Print ISBN: 978-1-68217-278-0
# of Pages: 1572
# of Volumes: 3
Print List Price: $295
Add to Cart
eBook Info
e-ISBN: 978-1-68217-279-7
eBook User Price: $295
Free Online Access
Spread the Word
Download a Free Poster

Download and print a poster to promote your titles in your school or library.

Critical Survey of Science Fiction & Fantasy Literature

Editor: Paul Di Filippo
March 2017

Tags: 800 EssaysScience Fiction and Fantasy AwardsGlossaryGenre IndexAuthor and Title IndexesBibliography

Download: Table of Contents Sample Pages ​​Full Text Reviews
This edition provides descriptions of hundreds of famous and well-regarded works of science fiction and fantasy, summarizing plots and analyzing the works in terms of their contributions to literature.

This new edition of the Critical Survey of Science Fiction & Fantasy Literature is a three-volume set offering plot summaries and analyses of 842 of the most popular and frequently taught science fiction and fantasy books and series.

Front matter includes a broad survey of developments in the science fiction and fantasy fields by scholar T. A. Shippey, editor of the 2002 edition, and an introduction by Paul Di Filippo, editor of this revised edition.

Organization & Format
Each article discusses an individual book or series and often comments on other works by the same author. Individual articles open with basic information in a ready-reference format:

  • Author's Name
  • His or Her Birth & Death Dates
  • Identification of the Work as Either Science Fiction or Fantasy
  • Sub-Genre
  • Type of Work (such as Drama, Novel, Novella, Series, or Story)
  • Time and Location of Plot
  • Date of First Publication

The main body of each essay contains two sections: "The Story" offers a brief summary of the work's plot and identifies major characters, while "Analysis" offers a critical interpretation of the title and identifies the literary devices and themes used in the work.

Works featured in this compilation include essays on such classics as:

  • Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
  • The War of the Worlds
  • The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
  • Lord of the Rings trilogy

This title also includes new articles and recent titles such as:

  • American Gods
  • Singularity Sky
  • Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
  • Cloud Atlas
  • Boneshaker
  • Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy
  • City of Stairs

Readers will find several reference tools at the ends of Volume 3: Annotated Bibliography, Up-to-Date Lists of Major Science Fiction and Fantasy Award Winners, Timeline of Works Discussed, Annotated Website List, Author Index, Title Index, and a Genre Index.

View a Full List of Titles from the Critical Survey of Literature Series

Reviews
“ " The most useful of the appendixes are the author index, genre index, and an annotated bibliography..." -Booklist
Critical Survey of Science Fiction & Fantasy Literature Review

Additional Titles of Interest

January 2017

Critical Insights: Isaac Asimov

Isaac Asimov is widely considered to be one of the founding figures of American science fiction. This volume contains a general introduction to Asimov's work and explores his towering status among American science fiction writers, with special emphasis on the Foundation trilogy and the Robot novels and stories.

April 2014

Critical Insights: Brave New World

In-depth critical discussions of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Plus complimentary, unlimited online access to the full content of this great literary reference.

September 2011

Critical Insights: Harlan Ellison

Essays discuss Ellison's relationship with the science fiction and fantasy community, his sense that mainstream critics slighted his work, and his easy postmodern accommodation of popular culture references and images. Essays also compare Ellison's vision of dystopian hell with Cormac McCarthy's, and examine the underlying mythological and psychological themes of Ellison's works.

September 2017

Critical Insights: Ray Bradbury

Critical Insights: Ray Bradbury explores the work of perhaps the most immediately recognizable, and also influential, name in speculative fiction, a wide field that includes not only science fiction and even fantasy but also horror, the “weird tale,” and works of that ilk.