Inside Science Fiction

by James E. Gunn

James Gunn has had a long and distinguished career in science fiction. In addition to his stories and novels, he has written extensively about the reading, writing, and criticism of science fiction. Many of these essays were published in The Science of Science-Fiction Writing (Scarecrow, 2002). A second collection of essays, Inside Science Fiction , was originally published in 1992, and is now available in this revised, updated, and expanded edition. With the addition of five new articles written since 1992, Inside Science Fiction represents Gunn's latest thoughts about the genre.

The book is divided into four major sections that tackle various aspects of the genre:

· "Getting Inside Science Fiction," in which Gunn discusses his relationship with the genre
· "Science Fiction and the Teacher" illustrates various approaches to teaching science fiction
· "Science Fiction on Film and Television" deals with the film industry's approaches to science fiction, in particular, Gunn's experiences of seeing his novel The Immortals turned into a made-for-television movie and subsequent series
· "Science Fiction and the Real World" examines the impact of science fiction on the world and what the future holds for the genre

Inside Science Fiction offers a complete overview of science fiction for readers and viewers from an author, reader, and teacher who has seen it from all sides for more than seventy years.

260 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

American science fiction author, editor, scholar, and anthologist. His work from the 1960s and 70s is considered his most significant fiction, and his Road to Science Fiction collections are considered his most important scholarly books. He won a Hugo Award for a non-fiction book in 1983 for Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction. He was named the 2007 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Gunn served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, after which he attended the University of Kansas, earning a Bachelor of Science in Journalism in 1947 and a Masters of Arts in English in 1951. Gunn went on to become a faculty member of the University of Kansas, where he served as the university's director of public relations and as a professor of English, specializing in science fiction and fiction writing. He is now a professor emeritus and director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, which awards the annual John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award at the Campbell Conference in Lawrence, Kansas, every July.

He served as President of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1971–72, was President of the Science Fiction Research Association from 1980-82, and currently is Director of The Center for the Study of
Science Fiction. SFWA honored him as a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 2007.

Gunn began his career as a science fiction author in 1948. He has had almost 100 stories published in magazines and anthologies and has authored 26 books and edited 10. Many of his stories and books have been reprinted around the world.

In 1996, Gunn wrote a novelization of the unproduced Star Trek episode "The Joy Machine" by Theodore Sturgeon.

His stories also have been adapted into radioplays and teleplays:
* NBC radio's X Minus One
* Desilu Playhouse's 1959 "Man in Orbit", based on Gunn's "The Cave of Night"
* ABC-TV's Movie of the Week "The Immortal" (1969) and an hour-long television series in 1970, based on Gunn's The Immortals
* An episode of the USSR science fiction TV series This Fantastic World, filmed in 1989 and entitled "Psychodynamics of the Witchcraft" was based on James Gunn's 1953 story "Wherever You May Be".

Reviews

[Saul · Rating 4 out of 5]

More of a text book composed of various essays, I felt it had some continuity issues. Still, it's a fantastic book from which to teach or learn the craft of SF writing. James Gunn is a master, and makes clear a number of issues related to the genre. Any serious student of SF must read this.

[Mark Schomburg · Rating 3 out of 5]

As much as I appreciate the academic study of SF, I did find much of the material out-of-date, referring mainly to film before 1990, and with a noticeable gap afterwards. However, since this reader has old-school SF tastes, I did find it worthwhile, and would probably read Gunn's other textbook studies.