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Great Themes of Science Fiction: A Study in Imagination and Evolution
The most comprehensive work of its kind, Great Themes of Science Fiction looks at the most important elements of the genre and shows how each has evolved over time. Among the topics examined are aliens and alien worlds, supermen and adapted men, immortality and paranormal powers, robots and computers, space civilizations and colonies, wars on earth and in space, worldwide disasters, time travel, and parallel worlds. Selected examples of each theme are discussed together with changes that have become apparent with shifts in popular attitudes and the increasing sophistication of readers. The impact and significance of each type of science fiction scenario is considered, and the challenges it poses to human ingenuity, understanding, and responsibility are discussed.
- GenresScience Fiction
265 pages, Hardcover
First published October 20, 1987
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 28, 2016
A weird little book.
Or, better, short: because the book is actually rather big, though the type is large and there are many blank pages.
This is the middle volume of a trilogy on the history of science fiction that Pierce initially conceived of as a single book. It was written at the birth of formal science fiction (literary) criticism, and it shows.
Pierce covers 9 themes: aliens, supermen, immortality, god-men, artificial intelligence, cities, wars, disasters, and a ill-defined category (On the Edge) that includes science fiction which isn't quite science fiction.
And that's important, because the question of what counts as science fiction recurs throughout the book. Pierce is obsessed. If it smacks of fantasy or religion, it's out. If it's pseudo-scientific, it's out. The last chapter is him mostly trying to convince himself that Philip K. Dick should be in the canon, despite his mysticism.
Throughout the book, Pierce is constantly judging the stories based on how perfectly logical they are, and how consistent they are with known scientific laws. He mentions, briefly, that some of the stories he covers--and he ranges widely, back tot he nineteenth century, touching on French, Russian, and Anglo stories--are poorly written, racist, imperialistic, or misogynistic, but these really aren't his concerns. He wants to make sure that he writers understood science. (He acknowledges that there is a tradition of using science fiction as satire, but doesn't seem very interested in it.)
What is especially problematic is how limited his own understanding of science is: any story that discusses the evolution of a species must parallel then-current understandings of evolution. Sociobiology is axiomatic. His understanding of the development of history reminds one of the video game Sims, though perhaps not even as complex. And stories that deviate from these structures come in for criticism. (Indeed, at the end, he admits that science fiction is the forecasting of evolution, and so must conform to evolutionary laws.)
Thus, the hyper-logical writing of Heinlein and Asimov has a pride of place, while Tolkien doesn't even get considered as science fiction--fair enough, but the community of readers often didn't make such stark divisions, and so keeping themes separated this way is only useful in very structural ways.
These crotchets make the literary criticism mostly uses for today. But the book still serves as a handy reference for finding particular books and stories that incorporate particular themes--even if the universe of possible stories is artificially restricted.
Or, better, short: because the book is actually rather big, though the type is large and there are many blank pages.
This is the middle volume of a trilogy on the history of science fiction that Pierce initially conceived of as a single book. It was written at the birth of formal science fiction (literary) criticism, and it shows.
Pierce covers 9 themes: aliens, supermen, immortality, god-men, artificial intelligence, cities, wars, disasters, and a ill-defined category (On the Edge) that includes science fiction which isn't quite science fiction.
And that's important, because the question of what counts as science fiction recurs throughout the book. Pierce is obsessed. If it smacks of fantasy or religion, it's out. If it's pseudo-scientific, it's out. The last chapter is him mostly trying to convince himself that Philip K. Dick should be in the canon, despite his mysticism.
Throughout the book, Pierce is constantly judging the stories based on how perfectly logical they are, and how consistent they are with known scientific laws. He mentions, briefly, that some of the stories he covers--and he ranges widely, back tot he nineteenth century, touching on French, Russian, and Anglo stories--are poorly written, racist, imperialistic, or misogynistic, but these really aren't his concerns. He wants to make sure that he writers understood science. (He acknowledges that there is a tradition of using science fiction as satire, but doesn't seem very interested in it.)
What is especially problematic is how limited his own understanding of science is: any story that discusses the evolution of a species must parallel then-current understandings of evolution. Sociobiology is axiomatic. His understanding of the development of history reminds one of the video game Sims, though perhaps not even as complex. And stories that deviate from these structures come in for criticism. (Indeed, at the end, he admits that science fiction is the forecasting of evolution, and so must conform to evolutionary laws.)
Thus, the hyper-logical writing of Heinlein and Asimov has a pride of place, while Tolkien doesn't even get considered as science fiction--fair enough, but the community of readers often didn't make such stark divisions, and so keeping themes separated this way is only useful in very structural ways.
These crotchets make the literary criticism mostly uses for today. But the book still serves as a handy reference for finding particular books and stories that incorporate particular themes--even if the universe of possible stories is artificially restricted.
Displaying 1 of 1 review