Science Fiction Handbook (eBook)

M. Keith Booker is the James E. and Ellen Wadley Roper Professor of English and Director of the Program in Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of Arkansas. He is the author of more than 30 books on literature, popular culture, and cultural theory. Anne-Marie Thomas is Associate Professor of English at Austin Community College. She teaches literature and composition, including science fiction classes for the college's Honors Program.

Part I: Introduction.

Science Fiction in Western Culture.

Part II: Brief Historical Surveys of Science Fiction
Subgenres.

The Time-Travel Invasion.

The Alien Invasion Narrative.

The Space Opera.

Apocalyptic and Post-Disaster Narratives.

Dystopian Science Fiction.

Utopian Fiction.

Feminism, Science Fiction, and Gender.

Science Fiction and Satire.

Cyberpunk and Posthuman Science Fiction.

Multicultural Science Fiction.

Part III: Representative Science Fiction Authors.

Isaac Asimov (1920-1992).

Margaret Atwood (1939-).

Octavia Butler (1947-2006).

Samuel R. Delany (1942-).

Philip K. Dick (1928-1982).

William Gibson (1948-).

Nicola Griffith (1960-).

Joe Haldeman (1943-).

Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988).

Nalo Hopkinson (1960-).

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929-).

Ian McDonald (1960-).

China Miéville (1972-).

George Orwell (1903-1950).

Marge Piercy (1936-).

Frederik Pohl (1919-).

Kim Stanley Robinson (1952-).

Neal Stephenson (1959-).

H. G. Wells (1866-1946).

Part IV: Discussions of Individual Texts.

H. G. Wells, The Time Machine (1895).

H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds (1898).

George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949).

Isaac Asimov, I, Robot (1950).

Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kormbluth, The Space Merchants
(1952).

Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers (1959).

Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
(1968).

Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed (1974).

Joe Haldeman, The Forever War (1974).

Marge Piercy, Woman on the Edge of Time (1976).

Samuel R. Delany, Trouble on Triton (1976).

William Gibson, Neuromancer (1984).

Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale (1985).

Octavia Butler, "Xenogenesis" trilogy
(1987-1989).

Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash (1992).

Nicola Griffith, Ammonite (1994).

Kim Stanley Robinson, "Mars" trilogy
(1992-1996).

Nalo Hopkinson, Midnight Robber (2000).

China Miéville, Perdido Street Station (2000).

Ian McDonald, River of Gods (2005).

Glossary.

Selected Bibliography.

Index.

"Science fiction has been an important force in English-language
literature and publishing for well over one hundred years. The task
of adequately summarizing it ... would seem daunting. Doing it
adequately and in a manner that is both understandable to the lay
reader and even at times entertaining might seem an impossibility.
And doing all that in fewer than 350 pages . . . forget it. But
Booker and Thomas have succeeded. Bravo. As Mr. Spock might say,
with the lift of an eyebrow, 'Fascinating.' As is this handbook.
Every decent library should have it, and every good science fiction
fan should refer to it. I guarantee you'll learn something and have
your horizons expanded." (Green Man Review, September 2009)

?Booker and Thomas have produced a valuable work that manages to
find a niche in a suddenly crowded market for resources on science
fiction.? (CHOICE, October 2009)

"The book is ... rich, [and] diverse ... .If you are interested
in science fiction ... you [should] run out and get a copy.
Although the focus is on literature, movies and TV shows are also
included. I highly recommend it. The book not only taught me and
demonstrated its a potential as a reference work, it introduced me
to works of science fiction that I had not read and left me wanting
to go out and read them." (Exploring Our Matrix Blog,
September 2009)

"In short, The Science Fiction Handbook is a fascinating
reference work that puts science fiction subgenres into historical
perspective while offering more detailed analyses of representative
corresponding novels." (SF Signal, July 2009)

?In The Science Fiction Handbook, authors M. Keith Booker
and Anne-Marie Thomas finally give the genre its due, and celebrate
it, as well as help to distinguish it from other forms such as
fantasy or horror.? (SFscope.com, April 2009)
"This book represents an extremely useful pedagogical tool, that will find a home in both research libraries and undergraduate classrooms."--Phillip Wegner, University of Florida