Age of Wonders : Exploring The World of Science Fiction

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Summary: Want to know what SF is all about?
Review: David Hartwell has written a magnificent book here - he covers everything from the various fandom activities that have been taking place since science fiction was in it's infancy, to the cyberpunk/humanist debate in the mid-80s. This is truly the best guide for those who don't know what science fiction is. SF has remained undefined, and although Hartwell is also unable to pin a truly accurate definition on it, he paints a broad picture with Age of Wonders, and manages to represent all the various sub-genres and activities going on within SF. He explains why science fiction fans, science fiction readers and science fiction writers are the way they are, and manages to make it very interesting at the same time. It is one of the best critical examinations of SF, and it's the book I recommend to people who want to know what science fiction literature is all about.

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Summary: Why The Golden Age of SF is 12 years old (and male).
Review: I grew up during the age of the Mercury and Apollo projects, a time before space launches, except for one disaster, become so routine I doubt they'll be any HBO specials about them. My fascination with the Cronkited-narrated adventures over my tiny black and white tv led to a fascination about outer space and, in particular, science fiction. Which is why David G. Hartwell titles his book, "Age of Wonders," noting the pre-adolescent's awe of emerging technical feats (in my time it was space travel, today it is cyberspace) that gets him (and it's usually male) hooked on reading science fiction to the exclusion of school and girls, which he's too nerdy to attract anyway. Hartwell's subject here is "hard science fiction," generally defined as imaginative postulations as how technology will be used in the future to solve a problem and how the subsequent changes wrought affect human behavior. This excludes Tolkien elves, McAffery dragons, or Gibson cyber cowboys, although there is a chapter on fantasy as well as the New Wave literary movement of the 60s that sought to transcend "space opera." But if you're interested in Robert Heinlein, watch Star Trek reruns, or go to fan conventions, this is the book for you. This is accessible literary criticism that any 12 year old can comprehend, even though it's written by an English professor. It's also quite funny, at times, as a review of the Table of Contents will tell you with chapters such as, ""Science fiction Writers Can't Write for Sour Apples" and "Let's Get SF Back in the Gutter Where It Belongs." In addition to the essays, there's a recommended reading list and an appendix about the business of SF publishing (Hartwell is an editor for TOR). An interesting read for fans, and a way for them to interest their friends who wonder what the fascination is all about.

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Summary: Useful for explaining to friends and family why you read SF
Review: It was bound to happen. As I sat down to type up this commentary, I paged through my Day-Timer to find the notes I had written on the books I had read. I came across the reference to this...and a blank page. So what do I remember, now over two months later? I picked up this book long ago in paperback, read the first chapter or so, and sent the book to my mother. My parents have been quite understanding of my interest in science fiction, but I don't believe they've ever quite understood it. The first chapter, and indeed the rest of the book, is a wonderful introduction to science fiction and the culture it engenders. I don't know if my mother has ever read this, but I'm glad that it was there to send to her. I picked up this book again three years ago from an ad in Locus. It sat on my bookshelf until this past semester, when I did a study of science fiction fandom for my sociology class. Hartwell's excellent study then came in quite handy as a reference tool and quotebook for the paper that I wrote. Useful? Quite. I recommend it as probably the best study so far on science fiction fandom, mainly because it is the only one. Other books make reference to the subculture; only Hartwell dedicates an entire book to it. If you've ever wondered why fans are as they are, this might be your answer.