Science fiction is related tofantasy (together abbreviatedSF&F),horror, andsuperhero fiction, and it contains manysubgenres. The genre's precisedefinition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Major subgenres includehard science fiction, which emphasizes scientific accuracy, andsoft science fiction, which focuses on social sciences. Other notable subgenres arecyberpunk, which explores the interface between technology and society,climate fiction, which addresses environmental issues, andspace opera, which emphasizes pure adventure in a universe in which space travel is common.
Precedents for science fiction are claimed to exist as far back as antiquity. Some books written in theScientific Revolution and theEnlightenment Age were considered earlyscience-fantasy stories. The modern genre arose primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when popular writers began looking to technological progress for inspiration and speculation.Mary Shelley'sFrankenstein, written in 1818, is often credited as the first true science fictionnovel.Jules Verne andH. G. Wells are pivotal figures in the genre's development. In the 20th century, the genre grew during theGolden Age of Science Fiction; it expanded with the introduction ofspace operas,dystopian literature, andpulp magazines.
Science fiction has come to influence not only literature, but also film, television, and culture at large. Science fiction can criticize present-day society and explore alternatives, as well as provide entertainment and inspire asense of wonder.
According to American writer and professor of biochemistryIsaac Asimov, "Science fiction can be defined as that branch of literature which deals with the reaction of human beings to changes in science and technology."[1]
Science fiction writerRobert A. Heinlein stated that "A handy short definition of almost all science fiction might read: realistic speculation about possible future events, based solidly on adequateknowledge of the real world, past and present, and on a thorough understanding of the nature and significance of thescientific method."[2]
American science fiction author and editorLester del Rey wrote, "Even the devoted aficionado or fan—has a hard time trying to explain what science fiction is," and no "full satisfactory definition" exists because "there are no easily delineated limits to science fiction."[3]
Another definition is provided inThe Literature Book by the publisherDK: "scenarios that are at the time of writing technologically impossible, extrapolating from present-day science...[,]...or that deal with some form of speculative science-based conceit, such as a society (on Earth or another planet) that has developed in wholly different ways from our own."[4]
There is a tendency among science fiction enthusiasts to be their own arbiters in deciding what constitutes science fiction.[5] David Seed says that it may be more useful to talk about science fiction as the intersection of other more concrete subgenres.[6] American science fiction author, editor, and criticDamon Knight summed up the difficulty, saying "Science fiction is what we point to when we say it."[7]
American magazine editor, science fiction writer, and literary agentForrest J Ackerman has been credited with first using the termsci-fi (reminiscent of the then-trendy termhi-fi) in about 1954.[8] The first known use in print was a description ofDonovan's Brain by movie critic Jesse Zunser in January 1954.[9] As science fiction enteredpopular culture, writers and fans in the field came to associate the term with low-qualitypulp science fiction and with low-budget, low-techB movies.[10][11][12] By the 1970s,critics in the field, such as Damon Knight andTerry Carr, were usingsci fi todistinguish hack-work from serious science fiction.[13]
Australian literary scholar and criticPeter Nicholls writes thatSF (orsf) is "the preferred abbreviation within the community of sf writers and readers."[14]
Robert Heinlein found the termscience fiction insufficient to describe certain types of works in this genre, and he suggested that the termspeculative fiction be used instead for works that are more "serious" or "thoughtful".[15]
Isaac Asimov andCarl Sagan considered Johannes Kepler's novelSomnium to be the first science fiction story; it depicts a journey to the Moon and how the Earth's motion is seen from there.[28][29] Kepler has been called the "father of science fiction".[30][31]
By 'scientifiction' I mean the Jules Verne, H. G. Wells and Edgar Allan Poe type of story—a charming romance intermingled with scientific fact and prophetic vision... Not only do these amazing tales make tremendously interesting reading—they are always instructive. They supply knowledge... in a very palatable form... New adventures pictured for us in the scientifiction of today are not at all impossible of realization tomorrow... Many great science stories destined to be of historical interest are still to be written... Posterity will point to them as having blazed a new trail, not only in literature and fiction, but progress as well.[51][52][53]
In 1937,John W. Campbell became the editor ofAstounding Science Fiction magazine; this event is sometimes considered the beginning of theGolden Age of Science Fiction, which was characterized by stories celebrating scientific achievement and progress.[57][58] The "Golden Age" is often said to have ended in 1946, but sometimes the late 1940s and the 1950s are included in this period.[59]
In 1959,Robert A. Heinlein's novelStarship Troopers marked a departure from his earlier juvenile stories and novels.[69] It is one of the first and most influential examples ofmilitary science fiction,[70][71] and it introduced the concept ofpowered armorexoskeletons.[72][73][74] The German space opera seriesPerry Rhodan, written by various authors, started in 1961 with an account of the firstMoon landing;[75] the series has since expanded in space to multiple universes and in time by billions of years.[76] It has become the most popular book series in science fiction to date.[77]
During the 1960s and 1970s,New Wave science fiction was known for embracing a high degree of experimentation (in both form and content), as well as a highbrow and self-consciously "literary" or "artistic" sensibility.[78][79]
In 1979,Science Fiction World magazine began publication in the People's Republic of China.[95] It dominates the Chinesescience fiction magazine market, at one time claiming a circulation of 300,000 copies per issue and an estimated 3–5 readers per copy, giving it a total readership of at least 1 million people—making it the world's most popular science fictionperiodical.[96]
In 1954,Godzilla, directed byIshirō Honda, started thekaijusubgenre of science fiction film; this subgenre features large creatures in any form, usually attacking a major city or engaging othermonsters in battle.[125][126]
Science fiction andtelevision have consistently had a close relationship. Television or similartechnology often appeared in science fiction long before television itself became widely available in the late 1940s and early 1950s.[139]
In 1963, the seriesDoctor Who premiered on BBC Television with a time-travel theme.[147] The original series ran until 1989 and was revived in 2005.[148] It has been popular globally and has significantly influenced later science fiction TV.[149][150][151]
AlongsideDoctor Who there are other British sci-fi dramas which are broadcast in the 1970s areUFO (1970–1971),The Tomorrow People (1973–1979),Space: 1999 (1975–1977) andBlake's 7 (1978–1981).
The space-Western seriesFirefly premiered in 2002 on Fox. It is set in the year 2517, after humans arrive in a new star system, and it follows the adventures of the renegade crew ofSerenity, a "Firefly-class" spaceship.[178] The seriesOrphan Black began a five-season run in 2013, focusing on a woman who takes on the identity of one of her genetically identical clones. In late 2015, Syfy premiered the seriesThe Expanse to great critical acclaim—an American show about humanity's colonization of the Solar System. Its later seasons were aired throughAmazon Prime Video.
Science fiction's rapid increase in popularity during the first half of the 20th century was closely tied to public respect for science during that era, as well as the rapid pace oftechnological innovation and newinventions.[179] Science fiction has often predicted scientific and technological progress.[180][181] Some works imagine that this progress will tend to improve human life and society, for instance, the stories ofArthur C. Clarke andStar Trek.[182] Other works, such asH.G. Wells'sThe Time Machine andAldous Huxley'sBrave New World, warn of possible negative consequences.[183][184]
In 2001 theNational Science Foundation conducted asurvey of "Public Attitudes and Public Understanding: Science Fiction andPseudoscience".[185] The survey found that people who read or prefer science fiction may think about or relate to science differently than other people. Such people also tend to support thespace program and efforts to contactextraterrestrial civilizations.[185][186]Carl Sagan wrote that "Many scientists deeply involved in the exploration of thesolar system (myself among them) were first turned in that direction by science fiction."[187]
Science fiction can act as a vehicle for analyzing and recognizing a society's past, present, and potential future social relationships with theother. Science fiction offers a medium for and a representation ofalterity and differences insocial identity.[192]Brian Aldiss described science fiction as "cultural wallpaper".[193]
This broad influence can be seen in the trend for writers to use science fiction as a tool for advocacy and generating cultural insights, as well as for educators who teach across a range of academic disciplines beyond the natural sciences.[194] Scholar and science fiction criticGeorge Edgar Slusser said that science fiction "is the one real internationalliterary form we have today, and as such has branched out tovisual media,interactive media and on to whatever new media the world will invent in the 21st century. Crossover issues between thesciences and thehumanities are crucial for the century to come."[195]
Robots,artificial humans, humanclones, intelligentcomputers, and their possible conflicts with human society have all been major themes of science fiction since the publication of Shelly's novelFrankenstein (or earlier). Some critics have seen this tendency as reflecting authors' concerns over thesocial alienation seen in modern society.[202]
Feminist science fiction poses questions about social issues such as how society constructsgender roles, the role reproduction plays in defininggender, and the inequitable political or personal power of one gender over others. Some works have illustrated these themes usingutopias in which gender differences or gender power imbalances do not exist, ordystopias in whichgender inequalities are intensified, thus asserting a need for feminist work to continue.[203][204]
Science fiction is often said to inspire asense of wonder. Science fiction editor, publisher, and criticDavid Hartwell wrote that "Science fiction's appeal lies in combination of the rational, the believable, with the miraculous. It is an appeal to the sense of wonder."[213]
Carl Sagan wrote about growing up with science fiction:[187]
One of the great benefits of science fiction is that it can convey bits and pieces, hints, and phrases, of knowledge unknown or inaccessible to the reader . . . works you ponder over as the water is running out of the bathtub or as you walk through the woods in an early winter snowfall.
In 1967, Isaac Asimov commented on changes occurring in the science fiction community:[214]
And because today's real life so resembles day-before-yesterday's fantasy, the old-time fans are restless. Deep within, whether they admit it or not, is a feeling of disappointment and even outrage that the outer world has invaded their private domain. They feel the loss of a 'sense of wonder' because what was once truly confined to 'wonder' has now become prosaic and mundane.
Science fiction has historically been subdivided intohard andsoft categories, with the division centering on the feasibility of the science.[222] However, this distinction has come under increased scrutiny in the 21st century. Someauthors, such asTade Thompson andJeff VanderMeer, have observed that stories focusing explicitly onphysics,astronomy,mathematics, andengineering tend to be considered hard science fiction, while stories focusing onbotany,mycology,zoology, and thesocial sciences tend to be considered soft science fiction (regardless of the relative rigor of the science).[223]
Max Gladstone defined hard science fiction as stories "where themath works", but he pointed out that this definition identifies stories that often seem "weirdly dated", as scientificparadigms shift over time.[224]Michael Swanwick dismissed the traditional definition of hard science fiction altogether, instead stating that it was defined by characters striving to solve problems "in the right way–with determination, a touch of stoicism, and the consciousness that theuniverse is not on his or her side."[223]
Ursula K. Le Guin also criticized the traditional contrast between hard and soft science fiction: "The 'hard' science fiction writers dismiss everything except, well, physics, astronomy, and maybechemistry.Biology,sociology,anthropology—that's notscience to them, that's soft stuff. They're not that interested in what human beings do, really. But I am. I draw on the social sciences a great deal."[225]
In her 1976 essay "Science Fiction and Mrs Brown",Ursula K. Le Guin was asked, "Can a science fiction writer write a novel?" She answered that "I believe that all novels ... deal withcharacter... The great novelists have brought us to see whatever they wish us to see through some character. Otherwise, they would not be novelists, but poets, historians, or pamphleteers."[242]
Orson Scott Card is best known for his 1985 science fiction novelEnder's Game; he has postulated that in science fiction, the message and intellectual significance of the work are contained within the story itself—therefore the genre can omit accepted literary devices and techniques that he characterized asgimmicks or literary games.[243][244]
In 1998,Jonathan Lethem wrote anessay titled "Close Encounters: The Squandered Promise of Science Fiction" in theVillage Voice. In this essay, he recalled the time in 1973 whenThomas Pynchon's novelGravity's Rainbow was nominated for theNebula Award and was passed over in favor of Arthur C. Clarke's novelRendezvous with Rama; Lethem suggests that this point stands as "a hidden tombstone marking the death of the hope that SF was about to merge with the mainstream."[245] In the same year, science fiction author and physicistGregory Benford wrote that "SF is perhaps the defining genre of the twentieth century, although its conquering armies are still camped outside theRome of the literary citadels."[246]
Science fiction has been written by authors from diversecultural and geographical backgrounds. Among submissions to the science fiction publisherTor Books, men account for 78% and women account for 22% (according to 2013 statistics from the publisher).[247] Acontroversy about voting slates for the 2015Hugo Awards highlighted a tension in the science fiction community between two things: a trend toward increasingly diverse works and authors being honored by awards, and a reaction by groups of authors and fans who preferred more "traditional" science fiction.[248]
WriterPamela Dean reading at the Minneapolis convention known asMinicon in 2006
Conventions (often abbreviated by fans ascons, such asComic-con) are held incities around theworld; these cater to a local, regional, national, or international membership.[259][48][260] General-interest conventions cover all aspects of science fiction, while others focus on a particular interest such asmedia fandom orfilk music.[261][262] Most science fiction conventions are organized by volunteers in non-profit groups, though most media-oriented events are organized by commercial promoters.[263]
Cover ofImagination, a fanzine published by Forrest J. Ackerman, January 1938, drawn by Jim Mooney
Science fictionfandom emerged from the letters column inAmazing Stories magazine. Fans began writing letters to each other, and then assembling their comments in informal publications that became known asfanzines.[264] Once in regular communication, these fans wanted to meet in person, so they organized local clubs.[264][265] During the 1930s, the first science fictionconventions gathered fans from a larger area.[265]
The earliest organized online fandom was the SF Lovers Community, originally amailing list in the late 1970s, with a textarchive file that was updated regularly.[266] In the 1980s,Usenet groups greatly expanded the circle of fansonline.[267] In the 1990s, the development of theWorld-Wide Web increased online fandom throughwebsites devoted to science fiction and relatedgenres in all media.[268][failed verification]
The first science fiction fanzine,The Comet, was published in 1930 by the Science Correspondence Club in Chicago, Illinois.[269][270] As of 2025, one of the best known fanzines isAnsible, edited byDavid Langford, winner of numerousHugo awards.[271][272] Other notable fanzines to win one or more Hugo awards includeFile 770,Mimosa, andPlokta.[273] Artists working for fanzines have often risen to prominence in the field, includingBrad W. Foster,Teddy Harvia, and Joe Mayhew; the Hugo Awards include a category forBest Fan Artists.[273]
Aclimate fiction depiction of agriculture in 2500, with workers wearing protective suits to protect from extreme temperatures anddrone tractors.
While science fiction is a genre of fiction, a science fiction genre is a subgenre within science fiction. Science fiction may be divided along any number of overlapping axes. Gary K. Wolfe'sCritical Terms for Science Fiction and Fantasy identifies over 30 subdivisions of science fiction, not includingscience fantasy (which is amixed genre).
^Heinlein, Robert A.; Cyril Kornbluth; Alfred Bester; Robert Bloch (1959).The Science Fiction Novel: Imagination and Social Criticism. University of Chicago: Advent Publishers.
^Clute, John (1993). ""Sci fi" (article by Peter Nicholls)". In Nicholls, Peter (ed.).Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Orbit/Time Warner Book Group UK.
^Clute, John (1993). ""SF" (article by Peter Nicholls)". In Nicholls, Peter (ed.).Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Orbit/Time Warner Book Group UK.
^abRichardson, Matthew (2001).The Halstead Treasury of Ancient Science Fiction. Rushcutters Bay, New South Wales: Halstead Press.ISBN978-1-875684-64-9. (cf."Once Upon a Time".Emerald City (85). September 2002.Archived from the original on 11 September 2019. Retrieved17 September 2008.)
^Khanna, Lee Cullen. "The Subject of Utopia: Margaret Cavendish and Her Blazing-World".Utopian and Science Fiction by Women: World of Difference. Syracuse: Syracuse UP, 1994. 15–34.
^Clute, John & Nicholls, Peter (1993)."Mary W. Shelley".Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Orbit/Time Warner Book Group UK.Archived from the original on 16 November 2006. Retrieved17 January 2007.
^Wingrove, Aldriss (2001).Billion Year Spree: The History of Science Fiction (1973) Revised and expanded asTrillion Year Spree (with David Wingrove)(1986). New York: House of Stratus.ISBN978-0-7551-0068-2.
^Tresch, John (2002). "Extra! Extra! Poe invents science fiction". In Hayes, Kevin J. The Cambridge Companion to Edgar Allan Poe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 113–132.ISBN978-0-521-79326-1.
^La obra narrativa de Enrique Gaspar: El Anacronópete (1887), María de los Ángeles Ayala, Universidad de Alicante. Del Romanticismo al Realismo : Actas del I Coloquio de la S. L. E. S. XIX, Barcelona, 24–26 October 1996 / edited by Luis F. Díaz Larios, Enrique Miralles.
^El anacronópete, English translation (2014), www.storypilot.com, Michael Main, accessed 13 April 2016
^Siegel, Mark Richard (1988).Hugo Gernsback, Father of Modern Science Fiction: With Essays on Frank Herbert and Bram Stoker. Borgo Pr.ISBN978-0-89370-174-1.
^Wagar, W. Warren (2004).H.G. Wells: Traversing Time. Wesleyan University Press. p. 7.
^Edwards, Malcolm J.; Nicholls, Peter (1995). "SF Magazines". In John Clute and Peter Nicholls.The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction(Updated ed.). New York: St Martin's Griffin. p. 1066.ISBN0-312-09618-6.
^Roberts, Garyn G. (2001). "Buck Rogers". In Browne, Ray B.; Browne, Pat (eds.).The Guide To United States Popular Culture. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press. p. 120.ISBN978-0-87972-821-2.
^Taormina, Agatha (19 January 2005)."A History of Science Fiction". Northern Virginia Community College. Archived fromthe original on 26 March 2004. Retrieved16 January 2007.
^Nichols, Peter; Ashley, Mike (23 June 2021)."Golden Age of SF". The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction. Retrieved17 November 2022.
^Nicholls, Peter (1981)The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Granada, p. 258
^"OFF-LINE интервью с Борисом Стругацким" [OFF-LINE interview with Boris Strugatsky] (in Russian). Russian Science Fiction & Fantasy. December 2006.Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved29 February 2016.
^Mike Ashley (14 May 2007). Gateways to Forever: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1970–1980. Liverpool University Press. p. 218.ISBN978-1-84631-003-4.
^McGuirk, Carol (1992). "The 'New' Romancers". In Slusser, George Edgar; Shippey, T. A. (eds.).Fiction 2000. University of Georgia Press. pp. 109–125.ISBN978-0-8203-1449-5.
^Caroti, Simone (2011).The Generation Starship in Science Fiction. McFarland. p. 156.ISBN978-0-7864-8576-5.
^Peter Swirski (ed), The Art and Science of Stanislaw Lem, McGill-Queen's University Press, 2008,ISBN0-7735-3047-9
^Fitting, Peter (July 1991). "The Lessons of Cyberpunk". In Penley, C.; Ross, A. Technoculture. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 295–315
^Pfeiffer, John R. "Butler, Octavia Estelle (b. 1947)." in Richard Bleiler (ed.),Science Fiction Writers: Critical Studies of the Major Authors from the Early Nineteenth Century to the Present Day, 2nd edn. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999. 147–158.
^SciFi Film History – Metropolis (1927)Archived 10 October 2017 at theWayback Machine –Though most agree that the first science fiction film was Georges Méliès' A Trip to the Moon (1902), Metropolis (1926) is the first feature length outing of the genre. (scififilmhistory.com, retrieved 15 May 2013)
^"Metropolis".Turner Classic Movies.Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved30 March 2019.
^Russo, Joe; Landsman, Larry; Gross, Edward (2001). Planet of the Apes Revisited: The Behind-The Scenes Story of the Classic Science Fiction Saga (1st ed.). New York: Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Griffin.ISBN0-312-25239-0.
^Suzanne Williams-Rautiolla (2 April 2005)."Captain Video and His Video Rangers". The Museum of Broadcast Communications.Archived from the original on 30 March 2009. Retrieved17 January 2007.
^Stanyard, Stewart T. (2007).Dimensions Behind the Twilight Zone: A Backstage Tribute to Television's Groundbreaking Series ([Online-Ausg.] ed.). Toronto: ECW press. p. 18.ISBN978-1-55022-744-4.
^O'Reilly, Terry (24 May 2014)."21st Century Brands".Under the Influence. Season 3. Episode 21. Event occurs at time 2:07. CBC Radio One.Archived from the original on 8 June 2014.Transcript of the original source. Retrieved7 June 2014.The series had lots of interesting devices that marveled us back in the 1960s. In episode one, we see wife Jane doing exercises in front of a flatscreen television. In another episode, we see George Jetson reading the newspaper on a screen. Can anyone say tablet? In another, Boss Spacely tells George to fix something called a "computer virus". Everyone on the show uses video chat, foreshadowing Skype and Face Time. There is a robot vacuum cleaner, foretelling the 2002 arrival of the iRobot Roomba vacuum. There was also a tanning bed used in an episode, a product that wasn't introduced to North America until 1979. And while flying space cars that have yet to land in our lives, the Jetsons show had moving sidewalks like we now have in airports, treadmills that didn't hit the consumer market until 1969, and they had a repairman who had a piece of technology called... Mac.
^Moran, Caitlin (30 June 2007)."Doctor Who is simply masterful".The Times. London. Archived fromthe original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved1 July 2007.[Doctor Who] is as thrilling and as loved asJolene, or bread and cheese, or honeysuckle, or Friday. It's quintessential to being British.
^"Special Collectors' Issue: 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time".TV Guide (28 June – 4 July). 1997.
^British Science Fiction Television: A Hitchhiker's Guide, John R. Cook, Peter Wright, I.B.Tauris, 6 January 2006, page 9
^Gowran, Clay. "Nielsen Ratings Are Dim on New Shows". Chicago Tribune. 11 October 1966: B10.
^Gould, Jack. "How Does Your Favorite Rate? Maybe Higher Than You Think."New York Times. 16 October 1966: 129.
^Kilgore, De Witt Douglas (March 2010). "Difference Engine: Aliens, Robots, and Other Racial Matters in the History of Science Fiction".Science Fiction Studies.37 (1):16–22.doi:10.1525/sfs.37.1.0016.JSTOR40649582.
^Dziubinskyj, Aaron (November 2004). "Review: Science Fiction in Latin America and Spain".Science Fiction Studies.31 (3 Soviet Science Fiction: The Thaw and After).doi:10.1525/sfs.31.3.428.JSTOR4241289.
^Androids, Humanoids, and Other Science Fiction Monsters: Science and Soul in Science Fiction Films, Per Schelde, NYU Press, 1994, pages 1–10
^Elyce Rae Helford, in Westfahl, Gary.The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Greenwood Press, 2005: 289–290.
^Hauskeller, Michael; Carbonell, Curtis D.; Philbeck, Thomas D. (13 January 2016).The Palgrave handbook of posthumanism in film and television. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.ISBN978-1-137-43032-8.OCLC918873873.
^Barlowe, Wayne Douglas (1987). Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials. Workman Publishing Company.ISBN0-89480-500-2.
^Baxter, John (1997). "Kubrick Beyond the Infinite". Stanley Kubrick: A Biography. Basic Books. pp. 199–230.ISBN0-7867-0485-3.
^Gary K. Wolfe and Carol T. Williams, "The Majesty of Kindness: The Dialectic of Cordwainer Smith",Voices for the Future: Essays on Major Science Fiction Writers, Volume 3, Thomas D. Clareson editor, Popular Press, 1983, pages 53–72.
^Le Guin, Ursula K. (1976) "Science Fiction and Mrs Brown", inThe Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction, Perennial HarperCollins, Revised edition 1993; inScience Fiction at Large (ed. Peter Nicholls), Gollancz, London, 1976; inExplorations of the Marvellous (ed. Peter Nicholls), Fontana, London, 1978; inSpeculations on Speculation. Theories of Science Fiction (eds.James Gunn and Matthew Candelaria), The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Maryland, 2005.
^Lethem, Jonathan (1998), "Close Encounters: The Squandered Promise of Science Fiction",Village Voice, June. Also reprinted in a slightly expanded version under the title "Why Can't We All Live Together?: A Vision of Genre Paradise Lost" in theNew York Review of Science Fiction, September 1998, Number 121, Vol 11, No. 1.
^Benford, Gregory (1998) "Meaning-Stuffed Dreams:Thomas Disch and the future of SF",New York Review of Science Fiction, September, Number 121, Vol. 11, No. 1
^Parker, Helen N. (1977).Biological Themes in Modern Science Fiction. UMI Research Press.
^Peter Fitting (2010), "Utopia, dystopia, and science fiction", in Gregory Claeys (ed.),The Cambridge Companion to Utopian Literature, Cambridge University Press, pp. 138–139
^Hartwell, David G. (1996).Age of Wonders: Exploring the World of Science Fiction. Tor Books. pp. 109–131.ISBN978-0-312-86235-0.
^Ashley, M. (April 1989). The Immortal Professor, Astro Adventures No.7, p.6.
^H. G. Stratmann (14 September 2015).Using Medicine in Science Fiction: The SF Writer's Guide to Human Biology. Springer, 2015. p. 227.ISBN978-3-319-16015-3.
Raja, Masood Ashraf, Jason W. Ellis and Swaralipi Nandi. eds.,The Postnational Fantasy: Essays on Postcolonialism, Cosmopolitics and Science Fiction. McFarland 2011.ISBN978-0-7864-6141-7.
Reginald, Robert.Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, 1975–1991. Detroit, MI/Washington, D.C./London: Gale Research, 1992.ISBN0-8103-1825-3.
Suvin, Darko.Metamorphoses of Science Fiction: on the Poetics and History of a Literary Genre, New Haven : Yale University Press, 1979.
Weldes, Jutta, ed.To Seek Out New Worlds: Exploring Links between Science Fiction and World Politics. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.ISBN0-312-29557-X.
