The Science Fiction Source Book

by David Wingrove

A consumer's guide to 880 novelists and more than 2000 works; a brief history of science fiction; the 15 sub-genres, analysis and major works; the science fiction writer at work, 12 writers explain their methods; science fiction publishing and checklist of science fiction magazines; science fiction criticism and checklist of critical works.

Genres: Science Fiction, Reference, Fiction, Writing

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

David Wingrove (born September 1954 in North Battersea, London) is a British science fiction writer. He is well-known as the author of the "Chung Kuo" novels (eight in total). He is also the co-author (with Rand and Robyn Miller) of the three "Myst" novels.

Wingrove worked in the banking industry for 7 years until he became fed up with it. He then attended the University of Kent, Canterbury, where he read English and American Literature.

He is married and, with his wife Susan, has four daughters Jessica, Amy, Georgia, and Francesca.

Between 1972 and 1982 he wrote over 300 unpublished short stories and 15 novels.

He started work on a new fictional project called A Perfect Art. Between 1984 and 1988, when it was first submitted, the title was changed twice, becoming first A Spring Day at the Edge of the World and then finally Chung Kuo, under which title it was sold to 18 publishers throughout the world.

A prequel to the Chung Kuo series, called When China Comes, was released in May 2009 by Quercus Publishing, which also re-released the entire series: "The series has been recast in nineteen volumes, including a new prequel and a new final volume. After a series launch in May 2009, Quercus will embark on an ambitious publishing programme that will see all nineteen volumes available by the end of 2012."

He has plans for a further a novels, a a first person character novel called Dawn in Stone City and three very different novels: The Beast with Two Backs, Heaven's Bright Sun, and Roads to Moscow.

Reviews

[Steph Bennion · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author/book reviews are a bit dated, but the articles are a fascinating read.

[Nicholas Whyte]

http://www.nicholaswhyte.info/sf/sfsourcebk.htm[return][return]Gosh, this is a fantastic book. An introduction by Brian Aldiss on the history of SF, following from his earlier Billion Year Spree and preparing for his revision of it with Wingrove as Trillion Year Spree; forty pages on SF sub-genres by Brian Stableford (though of course no cyberpunk, given the date); ten superb vignettes by leading writers (Bradbury, Cowper, Le Guin, Silverberg, Sladek, Tuttle, Wolfe, Zelazny) revealing their own writing habits; pieces by Wingrove and Malcolm Edwards on sf publishing and criticism: and a superbly grumpy and negative afterword by Kingsley Amis on why none of it is any good, at least none that has been published since his own New Maps of Hell in 1960.[return][return]All that on its own would be attractive enough, but there is more. The core of the book is a survey of the works of 880 writers, with 2500 books and short stories given individual rankings. Lots to think about - of course, there is only room for a few works per author to be given the full treatment of ratings out of 5 for idea content, charcterisation, literary merit and readability; but I found myself more often nodding in agreement than wanting to yell at the author. Basically this is all the book that the dismally awful recent Mammoth Encyclopedia of Science Fiction tried to be, and more.[return][return]Strongly recommended, if you can find it.

[Glen Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This mid-eighties reference book is a bit old hat now but it served its purpose in pre-internet days. It's yet another A-Z listing of Science fiction and fantasy films that are reviewed and rated in order to help viewers decide if a film is worthwhile or not. The entries are pretty basic and written without much flair or humor but the book does have its strengths. Many films have alternative titles and the SFFSB does well to untangle these and help you locate a particular film. Likewise with non-English titles. It lists Italian, French, Japanese etc titles but directs you to the English title listing. Its star rating system is rather unique. Each film is rated in four categories -
P for plot, T for technical skill, E for entertainment and A for artistic merit. So films are awarded 0 to 5 stars in each specific category.
I never found this particular feature very helpful but others might. I think the value of these reference books is the time and effort they spend on lesser known films and not just the classics. Sadly, even though the SFFSB lists rare films it often has little to say about them, Apart from the A-Z listings, this book features some interesting but unessential essays on science fiction films and special effects. It also includes sections on SF creators (minimal info) a literary listing (handy) top SF film rentals (obsolete) and a select bibliography (more books you'll be hard pressed to find) On reflection, I can't find much to
recommend about this book.