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Lost Transmissions: The Secret History of Science Fiction and Fantasy
A fascinating illustrated history of lost, overlooked, and uncompleted works of science fiction and fantasy
Science fiction and fantasy reign over popular culture now. Lost Transmissions is a rich trove of forgotten and unknown, imagined-but-never-finished, and under-appreciated-but-influential works from those imaginative genres, as well as little-known information about well-known properties. Divided into sections on Film & TV, Literature, Art, Music, Fashion, Architecture, and Pop Culture, the book examines Jules Verne’s lost novel; AfroFuturism and Space Disco; E.T.’s scary beginnings; William Gibson’s never-filmed Aliens sequel; Weezer’s never-made space opera; and the 8,000-page metaphysical diary of Philip K. Dick. Featuring more than 150 photos, this insightful volume will become the bible of science fiction and fantasy’s most interesting and least-known chapters.
Science fiction and fantasy reign over popular culture now. Lost Transmissions is a rich trove of forgotten and unknown, imagined-but-never-finished, and under-appreciated-but-influential works from those imaginative genres, as well as little-known information about well-known properties. Divided into sections on Film & TV, Literature, Art, Music, Fashion, Architecture, and Pop Culture, the book examines Jules Verne’s lost novel; AfroFuturism and Space Disco; E.T.’s scary beginnings; William Gibson’s never-filmed Aliens sequel; Weezer’s never-made space opera; and the 8,000-page metaphysical diary of Philip K. Dick. Featuring more than 150 photos, this insightful volume will become the bible of science fiction and fantasy’s most interesting and least-known chapters.
276 pages, Hardcover
First published September 10, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
September 11, 2020
I think the best way of describing this book is to say its a mixed bag. The whole book is made up of a series of articles on various topics from books and films to architecture and much more. However this is not the reason why I say its rather mixed - its more the focus on the material.
The book does not seem to be very consistent and I not sure why - you see some articles are little more than a page long (when you take in to account the artwork) while others get several entries or at least considerably more than a page. True some of the are interconnected but others you start to wonder if the editor is letting their personal preferences seep through.
Now the articles are in general fascinating and I guess depending on you level of knowledge (okay lets be honest fandom) you may know some or none of the various stories but I do not doubt the level of research and dedication to the project the team demonstrate.
This is a fascinating concept I not entirely delivered and I have to say I am not entirely sure why however if you get the chance to peruse this book it is worth it but I suspect some dedicated internet searching could turn up something very similar
The book does not seem to be very consistent and I not sure why - you see some articles are little more than a page long (when you take in to account the artwork) while others get several entries or at least considerably more than a page. True some of the are interconnected but others you start to wonder if the editor is letting their personal preferences seep through.
Now the articles are in general fascinating and I guess depending on you level of knowledge (okay lets be honest fandom) you may know some or none of the various stories but I do not doubt the level of research and dedication to the project the team demonstrate.
This is a fascinating concept I not entirely delivered and I have to say I am not entirely sure why however if you get the chance to peruse this book it is worth it but I suspect some dedicated internet searching could turn up something very similar
December 5, 2019
I was attracted by the high production value and the premise of this book. After several flick-throughs, mentions of Jack Kirby, Syd Mead, Jodorowsky's Dune and Robert Chambers stuck out for me, and I decided to grab a copy.
The Secret History of Sci Fi and Fantasy, told from the point of view of less famous 'transmissions' lost in the general noise, is a great idea. The book focuses on Literature, Film & TV, Architecture, Art & Design, Music, Fashion and Fandom & Pop Culture. I was perhaps hoping for predominantly a focus on Literature, so some of the other chapters were a peek into a take on sci-fi & fantasy that I would normally not concentrate on so much, or at all (fashion).
As with any publication of this type, there are bound to be questions raised as to exclusions and inclusions (acknowledged, naturally in the intro). And while the premise is more or less adhered to throughout, I felt that toward the end, it was being stretched.
Leaving out Blake's 7 from TV is pretty much a criminal offence and worthy of an on the spot fine.
The whole fashion chapter could frankly have been dropped.
And, as a personal preference, a chapter could have been devoted to sci-fi comics rather than a nod to Jack Kirby, acknowledgment of Valerian and a mention in the film & TV section of Moebius, as most comic sci fi flies under the radar in any event. The Incal, from Jodorowsky and Moebius (both mentioned in other contexts in the book already) is quite simply the best sci-fi comic ever told. I know of many comic geeks that have never heard of it, let alone the general public.
And the chapter of music highlights just how subjective musical taste is anyway. While an objective approach to literature can more or less be agreed upon, this chapter on music just shows that essays can be written about music that make the music in question sound intriguing...until you actually listen to the music in question. It's entirely a matter of personal taste, and while I won't go so far as to say that what is written about the music in this book (or genrally) is actually wrong, because it most certainly isn't, it does highlight the subjectivity of music. And, speaking of omissions and inclusions, I don't think David Bowie flew under the radar, or counts as a 'lost transmission', whereas the Blue Oyster Cult album 'Imaginos' in its original conception most certainly does. Again, inclusions and omissions.
I will thank the book for pointing me towards George MacDonald, M John Harrison's Viuriconium, further reinforcing my desire to get stuck into Angela Carter's stories, piquing my interest about 'Space Island One' and 'Blame', and generally reinforcing my other under-the-radar interests about this weird and wonderful world of sci-fi and fantasy.
Also, the lovely illustrations and photos throughout make this, as mentioned earlier, a book of great production value and appealing to the eye.
Volume 2 next?
The Secret History of Sci Fi and Fantasy, told from the point of view of less famous 'transmissions' lost in the general noise, is a great idea. The book focuses on Literature, Film & TV, Architecture, Art & Design, Music, Fashion and Fandom & Pop Culture. I was perhaps hoping for predominantly a focus on Literature, so some of the other chapters were a peek into a take on sci-fi & fantasy that I would normally not concentrate on so much, or at all (fashion).
As with any publication of this type, there are bound to be questions raised as to exclusions and inclusions (acknowledged, naturally in the intro). And while the premise is more or less adhered to throughout, I felt that toward the end, it was being stretched.
Leaving out Blake's 7 from TV is pretty much a criminal offence and worthy of an on the spot fine.
The whole fashion chapter could frankly have been dropped.
And, as a personal preference, a chapter could have been devoted to sci-fi comics rather than a nod to Jack Kirby, acknowledgment of Valerian and a mention in the film & TV section of Moebius, as most comic sci fi flies under the radar in any event. The Incal, from Jodorowsky and Moebius (both mentioned in other contexts in the book already) is quite simply the best sci-fi comic ever told. I know of many comic geeks that have never heard of it, let alone the general public.
And the chapter of music highlights just how subjective musical taste is anyway. While an objective approach to literature can more or less be agreed upon, this chapter on music just shows that essays can be written about music that make the music in question sound intriguing...until you actually listen to the music in question. It's entirely a matter of personal taste, and while I won't go so far as to say that what is written about the music in this book (or genrally) is actually wrong, because it most certainly isn't, it does highlight the subjectivity of music. And, speaking of omissions and inclusions, I don't think David Bowie flew under the radar, or counts as a 'lost transmission', whereas the Blue Oyster Cult album 'Imaginos' in its original conception most certainly does. Again, inclusions and omissions.
I will thank the book for pointing me towards George MacDonald, M John Harrison's Viuriconium, further reinforcing my desire to get stuck into Angela Carter's stories, piquing my interest about 'Space Island One' and 'Blame', and generally reinforcing my other under-the-radar interests about this weird and wonderful world of sci-fi and fantasy.
Also, the lovely illustrations and photos throughout make this, as mentioned earlier, a book of great production value and appealing to the eye.
Volume 2 next?
May 12, 2022
Lost Transmissions: Science Fiction and Fantasy's Untold, Underground, and Forgotten History by Desirina Boskovich is a book of essays covers a lot of ground to say the least. Some of them I found myself particularly interested in and they were very well written, others not so much. The two essays that really stood out to me "x: It's a Man's, Man's, Man's Apocalypse" by Grady Hendrix and "Metropolis Meets Afrofuturism: The Genius of Janelle Monáe" by Lawshawn M. Wanak. Hendrix's article because it features The Survivalist series by Jerry Ahern which I've been reading, and the other at just being excited to see Monáe get the spotlight.
January 5, 2020
A nice collection of essays introducing a wide range of fantastical works from books to films to textiles and beyond.
July 18, 2022
I listened to an interview with Boskovich around the time this book came out and she was worried people would complain the choices were too well known, but rightly pointed out that the audience for speculative fiction is so wide and fragmented now that there are fewer and fewer common touchstones, so very few people are going to know about everything in this book. Yet I was still disappointed by the literature section but I thought the architecture, music and fashion sections were a good idea.
Many of the writers are extremely important but apparently losing popularity: Mervyn Peake, M John Harrison, Angela Carter, John Shirley and George MacDonald. I know that a lot of younger american fans don't know about M John Harrison but I thought most would know Peake. Couldn't there have been more said about the other Inklings while on the subject? The interviews are decent and they have their own recommendations for often overlooked writers.
A good deal of the essays are about lesser known aspects of popular things: concept artists, strange back stories, promising projects that were never completed and trivia. Somebody really should film Clair Noto's The Tourist screenplay but it's easy enough to find online and there is a novelization.
I think this book is probably best suited to teenagers who are wanting to branch out. Boskovich said there would be another book with more genuine obscurities if this one succeeded but I guess it's not going to happen but I would have liked to see the sequel. Maybe the hardcover and thick glossy paper made it too expensive and I think very few of the pictures really benefitted from it, the exceptions were Paul Lehr and Syd Mead's lovely paintings (they could've just had a glossy section for the nicer pictures).
Many of the writers are extremely important but apparently losing popularity: Mervyn Peake, M John Harrison, Angela Carter, John Shirley and George MacDonald. I know that a lot of younger american fans don't know about M John Harrison but I thought most would know Peake. Couldn't there have been more said about the other Inklings while on the subject? The interviews are decent and they have their own recommendations for often overlooked writers.
A good deal of the essays are about lesser known aspects of popular things: concept artists, strange back stories, promising projects that were never completed and trivia. Somebody really should film Clair Noto's The Tourist screenplay but it's easy enough to find online and there is a novelization.
I think this book is probably best suited to teenagers who are wanting to branch out. Boskovich said there would be another book with more genuine obscurities if this one succeeded but I guess it's not going to happen but I would have liked to see the sequel. Maybe the hardcover and thick glossy paper made it too expensive and I think very few of the pictures really benefitted from it, the exceptions were Paul Lehr and Syd Mead's lovely paintings (they could've just had a glossy section for the nicer pictures).
August 26, 2020
Me ha gustado mucho esta colección de ensayos sobre la historia olvidada de la ciencia ficción y la fantasía. Boskovich, junto a otros autores invitados, se adentra en obras y autores que son clave para entender la historia de estos géneros de ficción pero que, desgraciadamente, o han caído en el olvido o no tienen el reconocimiento que merecen.
El libro se adentra no solo en la literatura y el audiovisual, también trata la música, la moda, la arquitectura e incluso la cultura del fandom. La gran mayoría de artículos los ha escrito la propia Boskovich demostrando un conocimiento enciclopédico sobre la cultura del género, aunque el libro cuenta con invitados como Neil Gaiman, Charlie Jane Anders, William Gibson, Grady Hendrix, Annalee Newitz, Paul Tremblay o Jeff Vandermeer.
El libros como objeto es una joya, con profusas ilustraciones que suman a la experiencia lectora. Y me gustaría destacar diversos artículos que me han estimulado: "The Weird World of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast", "Harlan's Ellison's Legendary lost Anthology", "The Dark Fairy Tales of Angela Carter", "Metropolis: The long Shadow of the Never Seen", "The Alien III(s) That Might have Been", "The Dreamy Atmospheres of Painter Paul Lehr" o "The Massive Artificial Landscape of Tsutomu Nihei's Blame".
El libro se adentra no solo en la literatura y el audiovisual, también trata la música, la moda, la arquitectura e incluso la cultura del fandom. La gran mayoría de artículos los ha escrito la propia Boskovich demostrando un conocimiento enciclopédico sobre la cultura del género, aunque el libro cuenta con invitados como Neil Gaiman, Charlie Jane Anders, William Gibson, Grady Hendrix, Annalee Newitz, Paul Tremblay o Jeff Vandermeer.
El libros como objeto es una joya, con profusas ilustraciones que suman a la experiencia lectora. Y me gustaría destacar diversos artículos que me han estimulado: "The Weird World of Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast", "Harlan's Ellison's Legendary lost Anthology", "The Dark Fairy Tales of Angela Carter", "Metropolis: The long Shadow of the Never Seen", "The Alien III(s) That Might have Been", "The Dreamy Atmospheres of Painter Paul Lehr" o "The Massive Artificial Landscape of Tsutomu Nihei's Blame".
August 22, 2021
A thoroughly entertaining and expansive exploration of the lost or underappreciated works of science fiction and fantasy, works that may not be well known today but have their place in history and influenced countless other artists. But it's not just about literature. The book also has sections on film and television, architecture, art and design, music, fashion, fandom and pop culture.
This is an impeccably designed and exquisitely illustrated book. The essays are all relatively short, just a few pages, so it's a perfect coffee table book, one you can pick up and browse for a few minutes at a time. However, if you're like me, you'll become so entranced that you'll read the entire book in one sitting. In addition to Boskovitch, the other contributors are an impressive assortment of writers, editors, academics, and artists.
Like Grady Hendrix's Paperbacks from Hell, Lost Transmissions will certainly inspire readers to seek out many of the intriguing works it celebrates. Although some are lost, others are fairly easy to find, for example, Jane Webb Loudon's The Mummy!, Henry Dumas's collection Echo Tree, Mervyn Peake's The Gormenghast Trilogy, David R. Bunch's Moderan, the Viriconium series of M. John Harrison, Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, John Shirley's City Come a-Walkin', the comics of Moebius, William Gibson's unproduced screenplay of Alien III, and Cordwainer Smith's Norstrilia.
This is an impeccably designed and exquisitely illustrated book. The essays are all relatively short, just a few pages, so it's a perfect coffee table book, one you can pick up and browse for a few minutes at a time. However, if you're like me, you'll become so entranced that you'll read the entire book in one sitting. In addition to Boskovitch, the other contributors are an impressive assortment of writers, editors, academics, and artists.
Like Grady Hendrix's Paperbacks from Hell, Lost Transmissions will certainly inspire readers to seek out many of the intriguing works it celebrates. Although some are lost, others are fairly easy to find, for example, Jane Webb Loudon's The Mummy!, Henry Dumas's collection Echo Tree, Mervyn Peake's The Gormenghast Trilogy, David R. Bunch's Moderan, the Viriconium series of M. John Harrison, Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, John Shirley's City Come a-Walkin', the comics of Moebius, William Gibson's unproduced screenplay of Alien III, and Cordwainer Smith's Norstrilia.
August 3, 2020
Me gusta que no solo se trate de literatura o películas, sino de diversas expresiones artísticas que marcaron o influenciaron a la ciencia ficción.
Algunas son obvias, como James Cameron y sus expediciones marinas, David Bowie y sus personas musicales o Giger. Sin embargo, lo interesante viene con historias que no se contaron, que fueron mas underground o que influencian desde otras bases, como la ilustración o la moda.
La variedad de artistas mencionados es muy buena y con grandes ejemplos. Me gustan estos libros que te dejan muchas ideas que pensar y nombres que revisar. Este libro mas que discutir una cronología, se trata sobre ideas y como estas influencias otros productos, otros conceptos y otros géneros. Lo que es obvio y ahora parte de la cultura popular no salió de un vacío.
Algunas son obvias, como James Cameron y sus expediciones marinas, David Bowie y sus personas musicales o Giger. Sin embargo, lo interesante viene con historias que no se contaron, que fueron mas underground o que influencian desde otras bases, como la ilustración o la moda.
La variedad de artistas mencionados es muy buena y con grandes ejemplos. Me gustan estos libros que te dejan muchas ideas que pensar y nombres que revisar. Este libro mas que discutir una cronología, se trata sobre ideas y como estas influencias otros productos, otros conceptos y otros géneros. Lo que es obvio y ahora parte de la cultura popular no salió de un vacío.
February 9, 2020
This book looks at works of science fiction and fantasy that were highly influential but may not have been popular or widely known. It covers many genres from books to movies to fashion to art to music. I loved the book session and found several great books and stories to read. The essays are thoughtful and discuss the influence of the work and the "ahead of their time" elements of the work.
September 28, 2019
Review forthcoming.
December 14, 2022
Why I thought I'd find "untold, underground or forgotten" history that showed us some women creatives I maybe had not heard of, I don't know. Hope over experience. While there are plenty women essay writers in this collection (good), there is...no women art in the realm. One writer. Joanna Russ who is well-known. I'd need to check carefully one more time, but I'm tired. I finished the book, and tried a search myself in any of the subject areas covered within, including speculative architecture, movies, comic books, scifi fiction, spaceship design, robot design, et al.
#Noirvember, a social media hashtag covering film noir, and the good ol' days of detective comic books is a month long search for women contributors for me. I found some. I found enough art to get through 30 days of posting (including my own art, of course - I do love me some film noir) but not enough to do that more than one November. Each subsequent year is a repeat.
No luck with searching this subject. Once I wrestled my way through the must-have word "woman" and got a bunch of scantily clad boobishous images, I didn't find any art makers (past) and the current appear to be primarily fantasy. Not looking for fairies or sprites or nymphs.
Looking for spaceships and robots and asteroid civilizations imagined in galactic scale.
So, it doesn't make sense that I expect a book to surprise me. I was hopeful because it claims to have untold, underground and forgotten stories to share.
And - I swear - if I read one more book that can't stop referencing who inspired Neil Gaiman, I'm going to heave it.
Ditto for quotes from Harlan Ellison, a known misogynist loudmouth.
I'll keep trying. It's in my lifetime that the internet revealed that there were women painters who had royal patronage, women composers, women who made movies before the men did, women chiefs, rulers, warriors, shaman. It was women scholars who went digging in the mislabeled, misidentified and abandoned archives in museums around the world.
This book has a lovely collection of full color plates, which gives it 2 stars, and I did find a couple of books that I have since located to read, which gave it 1 more star.
Gets 1 more star for the chapter about Jodorowky's Dune - a film which was a passion project that never got made. It exists in a giant book form, which I think everyone from George Lucas back then to Denis Villeneuve present day, have - if not laid actual eyes on - acquired full hearsay knowledge. The ornithopter rescue of the spice mining station in the new Dune is straight out of that storyboard. You can find the documentary about the not-making-of for rent on various streaming services. Imagine a cast that includes Orson Welles as Baron Harkonnen, Mick Jagger as Feyd-Rautha, Salvadore Dali as The Emperor and David Carradine as Duke Leto.
Was there mention of who might play the universe-ruling Bene Gesserit leads? Guess.
#Noirvember, a social media hashtag covering film noir, and the good ol' days of detective comic books is a month long search for women contributors for me. I found some. I found enough art to get through 30 days of posting (including my own art, of course - I do love me some film noir) but not enough to do that more than one November. Each subsequent year is a repeat.
No luck with searching this subject. Once I wrestled my way through the must-have word "woman" and got a bunch of scantily clad boobishous images, I didn't find any art makers (past) and the current appear to be primarily fantasy. Not looking for fairies or sprites or nymphs.
Looking for spaceships and robots and asteroid civilizations imagined in galactic scale.
So, it doesn't make sense that I expect a book to surprise me. I was hopeful because it claims to have untold, underground and forgotten stories to share.
And - I swear - if I read one more book that can't stop referencing who inspired Neil Gaiman, I'm going to heave it.
Ditto for quotes from Harlan Ellison, a known misogynist loudmouth.
I'll keep trying. It's in my lifetime that the internet revealed that there were women painters who had royal patronage, women composers, women who made movies before the men did, women chiefs, rulers, warriors, shaman. It was women scholars who went digging in the mislabeled, misidentified and abandoned archives in museums around the world.
This book has a lovely collection of full color plates, which gives it 2 stars, and I did find a couple of books that I have since located to read, which gave it 1 more star.
Gets 1 more star for the chapter about Jodorowky's Dune - a film which was a passion project that never got made. It exists in a giant book form, which I think everyone from George Lucas back then to Denis Villeneuve present day, have - if not laid actual eyes on - acquired full hearsay knowledge. The ornithopter rescue of the spice mining station in the new Dune is straight out of that storyboard. You can find the documentary about the not-making-of for rent on various streaming services. Imagine a cast that includes Orson Welles as Baron Harkonnen, Mick Jagger as Feyd-Rautha, Salvadore Dali as The Emperor and David Carradine as Duke Leto.
Was there mention of who might play the universe-ruling Bene Gesserit leads? Guess.
October 24, 2019
No matter your level of interest in sci-fi, you’ll find things to love in this expansive, generous book. Articles explore the hidden corners of sci-fi and expose its effects on the broader culture (and vice versa). And would it be crass to mention that it would make a great gift for someone who lives sci-fi? Well, it would.
June 7, 2020
Weird. Just weird. It's very much a coffee table book, and I found it easiest to think of it as a hard back fanzine. Only about a third of the entries could even remotely be described as "Lost in Transmission". That said: it's a fun collection of people weebling about things they love. Good chance of winning I think.
February 6, 2022
2.5-3 stars. Very mixed. Some of the essays are not particularly well researched. The inclusion of more unusual and usually overlooked things like architecture and textiles was welcome and different. Certainly interesting in places but nothing in here I particularly loved
November 3, 2019
[3,5/5]
April 18, 2020
This is an amazing book. I love the format.
Read
October 17, 2023An often maddening but seldom entirely uninteresting collection of short essays on lost or marginalised science fiction and fantasy, complete with guest contributions from the likes of Neil Gaiman, William Gibson, Jeanette Ng and Charlie Jane Anders - uhough at least some of these are reprints, and at times it can read like a hardback collection of Tor columns, for better and worse. If you only have three text pages available, is there any benefit to anyone in specifying at paragraph length that Charlotte Perkins Gilman's 1913 feminist utopia Herland doesn't score well for intersectionality? More generally, there's always going to be the problem of where you draw the line of obscurity. I've heard of George MacDonald and Jane Webb Loudon, but I'll accept their claim to non-fame. Viriconium, though? The Inklings, even if we're talking as a group, rather than the individual fame of their two leading lights? Strangest of all is the inclusion of Angela Carter, which I can only assume is an American and/or generational thing, because over here she suffers if anything from the opposite fate, where people know her so well by osmosis that they don't get the urge actually to read her. Once we get on to screen work, the usual suspects are even more in evidence: regular as clockwork, here are Jodorowsky's patently impossible Dune film and Gibson's Alien 3. Though I think the key clue might lie in the eyebrow-raising statement that "not many present-day fans have seen the original Battlestar Galactica". Considered as a primer for tiny children, sorry, the younger fan, I can see more use in the volume. Set against which, wouldn't they be more likely to find this sort of stuff out online, rather than from a coffee table book?
Beyond this, there can also be irritating emphases and angles. Would it really have changed the course of SF had Verne persevered with his dystopian Paris In The 20th Century, when the whole reason his editor rejected it was that there were already loads of similar books, which are now - like a fair chunk of Verne's own work - ignored by all but specialist readers? And even without getting into whether Robert W Chambers is really "Lesser-Known" (the article itself quotes True Detective), I was infuriated by the blanket reference to "authors who worked within the Cthulhu Mythos - Robert Bloch, August Derleth, Lin Carter, Ramsey Campbell, Clark Ashton Smith, and others", the way it bundles without distinction peers of Lovecraft who worked with him on equal terms and followers scrabbling around in his leavings.
Where the book really comes into its own, at least for this apparently unthinkably ancient reader, was with the sections on more marginal themes - art, design, even textiles. I've loved the sense of measureless space and time in Paul Lehr's paintings on many book covers, this one included, without ever really registering his name before; I've seen countless fantastical cityscapes inspired by Hugh Ferriss without even knowing there was such a person. A second piece on feminist utopias, this time considering them from the angle of their outfits, has far more interesting things to say about Herland, even if the notion of garments positively quilted with pockets mostly made me think of Rob Liefeld, probably not an illustrator conventionally associated with the suffragette mindset. Hell, the music section has got me listening to Porcupine Tree, a direction I'd probably never have taken otherwise despite my love of (one song by) No-Man. So all in all, definitely worth reading, even if it did veer away from its promise at times.
Beyond this, there can also be irritating emphases and angles. Would it really have changed the course of SF had Verne persevered with his dystopian Paris In The 20th Century, when the whole reason his editor rejected it was that there were already loads of similar books, which are now - like a fair chunk of Verne's own work - ignored by all but specialist readers? And even without getting into whether Robert W Chambers is really "Lesser-Known" (the article itself quotes True Detective), I was infuriated by the blanket reference to "authors who worked within the Cthulhu Mythos - Robert Bloch, August Derleth, Lin Carter, Ramsey Campbell, Clark Ashton Smith, and others", the way it bundles without distinction peers of Lovecraft who worked with him on equal terms and followers scrabbling around in his leavings.
Where the book really comes into its own, at least for this apparently unthinkably ancient reader, was with the sections on more marginal themes - art, design, even textiles. I've loved the sense of measureless space and time in Paul Lehr's paintings on many book covers, this one included, without ever really registering his name before; I've seen countless fantastical cityscapes inspired by Hugh Ferriss without even knowing there was such a person. A second piece on feminist utopias, this time considering them from the angle of their outfits, has far more interesting things to say about Herland, even if the notion of garments positively quilted with pockets mostly made me think of Rob Liefeld, probably not an illustrator conventionally associated with the suffragette mindset. Hell, the music section has got me listening to Porcupine Tree, a direction I'd probably never have taken otherwise despite my love of (one song by) No-Man. So all in all, definitely worth reading, even if it did veer away from its promise at times.
May 20, 2021
For a long time when science fiction considered the concept of time, it mostly did so using the device of time travel, forwards and backwards. For a bunch of complicated reasons, the emphasis eventually seemed to shift toward parallel times and places/alternative universes ("The Man in the High Castle"), and even worlds where an alternative version of oneself is walking around ("Counterpart"). It only seems fitting, then, that there should be a book detailing those alternate worlds in which SFF works neglected in our universe get their rightful acclaim.
"Lost Transmissions" succeeds most of the time in showing those works which were too far ahead of their time or too esoteric to get the love they deserved upon publication. Then again, considering many of these obscure works influenced more well-known authors, their ideas survive, albeit in mutated, or sometimes inferior forms in public consciousness.
Every form of media is covered, from fanzines to computer games, though the collection shines brightest (and the artwork is at its glossiest and most lurid) when the subject is golden age print SF. In fact the desire to make the book an interdisciplinary study rather than a treat for fans is the only thing that keeps it from becoming the classic coffee table book it could have been.
The chapters of one-time wearable fashions from haute couture designers and the entries from the grievance studies departments give the work a joyless, pretentious feel in the third act that bogs things down. Still, the good far outweighs the bad, and something tells me the good will have a much longer shelf-life than the bad / fashionable / politically correct, as well. And because it's a coffee table book its contents needn't be read in order, or honestly read at all, as the artwork more than merits the hefty price tag. Recommended.
"Lost Transmissions" succeeds most of the time in showing those works which were too far ahead of their time or too esoteric to get the love they deserved upon publication. Then again, considering many of these obscure works influenced more well-known authors, their ideas survive, albeit in mutated, or sometimes inferior forms in public consciousness.
Every form of media is covered, from fanzines to computer games, though the collection shines brightest (and the artwork is at its glossiest and most lurid) when the subject is golden age print SF. In fact the desire to make the book an interdisciplinary study rather than a treat for fans is the only thing that keeps it from becoming the classic coffee table book it could have been.
The chapters of one-time wearable fashions from haute couture designers and the entries from the grievance studies departments give the work a joyless, pretentious feel in the third act that bogs things down. Still, the good far outweighs the bad, and something tells me the good will have a much longer shelf-life than the bad / fashionable / politically correct, as well. And because it's a coffee table book its contents needn't be read in order, or honestly read at all, as the artwork more than merits the hefty price tag. Recommended.
December 9, 2019
This book is a full on storehouse when it comes to lost or under-appreciated works in literature, music, architecture, art, films etc., and also for the magnificent illustrations! It is an amazing collection of essays, interviews, etc. and if you are into sci-fi/fantasy, this is definitely a book you need to pick up. Specifically, the book has been divided into segments of Literature, Film & TV, Architecture, Art & Design, Music, Fashion and Fandom & Pop Culture.
I personally have been interested in fantasy for quite some time now. However, sci-fi is a genre that I need to explore more, and so this was a perfect revelatory starting point for me. Whatever your interests might be, it covers wide ground and that is why, I believe, this book has something for everyone! The content is very expansive and since it covers a myriad of different topics, it also throws light on how sci-fi has affected broader culture. Not only is this a very informative book, it is also really fun to read.
While the literature segment was my favourite, I skimmed through the fashion and music segments. I am sure that for some others, those two might be interesting. One of the pieces worth mentioning about is ‘On Fantasy Maps’! A mention by me about a piece on the Voynich Manuscript was enough to make Dad eager to read the book too!
The cover as well as the whole presentation of the book is superb. The illustrations also help make this a definitive book in the genre. The title was also very apt – as the book does talk about forgotten sci-fi related stuff – “transmission” is a really well chosen word.
I rate this book 4/5 stars!
I personally have been interested in fantasy for quite some time now. However, sci-fi is a genre that I need to explore more, and so this was a perfect revelatory starting point for me. Whatever your interests might be, it covers wide ground and that is why, I believe, this book has something for everyone! The content is very expansive and since it covers a myriad of different topics, it also throws light on how sci-fi has affected broader culture. Not only is this a very informative book, it is also really fun to read.
While the literature segment was my favourite, I skimmed through the fashion and music segments. I am sure that for some others, those two might be interesting. One of the pieces worth mentioning about is ‘On Fantasy Maps’! A mention by me about a piece on the Voynich Manuscript was enough to make Dad eager to read the book too!
The cover as well as the whole presentation of the book is superb. The illustrations also help make this a definitive book in the genre. The title was also very apt – as the book does talk about forgotten sci-fi related stuff – “transmission” is a really well chosen word.
I rate this book 4/5 stars!
November 6, 2022
O colecție de eseuri a căror temă comună este un element sau altul din genurile SF/F.
Subiectele abordate variază de la opere literare, la filme, muzică, jocuri pe calculator, elemente de modă și arhitectonice și alte opere de artă. Iar autorii care le scriu variază de la Neil Gaiman și William Gibson la scriitori de fan-fiction online de care nu a auzit (cel mai probabil) nimeni. Deci, pe lângă ghiveciul de teme și subiecte vom avea și unul calitativ (de exemplu, pentru fiecare Lev Grossman care ne povestește despre cât de importante sunt hărțile din cărțile fantasy, avem cinci sau șase necunoscuți care ne relatează subgenurile tabletop-urilor Dungons&Dragons, sau despre aventurile romantice scrise de fani despre Harry Potteri gay, sau despre cât de SF era muzica rock în anii '60-'70). Probabil cel mai amuzant element este că dintre atâtea Transmisiuni Pierdute despre Istorii uitate și puțin cunoscute multe sunt despre filmele lui James Cameron, cărțile lui Jules Verne, benzile desenate ale lui Stan Lee și muzica lui Bowie - clar chestii underground, de nișă de care nu a auzit toată prostimea. Daa.
Cartea are și câteva imagini găsite rapide cu un google search dibaci, deci nici măcar pe masa de cafea nu are ce căuta.
Totuși, în apărarea ei, și ținând cont că până și un ceas spart are dreptate de două ori pe zi, și vreo cinci sau șase dintre capitolele scrise aici sunt interesante, fiind posibil utile unui amator de SF/F care vrea să încerce lucruri noi și care încă nu a aprofundat suficient subiectele.
Subiectele abordate variază de la opere literare, la filme, muzică, jocuri pe calculator, elemente de modă și arhitectonice și alte opere de artă. Iar autorii care le scriu variază de la Neil Gaiman și William Gibson la scriitori de fan-fiction online de care nu a auzit (cel mai probabil) nimeni. Deci, pe lângă ghiveciul de teme și subiecte vom avea și unul calitativ (de exemplu, pentru fiecare Lev Grossman care ne povestește despre cât de importante sunt hărțile din cărțile fantasy, avem cinci sau șase necunoscuți care ne relatează subgenurile tabletop-urilor Dungons&Dragons, sau despre aventurile romantice scrise de fani despre Harry Potteri gay, sau despre cât de SF era muzica rock în anii '60-'70). Probabil cel mai amuzant element este că dintre atâtea Transmisiuni Pierdute despre Istorii uitate și puțin cunoscute multe sunt despre filmele lui James Cameron, cărțile lui Jules Verne, benzile desenate ale lui Stan Lee și muzica lui Bowie - clar chestii underground, de nișă de care nu a auzit toată prostimea. Daa.
Cartea are și câteva imagini găsite rapide cu un google search dibaci, deci nici măcar pe masa de cafea nu are ce căuta.
Totuși, în apărarea ei, și ținând cont că până și un ceas spart are dreptate de două ori pe zi, și vreo cinci sau șase dintre capitolele scrise aici sunt interesante, fiind posibil utile unui amator de SF/F care vrea să încerce lucruri noi și care încă nu a aprofundat suficient subiectele.
October 18, 2019
This book was more fun than I expected.
The book describes lost or under-appreciated works in literature, film, music, art, fashion, architecture, and pop culture, all having a connection to science fiction or fantasy. It is lavishly illustrated. I came for the literature, but I stayed for the film and television, architecture, and art. It was great to read about things that might have happened, but never did (the film of Dune that would have featured Orson Welles as Baron Harkonnen; the Aliens movie scripted by William Gibson). In literature, it featured authors who influenced other authors but didn't achieve renown at large (Robert W. Chambers, Kathy Acker, Henry Dumas).
Thanks to this book I'll be picking up a copy of David Bunch's “Moderan”, which was recently re-published. There are other treats to discover in this jewel-box of a book, which is worth browsing through just to see the illustrations.
The book describes lost or under-appreciated works in literature, film, music, art, fashion, architecture, and pop culture, all having a connection to science fiction or fantasy. It is lavishly illustrated. I came for the literature, but I stayed for the film and television, architecture, and art. It was great to read about things that might have happened, but never did (the film of Dune that would have featured Orson Welles as Baron Harkonnen; the Aliens movie scripted by William Gibson). In literature, it featured authors who influenced other authors but didn't achieve renown at large (Robert W. Chambers, Kathy Acker, Henry Dumas).
Thanks to this book I'll be picking up a copy of David Bunch's “Moderan”, which was recently re-published. There are other treats to discover in this jewel-box of a book, which is worth browsing through just to see the illustrations.
June 29, 2021
This is a fascinating little coffee table book that documents some of the lesser known influences on modern day fantasy and sci fi. Half of the book is dedicated to literature and sci fi. The remaining chapters are broken into sections on architecture, art, fashion, and fandom.
I am not sure how much of what I read in this book I would consider a "secret". I love speculative fiction but I don't go out of my way to study its history. Even so, I was familiar with many of the names in this book.
This book is beautifully laid out with illustrations and full color photographs. There are interviews and essays from well known artists in each section. At worst this book is an interesting conversation piece and at best you might add a few more books/movies/musicians to explore.
I am not sure how much of what I read in this book I would consider a "secret". I love speculative fiction but I don't go out of my way to study its history. Even so, I was familiar with many of the names in this book.
This book is beautifully laid out with illustrations and full color photographs. There are interviews and essays from well known artists in each section. At worst this book is an interesting conversation piece and at best you might add a few more books/movies/musicians to explore.
February 6, 2024
Definitely a curates egg.
A set of essays that explore SF that has been forgotten, neglocted or even unmade. But it never quite lives up to its potential.
Good
Explorations of old stories that are now forgotten, but which have been ver influential.
Discussions of projects that never made it to completion
Not so Good
How can Metropolis be described as 'dreadful' and 'obscure'?
There is an essay about slash fan fiction that traces the origin all the way back to... The Fellowship of the Ring!
Interviews with authors who do not really have much to say about themselves
A set of essays that explore SF that has been forgotten, neglocted or even unmade. But it never quite lives up to its potential.
Good
Explorations of old stories that are now forgotten, but which have been ver influential.
Discussions of projects that never made it to completion
Not so Good
How can Metropolis be described as 'dreadful' and 'obscure'?
There is an essay about slash fan fiction that traces the origin all the way back to... The Fellowship of the Ring!
Interviews with authors who do not really have much to say about themselves
June 16, 2025
3.5 stars
Really loved some sections and did not care about others. It covers SFF works that never got fully realized, concept art, music, fashion, popculture, architecture, art and design, and film and television.
Noted quite a few recommendations from these essays (particularly in the music section). Idk it’s just nice to hear abt how many different ways there are to tell a story and the level of intensity some people reach while trying to do so.
this took me a very long time to read. Technically it’s been over a year but I basically restated it about a month or so ago? Maybe two months. I renewed this book loan several times from the library until I could finish it. lol.
Really loved some sections and did not care about others. It covers SFF works that never got fully realized, concept art, music, fashion, popculture, architecture, art and design, and film and television.
Noted quite a few recommendations from these essays (particularly in the music section). Idk it’s just nice to hear abt how many different ways there are to tell a story and the level of intensity some people reach while trying to do so.
this took me a very long time to read. Technically it’s been over a year but I basically restated it about a month or so ago? Maybe two months. I renewed this book loan several times from the library until I could finish it. lol.
February 28, 2023
Actually it's more like 2,5 stars. I was pretty annoyed with total randomness of the essays, both in their forms and content. Some critical texts, interviews, short texts in Wikipedia style, reprinted foreword to a novel, random stock images, you name it. Probably that wouldn't bother me in some kind of zine but I got a hardcover book on a glossy paper, so yeah, I expected something better organized. Anyway, there are some interesting things inside that I hadn't know or had forgotten so the book has its educational and entertainment value. Fair enough.
January 29, 2020
This is a very detailed production. The cinematic section, in particular, has some very enticing stories. However, I felt like the content was not entirely loyal to its title. Indeed some of the pieces dealt with overlooked stories of science fiction, but others praised very known stories (or fanfics). The collection also features interviews. Some of the felt irrelevant to the theme and brought nothing new to the table. It's an interesting read - but it's not what it claims to be
June 3, 2023
A book of essays regarding all the ways F/SF percolated through culture, with some iterations becoming lost along the way. This is the kind of book that will, depending on your previous experience, send you down all kinds of interesting rabbit holes. Very much enjoyed the different perspectives (each essay was written by a different creator) and the way the structure allowed me to jump in and out.
September 27, 2020
I just finished this and would reccomend it to any Science Fiction fan. You're guaranteed to come across something you never knew about the genre . Something you can read cover to cover or dip into as the fancy takes you. The format is also perfect. Illustrated like a coffee table book but small enough to carry around for reading on the go.
November 29, 2019
Marvelous. The history of the field, and many interesting sidebars on things like music, neglected authors, fashion, films, and so on. Thoroughly enjoyable, and indispensable to students of the genre. Highly recommended. (Fun to read, too!)
December 21, 2019
Occasionally fascinating, but rather inconsistent. Also, the selected images were often frustratingly not what the text called for, which led to constant googling. The Ng treatise on textiles was eye-opening and grand.
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