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BRAVE NEW WORDS: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction
From Stargate and Droid to Zero Gravity and Force Field, this historical dictionary is filled with fun and fascinating entries on all things science fiction. It's a unique window into the entire genre, through the words invented and passed along by science fictions most talented writers, critics, and fans.
Each entry includes numerous citations of the words usage, from the earliest known appearance forward. Drawn not only from science fiction novels and short stories, citations are also taken from mainstream publications, fanzines, screenplays, newspapers, comics, songs, and the Internet. This historical look at the language of science fiction shows how many of the words we consider everyday vocabulary, including spacesuit (1929), blast off (1937), and robot (1920), have roots in imaginative literature rather than hard science. In fact, science fiction has created a wealth of language later adopted by the sciences and popular culture. Also, it is often surprising how old some of these terms are. Death Ray, for instance, dates to 1915, and Science Fiction itself has been in use since 1851.
Winner of a 2008 Hugo Award, Brave New Words represents the shared language of the entire genre, including the vocabulary of science fiction criticism and science fiction fans. Not only a useful reference, an informative history, and an entertaining browse, this book is also a document of the enduring legacy of science fiction. It is a must-have for every science fiction writer or fan, whether actifan, passifan, faan, or just a plain old Earther.
Each entry includes numerous citations of the words usage, from the earliest known appearance forward. Drawn not only from science fiction novels and short stories, citations are also taken from mainstream publications, fanzines, screenplays, newspapers, comics, songs, and the Internet. This historical look at the language of science fiction shows how many of the words we consider everyday vocabulary, including spacesuit (1929), blast off (1937), and robot (1920), have roots in imaginative literature rather than hard science. In fact, science fiction has created a wealth of language later adopted by the sciences and popular culture. Also, it is often surprising how old some of these terms are. Death Ray, for instance, dates to 1915, and Science Fiction itself has been in use since 1851.
Winner of a 2008 Hugo Award, Brave New Words represents the shared language of the entire genre, including the vocabulary of science fiction criticism and science fiction fans. Not only a useful reference, an informative history, and an entertaining browse, this book is also a document of the enduring legacy of science fiction. It is a must-have for every science fiction writer or fan, whether actifan, passifan, faan, or just a plain old Earther.
375 pages, Paperback
First published March 21, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
November 3, 2017
Some really interesting stuff in this book.
Thanks Pam for the loan.
Thanks Pam for the loan.
April 1, 2019
A really wonderful resource for all Sci-Fi fans - whether you're writing a period-specific piece or are just interested in all things sci-fi.
I can only recommend it.
I can only recommend it.
October 4, 2021
A great source for keeping track of genre terms and tropes, past and present. Short articles that get to the point quickly. A good desktop companion.
June 18, 2012
Got this is as a Christmas present. It’s ‘just’ a dictionary so it’s hard to say a lot about it… only that’s it’s pretty good. Seems to have just about every ‘sf’ word you can think of eg needle gun, cyborg, wallscreen… to flick it open at random. Also a lot of the language of science fiction fandom is covered – some of which, especially the older more archaic terms, were new to me. Each term comes with multiple extensive citations from the history of sf and its surrounding literature. Also it’s nice to get some definitive pronunciation guides for terms I’ve only seen in print before. There’s also a couple of short introductory essays and several themed ones eg ‘Earthlings’ ‘Star Trek’ ‘Zines’ scattered through the text giving examples of different words used within a topic.
Can’t say I read it cover to cover (nor do I plan to) but it was an entertaining and informative flick through and it’ll be handy to have on the shelf for future reference and inspiration.
Can’t say I read it cover to cover (nor do I plan to) but it was an entertaining and informative flick through and it’ll be handy to have on the shelf for future reference and inspiration.
December 28, 2007
really fun! it's not exactly what i thought it'd be, but still fun. He chooses 1999 as the last year for inclusion in the book, which was disappointing but understandable. The other part that surprised me was that he includes a lot of definitions that aren't from books, but from scifi culture. it's fine, just not what I'd expected. totally recommend it, and I'm looking forward to the next edition. It really feels like scifi has had a renaissance in the last 8 years, and I'd love to see those authors included!
February 11, 2011
Great reference book. Inspires me every time. The resources are a bit dodgy/unnecessary, and there could be alot more content (the "space-" seciton was nearly half the book. Spaceman, spacegirl, I get it!).
December 30, 2008
This is a good book to glance at. Some of my favorite words are: go nova, doublesuperungood, posthuman, and alternate future ;-) But it has entries for words like robot and laser gun, *yawn*
February 24, 2011
This was selected as an Outstanding Reference Source for 2008. For the complete list, go to http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rus...
May 31, 2011
Great dictionary. Fun to skim through.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews