Lost Transmissions: The Secret History of Science Fiction and Fantasy

This illustrated journey through lost, overlooked, and uncompleted works is “a fascinating enrichment of the history of sf and fantasy” (Booklist).

Science fiction and fantasy reign over popular culture now, associated in our mind with blockbuster movies and massive conventions. But there’s much more to the story than the headline-making hits. Lost Transmissions by Desirina Boskovich, with a foreword by Jeff VanderMeer, is a rich trove of forgotten and unknown, imagined-but-never-finished, and under-appreciated-but-influential works from those imaginative genres, as well as little-known information about well-known properties.

Divided into sections on Film & TV, Literature, Art, Music, Fashion, Architecture, and Pop Culture, the book examines Jules Verne’s lost novel, AfroFuturism and Space Disco, E.T.’s scary beginnings, William Gibson’s never-filmed Aliens sequel, Weezer’s never-made space opera, the 8,000-page metaphysical diary of Philip K. Dick, and more.

Featuring more than 150 photos, this insightful volume will become the bible of science fiction and fantasy’s most interesting and least-known chapters.

“Will broaden your horizons and turn you on to wonders bubbling under the mass-market commodified pleasures to which we all too often limit ourselves.” ―The Washington Post

Desirina Boskovich has written for Lightspeed, Tor.com, and Weird Fiction Review, and coauthored The Steampunk User’s Manual (Abrams, 2014). Her short fiction has been published in Clarkesworld, F&SF, and Nightmare magazine.

Jeff VanderMeer is the author of the New York Times bestselling Southern Reach Trilogy, The Steampunk Bible (Abrams, 2011), and Wonderbook (Abrams, 2013), and coauthor of The Steampunk User’s Manual (Abrams, 2014). His recent novel Borne was a finalist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award.