Bücher der Reihe Critical Explorations in Science Fiction and Fantasy

This companion to Frank Herbert's six original Dune novels provides an encyclopaedia of characters, locations, terms and other elements, and highlights the series' underrated aesthetic integrity. An extensive introduction covers themes of ecology, chaos theory, concepts and structures, and Joseph Campbell's monomyth in Herbert's narrative.

A prolific author, Isaac Asimov is most admired for his science fiction, including his collection of short stories I, Robot and his Robot, Empire and Foundation series novels. While each of these narratives takes place in a different fictional universe, Asimov asserted at the end of his career that he had, with his last Robot and Foundation novels, unified them into one coherent metaseries. This reference work identifies and describes all of the characters, locales, artifacts, concepts and institutions in Asimov's metaseries. Mimicking the style of The Encyclopedia Galactica, the fictional compendium of all human knowledge that features prominently in the Foundation series, this encyclopedia is an invaluable companion to Asimov's science fiction oeuvre.

Released in May 1977, the original ""Star Wars"" movie inaugurated the age of the movie blockbuster. It also redefined the use of cinematic special effects, creating a new textual universe that now stretches through three decades, two trilogies and generations of fascinated viewers. This book presents an analysis of the ""Star Wars"" trilogies.

Caitlin R. Kiernan is at the forefront of contemporary gothic, weird and science fiction literature. This first full-length look at Kiernan's body of work explores her fictional universe through critical literary lenses to show the depth of her contributions to modern genre literature.

Features over a dozen interdisciplinary scholars reading popular texts through critical lenses that range from traditional literary studies, to video game scholarship, to ecocriticism. Challenging the field of popular vampire studies, this book asks the question: What is the vampire in different global contexts, and what does it represent?

Star Trek: The Next Generation blended speculative science fiction and space opera in its portrayal of communication. This book proposes that these patterns of communication reveal a foundational philosophy of Star Trek that informs the series as a whole while also enticing millions of viewers.

This is the first book to bring together the imagination and energy of rock music with its sources in mythology and science fiction. The mythological roots of classic rock music artists from David Bowie, the Jefferson Airplane, and Pink Floyd, to Rush, Blue Oyster Cult, and Iron Maiden are explored, along with the stories they tell and the critiques of contemporary society that their songs carry.

As a pop culture text, the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars offers critical commentary on contemporary issues, marking a moment of interplay whereby author and audience come together in collaborative meaning making. This book critically examines the series as a voice in the political dialogues concerning human cloning, torture, just war theory, peace and drone warfare.

Suzette Hayden Elgin's Native Tongue trilogy, Suzy McKee Charna's Holdfast series, and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale are analyzed, with a focus on how they cover the interrelated categories of gender, race and class, along with their relationship to classic literary dualism and the dystopian narrative.

Examines how women authors have explored fantasy fiction in ways that connect with feminist narrative theories.

A study of French-language science fiction from Canada that provides an introduction to the subgenre known as 'SFQ' (science fiction from Quebec). It demonstrates how these multivolume narratives of colonization and postcolonial societies exploit themes typical of postcolonial literatures.

Concentrating both on studies of Philip K. Dick's writing from recent critical perspectives, and on reassessing his legacy in light of his new status as a "major American author", these essays explore, just what happened culturally and critically to precipitate his extraordinary rise in reputation.

From the Star Wars expanded universe to Westworld, the science fiction western has captivated audiences for over fifty years. This unique collection concentrates on the female characters in the contemporary science fiction western, addressing themes of power, agency, intersectionality and the body.

We live in an information economy, a vast archive of data ever at our fingertips. In the pages of science fiction, powerful entities - governments and corporations - seek to use this archive to control society, enforcing conformity or turning citizens into passive consumers. Opposing them are protagonists fighting to liberate the collective mind.

Offers a critical study of the fantastic religions and religious themes present in the works of selected American and Canadian writers. The aim is to reveal and investigate these authors' references to biblical tradition and Christian teachings in order to examine their overall approach to Christianity and to comment on the relationship between Christianity and the fantasy genre.

What are the greatest, most widely read, most influential, most translated and most adapted children's classics? Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass and Carlo Collodi's Le Avventure di Pinocchio are candidates, and through them this book explores what it means to be transnational fantasy icons.

Provides a study of Tolkien's life and influences through an analysis of ""The History of Middle Earth"". This title presents a biography and an analysis of the major influences in Tolkien's early life. It deals with elements common to Tolkien's popular works, including cosmogony, theogony, cosmology, metaphysics, and eschatology of Middle Earth.

Interpreted and adapted for more than a century, H.G. Wells' texts have resisted easy categorization and are perennial subjects for emerging critical and theoretical perspectives. The author examines Wells' works through the post-structuralist philosophy of Gilles Deleuze. Via this critical perspective, concepts now synonymous with science fiction demonstrate the intrinsic relevance of Wells.

From wondrous fairy-lands to nightmarish hellscapes, the elements that make fantasy worlds come alive also invite their exploration and study. This first book-length study of critically acclaimed novelist Patricia A. McKillip's lyrical other-worlds analyses her characters, environments and legends and their interplay with genre expectations.

Science and science fiction have become inseparable--with common stories, interconnected thought experiments, and shared language. This reference book lays out that relationship and its all-but-magical terms and ideas. Those who think seriously about the future are changing the world, reshaping how we speak and how we think. This book fully covers the terms that collected, clarified and crystallized the futurists' ideas, sometimes showing them off, sometimes slowing them down, and sometimes propelling them to fame and making them the common currency of our culture. The many entries in this encyclopedic work offer a guided tour of the vast territories occupied by science fiction and futurism. In his Foreword, David Brin says, "Provocative and enticing? Filled with 'huh!' moments and leads to great stories? That describes this volume."

One of the major figures in science fiction for more than sixty years, James Gunn has been instrumental in making the genre one of the most vibrant and engaging areas of literary scholarship. His genre history Alternate Worlds and his The Road to Science Fiction anthologies introduced countless readers to science fiction. He founded the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction in 1982. But Gunn has also been one of the genre's leading writers. His classic novels Star Bridge (with Jack Williamson), The Joy Makers, The Immortals and The Listeners helped shape the field. Now in his nineties, he remains a prominent voice. His forthcoming novel is Transformation. Drawing on materials from Gunn's archives and personal interviews with him, this study is the first to examine the life, career and writing of this science fiction grandmaster.

A literary genre that pervades 21st-century popular culture, science fiction creates mythologies that make statements about humanity's place in the universe and embody an intersection of science, religion and philosophy. This book considers the significance of this confluence through an examination of myths in the writings of H.G. Wells, Arthur C. Clarke, Philip K. Dick and Frank Herbert.

Do you find yourself contemplating the imminent end of the world? Do you wonder how society might reorganize itself to cope with global cataclysm? (Have you begun hoarding canned goods and ammunition...?) Visions of an apocalypse began to dominate mass media well before the year 2000. Yet narratives since then present decidedly different spins on cultural anxieties about terrorism, disease, environmental collapse, worldwide conflict and millennial technologies. Many of these concerns have been made metaphorical: zombie hordes embody fear of out-of-control appetites and encroaching disorder. Other fears, like the prospect of human technology's turning on its creators, seem more reality based. This collection of new essays explores apocalyptic themes in a variety of post-millennial media, including film, television, video games, webisodes and smartphone apps.

Explores the construction of gendered heroic identity from both production and fan perspectives by applying a variety of critical lens (media, fan culture, and queer theory). In addition, fan fiction, criticism, and videos that celebrate and resist BBC SF television heroes and villains are considered.

Spaces, as well as a sense of place or belonging, play major roles in many science fiction works. This book focuses especially on science fiction that includes depictions of the future that include, but move beyond, dystopias and offer us ways to imagine reinventing ourselves and our perspectives; especially our links to and views of new environments.

Presents the genre of mythopoeic fantasy from a holistic perspective, arguing that this subgenre of fantasy literature is misunderstood as a result of decades of incomplete and reductionist literary studies.

Reversing a common science fiction cliche, Farscape follows the adventures of the human astronaut John Crichton after he is shot through a wormhole into another part of the universe. Here Crichton is the only human being, going from being a member of the most intelligent species on our planet to being frequently considered mentally deficient by the beings he encounters in his new environment.

Addresses a broad range of topics in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, both old (1963-1989) and new (2005-present). There are essays on how the show is viewed and identified with, fan interactions with each other, reactions to changes, the wilderness years when it wasn't in production. Essays then look at the ways in which the stories are told. After discussing the stories and devices and themes, the essays turn to looking at the Doctor's female companions and how they evolve, are used, and changed by their journey with the Doctor.

Examining ""Star Trek"" from various critical angles, this collection of essays provides insights into the myriad ways that the franchise has affected the culture it represents, the people who watch the series, and the industry that created it.

While Kim Stanley Robinson is best known for his hard science fiction works ""Red Mars"", ""Green Mars"" and ""Blue Mars"", the epic trilogy exploring ecological and sociological themes involved in human settlement of the Red Planet. This book examines Robinson's use of alternate history and politics, both in his many novels and in his short stories.