticism is still written by fans or practicing SF writers (see, for example, Damien Broderick's dense Reading by Starlight). An old essay by Samuel R. Delany in Gunn and Candelaria's collection can serve as a guide to why SF gets so little respect; he tried reading some SF with a group of literary colleagues with PhDs, and they were utterly incapable of understanding even one sentence (largely because of a combination of scientific ignorance and bias). One wonders how the same experiment, which Delany conducted in the 1960s, would go today. The prevalence of "sci-fi" does not bode well.
January 13, 2023
This book provides a lot of information on science fiction and includes the perspectives of various famous authors. I liked the introductions to each section with some sections holding my interest more than others.
There are various chapters and I enjoyed some more than others. I think that I found 8 out of the 24 chapters interesting and valuable to my own work.
There are various chapters and I enjoyed some more than others. I think that I found 8 out of the 24 chapters interesting and valuable to my own work.
September 12, 2019
Some of the essays were good (especially those from Delaney and LeGuin), but some were under-theorized or missed the mark.
The essay on Mary Shelley was terrible.
The essay on Mary Shelley was terrible.
July 29, 2019
This has some important articles, well written and illuminating, and a few others that are not so good. It could also use an update for post-1990, especially when we consider the rise of the #OwnVoices movement, the Sad Puppy division, and other recent happenings. It would also be wonderful to get an ebook version.
January 13, 2015
Just as I expected from this collection of essays, some selections in this book are brilliant and others are mediocre at best. However, the brilliant ones more than make up for the droning of structuralists and formalists and once again prove that research can and should be exciting and fun for both the writer and the reader. Special thanks to Ursula K. Le Guin, whose writing would make absolutely any critical anthology worth reading.
June 12, 2012
Unfortunately the binding on my brand new copy did not last for one complete read, which was quite frustrating considering the price of the book.
December 17, 2014
3.5 lotsa name dropping for future reference. First half is more useful than second.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews