All These Worlds

by Niall Harrison

This retrospective collection of in-depth reviews and essays looks at SF between 2005 and 2014. It includes discussions of work by authors as varied as Stephen Baxter, Liu Cixin, Bernadine Evaristo, and Kelly Link, painting a portrait of an increasingly international and diverse community of writers grappling with technological, political, social and ecological issues that in most cases remain only too relevant today.

Niall Harrison is a former editor of Strange Horizons and Vector: The Critical Journal of the BSFA. His work has appeared in those venues as well as The New York Review of Science Fiction, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction, and others. He was a judge for the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 2006 and 2007.

Genres: Essays, Science Fiction, Literary Criticism

555 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 8, 2023

Reviews

[Ian Mond]

While I’ve been reading genre fiction for decades, it’s only in the last 15 years (and especially the last ten) that I became aware of the leading critics in the field whose names were not Gary K Wolfe or John Clute. They include Abigail Nussbaum, Jonathan Mccalmont, Maureen Kincaid Speller, Paul Kincaid, Martin Petto, Adam Roberts, Dan Hartand, Nic Clarke, Matthew Cheney and Nina Allan. But the one reviewer who I wanted to grow up and become, the one who has influenced me the most (more than I realise) is Niall Harrison. His criticism across the early to mid-2010s not only shaped my understanding of the field but also how to write criticism that’s generous and engaging, that can be harsh and pointed, but never rude. When Harrison stopped regularly reviewing around 2015 / 2016, I felt the field lost an important voice. This collection of his reviews from 2005 to 14 - some of which I’d read, many of which I hadn’t - is a reminder of Niall’s passion for the field, his desire for the genre to constantly be pressing forward, to be respectful but never beholden to what’s come before. Niall’s conversational, accessible style makes for an enjoyable, illuminating experience. It’s always clear where he stands. He never obfuscates. Many of these reviews gave me nostalgic flashbacks to when mundane SF was a thing, and when we were all excited by the New Weird. A collection of his Clarke award summaries over five or so years reminded me of the robust and vibrant conversations we used to have about this award but which seem to have vanished without a trace. This is a terrific book of criticism that I recommend to anyone who loves the genre or the art of reviewing. What’s even better is that Niall has returned to Strange Horizons with a monthly column. I’m so glad he’s back.

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really only picked this up because it ended up in the Hugo nominations for related work for 2024 so I'll fully admit I'm really not the target audience for a collection like this. I have been reading sci-fi and fantasy for most of my life but I've never really delved into critic reviews and essays on the genre.

Most of this collection are reviews of books between 2005 and 2014 with a few essays sprinkled in there. I found the essays a lot more interesting to me personally than the reviews, largely because a lot of the reviews were for books I'm not particularly interested in. I did end up adding a few to my list to read in the future though so points for convincing me on some of them.

Overall, it's a good collection, especially for readers who are more interested in the books from that particular period but not necessarily the best fit for me. It did make for decent bedtime reading though, spacing out one review or essay at a time.

[Dan Trefethen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Niall Harrison has been an important SF critic in Great Britain for some time, but I have not read his reviews before since they appear in publications I don't read, and are about many books I don't see since only some British SF books make it here to America. So I thought I'd catch up with this 'book of book reviews'.

He's a thoughtful, analytical critic who knows the history of the field and can put a book in its historical context, and make meaningful comparisons to other authors. He was also a judge of the Clarke awards for the best SF book published in the UK, and his annual reviews of later Clarke nominations were the most interesting part of the book, as he ranked each one in turn and defended his decision, plus guessing which one would win (about a 50/50 success record).

Still, most of the reviews were about books I've never read nor will find the time to do so, so I'm lukewarm on just picking this book up and reading it cover to cover. I'd recommend cherry-picking the parts you'd be interested in, whether that's trolling for new authors, or reading reviews of books you've already read, or just reading his Clarke awards rundowns for quickie reviews.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

The thing that this book chiefly does is make me wish I had the words to describe it; the second thing it does is make me want to learn them. Harrison takes the reader through a decade of the science fiction field as seen through his eyes, and makes you care about each of the works he’s selected for review. Harrison has the talent, in his writing, of making his reviews and essays feel like conversations. His opinions come across clearly, but he writes about the perspectives of others and the facets of each of the works herein in a way that makes his pieces feel like elegant arguments based on a complete understanding. I think it’s what sets him apart as one of the best of his generation. I look forward to the inevitable cash grab sequel.

[Glenn Popson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up along with Abigail Nussbaum's "Track Changes" to see what's been happening in SF since I stopped reading the genre around 2006.

It's a good collection of reviews; has given me solid guidance on what to read to fill in my gaps.