Speculations on Speculation: Theories of Science Fiction - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 081084902X ISBN 13: 9780810849020

Publisher: Scarecrow Press, 2005

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author:

James Gunn, emeritus professor of English at the University of Kansas, has published more than 36 books and nearly 100 short stories. His novels include The Immortals, The Joy Makers, The Listeners, and The Dreamers. He has published seven collections of short stories, including Future Imperfect and Breaking Point. As a professor, he taught fiction writing and science fiction, including a long-running intensive Writers Workshop in Science Fiction. His books about science fiction include Alternate Worlds: The Illustrated History of Science Fiction, Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction, Inside Science Fiction, and the six-volume The Road to Science Fiction.Matthew Candelaria has published articles on science fiction and is recipient of the 2003 Golden Quill Award from the L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest.

Review:

There are at least two obvious responses to the statement that Speculations on Speculation a group of essay son science fiction criticism, is one of the two or three most exciting books, fiction or nonfiction, that I have read recently: first, I'velost my mind, which, given that I have at one point or another lost track of nearly everything else, is a distinct possibility; second, this book must be very stimulating indeed, which I happen to think is the correct answer....There are too many substantial and sometimes brilliant contributions to this collection to discuss them all in detail, or even in passing. They range from Darko Suvin's scholarly essays soaked in Russian Formalism through Barry N. Malzberg's brash and challenging commentaries, through a fascinating contribution by Alexei and Cory Panshin linking science fiction to the 13th century Sufi poet Ibn Arabi, to Ursula K. LeGuin's Science Fiction and Mrs. Brown, which is pure - well, pure LeGuin. And, as might be expected in a field thatis composed of individuals who are very strongly individual, there isn't much in the way of consensus: Suvin more or less dismisses the mythic element in science fiction, which is the focus of the Panshins' essay - a not untypical occurrence....Specul (The Green Man Review)

...[a] useful addition to your professional library...Speculations on Speculation could be a part of an excellent course of essential reading on the genre and theory of sf. (Science Fiction Studies)

This varied and balanced survey will be of greatest value to veteran readers of SF and especially to teachers and would-be-critics of SF. (Science Fiction Research Association Review)

Writers and critics of science fiction discuss the genre and its elements in 24 reprinted articles and essays on identification, location, derivation, excavation, infatuation, and anticipation. Among the offerings are Ursula K. Le Guin on science fiction and Mrs. Brown, Brian W. Aldiss and David Wingrove on Mary Shelley and the origin of the species, Samuel R. Delany on some presumptuous approaches to science fiction, and Michael Swanwick with a user's guide to the postmoderns. (Reference and Research Book News)

There are at least two obvious responses to the statement that Speculations on Speculation a group of essay son science fiction criticism, is one of the two or three most exciting books, fiction or nonfiction, that I have read recently: first, I've lost my mind, which, given that I have at one point or another lost track of nearly everything else, is a distinct possibility; second, this book must be very stimulating indeed, which I happen to think is the correct answer....There are too many substantial and sometimes brilliant contributions to this collection to discuss them all in detail, or even in passing. They range from Darko Suvin's scholarly essays soaked in Russian Formalism through Barry N. Malzberg's brash and challenging commentaries, through a fascinating contribution by Alexei and Cory Panshin linking science fiction to the 13th century Sufi poet Ibn Arabi, to Ursula K. LeGuin's "Science Fiction and Mrs. Brown," which is pure - well, pure LeGuin. And, as might be expected in a field that is composed of individuals who are very strongly individual, there isn't much in the way of consensus: Suvin more or less dismisses the mythic element in science fiction, which is the focus of the Panshins' essay - a not untypical occurrence....Speculations on Speculation is, however, a thought-provoking, often challenging group of essays about a phenomenon that some of us hold very dear, indeed. (The Green Man Review)

About this edition

• Publisher: Scarecrow Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 081084902X
• ISBN 13: 9780810849020
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400
• Editor: Gunn James, Candelaria Matthew