Scan barcode
cappellanus's review against another edition
4.0
Good overview and selection of perspectives. Probably best single volume introduction to the broad interactions between Science and Christianity.
ovidusnaso's review against another edition
4.0
Hoi og hoi! Endelig ble jeg ferdig! Forelesningene er kanskje ferdig, men ENG2502: West Coast SF Literature kommer alltid til å leve videre inni meg. Og sammen med en pensumliste som var veldig lærerik og treffsikker, men som kanskje kunne blitt oppdatert til neste semester, har jeg også lest dette flotte kompendiet fra start til slutt. Og flott er det! Boka starter med en kronologisk gjennomgang av sjangerens utvikling fram til starten av 2000-tallet, og deretter er den sortert i "teori" og "tema". De tjue kapitlene er skrevet av forskjellige bidragsytere (hovedsaklig akademikere og SF-forfattere), og selv om noen kapittel er svakere enn andre er de alle interessante, og jeg føler at jeg har lært masse, og likevel har så mye igjen å lære. Definitivt anbefalt til alle med interesse i litteratur, selv om de ikke trenger være SF-fans.
megapolisomancy's review against another edition
4.0
An excellent overview of the development and stratification of the genre (and studies thereof). I should have read this before Red Planets, but what can you do?
lizshayne's review against another edition
Compilations are inherently unrateable, theory and criticism doesn’t lend itself well to a 1-5 system and also this book is 16 years old and it shows.
Which is weird. The Jane Austen companion isn’t out of date. But I keep thinking of all the fascinating authors not even in there yet.
But wow do I have a reading list, especially from the feminisms and queer chapters.
Which is weird. The Jane Austen companion isn’t out of date. But I keep thinking of all the fascinating authors not even in there yet.
But wow do I have a reading list, especially from the feminisms and queer chapters.
nwhyte's review against another edition
http://www.nicholaswhyte.info/sf/camb.htm[return][return]We are all waiting for the third edition of the Clute/Nicholls Encyclopedia of Science Fiction to appear. In the meantime, this volume of 21 essays on various aspects of sf fulfills the two things I really want from a critical survey: it helps me better understand the sf I have already read, and gives me pointers to writers and books that I might enjoy.[return][return]Highlights for me: the sequence of five historical essays about the development of science fiction; the three essays basically about sf and sex (dressed up as "feminist theory", "queer theory" and "gender"); and Ken MacLeod's broad survey of sf and politics. I also felt that Andrew Butler's essay on "post-modernism and science fiction" succeeded by critically examining postmodernism as a concept, so that I felt I had learnt something at the end of it. Mark Bould's essay on sf in films and TV is also very good but runs out of steam in about 1970.[return][return]Two assertions that made me think: Ken MacLeod - a writer with things to say about religion? Alien - like "Bloodchild", a pregnant man story?[return][return]Low points: Istvan Csicsery-Ronay's essay on Marxist theory and science fiction is without redeeming features. The only interesting bit, his discussion of Jameson, is covered much better by Butler two chapters on. Several of the other chapters spurred me to think that had I the time and library resources I would have liked to try and do a better job.[return][return]General bias: Well, one can quibble about the omissions (graphic novels; Christopher Priest) but the top four names in the index, ranked by numbers of cross-references, are Heinlein, Le Guin, Wells and Asimov, which seems to me pretty fair. Given the collection's emphasis on issues of sex and sexuality, it's not so very surprising to find Joanna Russ in fifth place, but she is followed by the firmly traditional choices of John W. Campbell, Arthur C. Clarke, Philip K. Dick, and E.E. "Doc" Smith. I would have thought that fans who want to read more broadly about sf, but feel alienated by the Clute lit-crit stuff (as I saw it referred to somewhere; I am not among this number), will find enough in this book to make them feel they got their money's worth.
tome15's review against another edition
4.0
James, Edward, and Farah Mendelsohn, editors. The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction. Cambridge UP, 2003.
This Cambridge Companion provides a useful set of essays that provides some history of science fiction as a literary genre and identifies some modern trends in the literature and criticism related to the field. Among the pieces I found particularly useful was one that detailed the unusual importance of magazine editors and anthologists in directing the development of the genre. The collection also contains several valuable articles on race, ethnicity, and gender issues that are rapidly influencing a genre that was for a long time almost exclusively white, male, and American.
This Cambridge Companion provides a useful set of essays that provides some history of science fiction as a literary genre and identifies some modern trends in the literature and criticism related to the field. Among the pieces I found particularly useful was one that detailed the unusual importance of magazine editors and anthologists in directing the development of the genre. The collection also contains several valuable articles on race, ethnicity, and gender issues that are rapidly influencing a genre that was for a long time almost exclusively white, male, and American.
atroskity's review against another edition
3.0
This won a Hugo for best related work and I've had it on my TBR for while. Overall, it turned out to be a decent and mostly readable collection of academic writings that felt a bit thin for companion to such an immense and constantly-shifting field. Honestly, some of these essays read more like extensive lists than actual analysis. I would love to see an updated version, given how much has changed in the SFF realm since this was published in 2000. I would also really like to see the essay on race and ethnicity in sci-fi written by someone who isn't white (the author that tackled it in this one did a fine job, I guess, but boy is this a very white collection of writers).
More...