Colourfields: Writing About Writing About Science Fiction

by Paul Kincaid

Colourfields is a wide-ranging, deeply knowledgeable, cheerfully argumentative exploration of how historians, critics, biographers have thought about the many interweaving traditions of science fiction. In the reviews and essays collected here, Paul Kincaid examines the changing stories told about SF, asks how different theoretical approaches are useful (or not) to readers, and demonstrates why in the end, it’s each individual perspective – each individual work – that really matters.

Praise for Colourfields
“Why is it that we are drawn again and again to theorise, proselytise and re-invent the perennial arguments about science fiction? Paul Kincaid is here to help us find out. This is a fascinating and essential volume that every fan and critic will want to read.”
– Nina Allan, author, Conquest

“The clarity of Kincaid's thought, allied to the precision of his prose, has made him one of the central voices of science fiction criticism … Kincaid is always authoritative without being pompous, generous without being sentimental. Read this latest collection and then read everything else.”
– Paul March-Russell, editor, The International Review of Science Fiction

“One of speculative fiction's most erudite critics discusses criticism itself. A refreshingly sophisticated, beautifully grounded analysis of the many histories, definitions, and purposes with which science fiction contends.”
– Vajra Chandrasekera, author, The Saint of Bright Doors

“A book for anyone interested not only in science fiction, but in how literature as a whole works - its communities and cross-currents, its contexts and contradictions.”
– Dan Hartland, reviews editor, Strange Horizons

About the Author
Paul Kincaid has been writing about science fiction in one form or another for nearly half a century. In that time he has twice been a Hugo finalist, twice won the BSFA Best Non-Fiction Award, and has received the Thomas D. Clareson Award from the Science Fiction Research Association. He has written acclaimed books on Brian Aldiss, Iain M. Banks, and Christopher Priest, as well as critical studies of Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock and Pavane by Keith Roberts.

Kindle Edition

Published April 17, 2025

Reviews

[Gerhard · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful treasure trove. Kincaid is a critic's critic - provocative, always teasing out nuances and inconsistencies - but in a manner that showcases his intellectual rigour and unabashed passion for everything SF. There is humility, wonder, respect, and a natural incisiveness to flay the wheat from the chaff ... For example, his criticism of Delany's 'Starboard Wine' is one of the best engagements with this recondite raconteur ever. Kincaid is also immensely readable and entertaining, so if you are curious about SF criticism in general, this is Ground Zero. I think Kincaid has reviewed every major critical book from Delany to 'Trillion Year Spree' by Aldiss and beyond. His immense contribution to SF scholarship is only truly discernible in a major (and at times overwhelming) collection like this. An indispensable lodestone for the history of the genre, and its decolonial potential, especially when Global South SF is flourishing.
A luta continua!

[Ian Mond]

I went over the word limit with my review for Locus. Clocked over 1,000 words (where the limit is typically 800). I had plenty to say, and I could have written more. I won’t repeat any of it here other than to note that Kincaid is brilliant at what he does. He can take dry topics such as taxonomic and ontological debates about what is and what isn’t science fiction and turn them into lively, urgent discussions where it feels like the genre's future is at stake. Well, maybe not that melodramatic, but in Kincaid’s hands, science fiction always feels alive, subject to constant change and reassessment. That he never gets bogged down in the academia of it all, that he’s always clear and precise in his language, that he’s always thorough and meticulous with his argumentation, that he has a parched sense of humour, makes the reading experience all the more delightful.

One thing I didn’t do in my review because it would have taken the focus away from Paul is extol the virtues of Paul’s publisher, Briardene Books. Colourfields is their third collection of reviews and essays, following books by [Niall Harrison]() and [Abigail Nussbaum](). Like so many small presses, they are putting in the hard work, sacrificing who knows what and more, to present us with the work of brilliant, thoughtful, important writers who are never likely to get a contract from a big publisher—unless their small press book somehow becomes viral (which infrequently does happen). Publishing criticism, especially on a topic as niche as genre fiction, is even more of a thankless task. But Briardene are doing it anyway, and I thank them for this.* May they continue for many, many years to come.

*I know University Presses publish criticism. But it costs a fortune and isn’t always readily available. For example, [Kincaid’s recent monograph on Keith Roberts’s Pavane](https://www.booktopia.com.au/keith-ro...) costs a King’s ransom if you’re not associated with a University. (Yes, some of that cost involves exorbitant shipping costs to Australia, but even the Kindle edition is $50). It’s a bloody shame because I’ve just read Pavane (review forthcoming), and I’d love to know Paul’s thoughts, but not at those prices. (And, yes, I also know that Uni presses always charge more because of the niche nature of the work).

[Dan Trefethen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reprints of reviews that Kincaid has written over the years about various science fiction books and authors. He's a good critic, but your enjoyment will depend on how familiar you are with the books and authors he reviews. He spends a lot of time on M. John Harrison and H.G. Wells. He also has a clever and heartfelt appreciation of fellow critic John Clute.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/colourfields-writing-about-writing-about-science-fiction-by-paul-kincaid/

A substantial collection of essays by Paul Kincaid, who is one of the few people to have been both Administrator of the Hugo Awards and a judge for the Arthur C. Clarke Award (the other two are David Langford, and me). They are almost all reviews of other critical works, hence the title, with commentary inserted by the author to contextualise and explain a little more. I had read very few of the books described here, so it made me realise how much more there is to read about sf, and will spur me to add some more to my bookshelves

While I particularly enjoyed the pieces on Brian Aldiss and Ursula Le Guin, I’m afraid I am still unconvinced of the added value of the Marxist analysis of Frederic James and Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, or of the literary merits of M. John Harrison; but maybe that proves Kincaid’s larger point, that there can be no single definition of science fiction, which he pushes in a gentlemanly way. I learned a lot from this, as I had expected.

[Farah Mendlesohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Kincaid is the sf critic with whom I feel most aligned so it's not really a surprise I enjoyed this book so much, even when I disagreed with him.

I enjoyed the histories section most and felt some of his frustration. We are overdue a real overhaul of the history of science fiction, one that is both more international and less focused on great men, that understands publishing environments, and reprint rules.

As with all of Paul's work, well worth reading, and this collection gives a very good sense of his interests over many years of work in the field.