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Science Fiction literature, also known as sci fi and sf, is one of
the more recent genres, and also one of the more popular. It only
truly emerged during the 20th century, and has not stopped growing
in terms of authors, titles and readers. It has also evolved into a
variety of subgenres, ranging from hard sf to soft sf, from Utopias
to dystopias, with more than a smattering of horror, detective, war
and feminist titles. Stableford covers all these aspects and more,
taking a close look at what has become a booming industry, with its
specialized writers, publishers, and fan magazines. The compendium
includes not only sf from the United States and United Kingdom, but
also France, Russia, and many others. While the chronology charts
the genre's dazzling growth, and the dictionary section looks at
writers, books, themes, and other specifics, the introduction
provides exceptional insight into what Science Fiction Literature
is all about.
Science fiction is a literary genre based on scientific
speculation. Works of science fiction use the ideas and the
vocabulary of all sciences to create valid narratives that explore
the future effects of science on events and human beings. Science
Fact and Science Fiction examines in one volume how science has
propelled science-fiction and, to a lesser extent, how science
fiction has influenced the sciences. Although coverage will discuss
the science behind the fiction from the Classical Age to the
present, focus is naturally on the 19th century to the present,
when the Industrial Revolution and spectacular progress in science
and technology triggered an influx of science-fiction works
speculating on the future. As scientific developments alter
expectations for the future, the literature absorbs, uses, and
adapts such contextual visions. The goal of the Encyclopedia is not
to present a catalog of sciences and their application in literary
fiction, but rather to study the ongoing flow and counterflow of
influences, including how fictional representations of science
affect how we view its practice and disciplines. Although the main
focus is on literature, other forms of science fiction, including
film and video games, are explored and, because science is an
international matter, works from non-English speaking countries are
discussed as needed.
Science fiction is a literary genre based on scientific
speculation. Works of science fiction use the ideas and the
vocabulary of all sciences to create valid narratives that explore
the future effects of science on events and human beings. "Science
Fact and Science" "Fiction" examines in one volume how science has
propelled science-fiction and, to a lesser extent, how science
fiction has influenced the sciences. Although coverage will discuss
the science behind the fiction from the Classical Age to the
present, focus is naturally on the 19th century to the present,
when the Industrial Revolution and spectacular progress in science
and technology triggered an influx of science-fiction works
speculating on the future. As scientific developments alter
expectations for the future, the literature absorbs, uses, and
adapts such contextual visions. The goal of the "Encyclopedia "is
not to present a catalog of sciences and their application in
literary fiction, but rather to study the ongoing flow
andcounterflow of influences, including how fictional
representations of science affect how we view its practice and
disciplines. Although the main focus is on literature, other forms
of science fiction, including film and video games, are explored
and, because science is an international matter, works from
non-English speaking countries are discussed as needed.
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Sabbat (Paperback)
Helene Picard; Translated by Brian Stableford; Preface by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette
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R592
Discovery Miles 5 920
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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Hauntings (Paperback)
Edouard Dujardin; Translated by Brian Stableford
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R383
Discovery Miles 3 830
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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Mephistophela (Paperback)
Catulle Mendes; Translated by Brian Stableford
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R773
Discovery Miles 7 730
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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The Last Fay (Paperback)
Honore Balzac; Adapted by Brian Stableford
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R583
Discovery Miles 5 830
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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This is a new collection of 12 French proto-science fiction tales
penned between 1757 and 1924, translated and annotated by renowned
science fiction writer and scholar Brian Stableford. From a
pioneering venture on the exploration of "inner space" by renowned
Swiss philosopher Emerich de Vattel to visions of Paris in ruins
being explored by future antiquarians; from interplanetary
communication with the planet Mars to the discovery of a spaceship
from Mercury, which crashed in the Antarctic, and the moving saga
of the Earthmen who tried to save its alien pilot, this fifth
collection provides an unparalleled view of the evolution of French
scientific romances. In the title piece, Quebec helped to make up
for France's lack of female genre writers with Emma-Adele Lacerte's
1917 sequel to Jules Verne's classic tale, Twenty Thousands Leagues
Under the Sea.
Although the problems of writing fantasy and science fiction
include all those pertaining to the writing of any kind of fiction,
particular problems arise in stories in which unprecedented things
can and do happen, as well as stories that often involve unhuman
characters of various sorts, and that might require the elaborate
design of entire imaginary worlds. This book provides an elementary
introduction to problems of those kinds, and the ways in which they
modify the general problems of writing fiction. It also suggests
strategies that might enable the problems to be handled
constructively and productively. The author has published more than
seventy novels in the field, more than twenty short story
collections, and more than twenty related works of non-fiction; he
has, as the saying goes, been there, done that, and chewed his
t-shirt in relevant frustration.
Robert Reginald says: "An absolutely first-rate guide to
writing fantastic literature. Stableford has much to say that
potential writers of ALL fiction might find valuable, interesting,
and highly illuminating. His reasonable discussion and dissection
of the basic issues facing authors of creative fiction--and the
solutions to be found to each problem--are dollops of solid gold
advice, in this editor's humble opinion. Every would-be author
should read this book--and more than once "
Published the same year as Jules Verne's classic From the Earth to
the Moon and Henri de Parville's An Inhabitant of the Planet Mars,
Achille Eyraud's Voyage to Venus (1865) was the first novel to
describe an interplanetary rocket-powered spaceship. Eyraud
supports his design with an elaborate (but ultimately flawed)
pseudo-scientific argument and describes its cosmic voyage in a
logical manner. Once on Venus, his protagonists discover a utopian
society in which the sexes are equal and solar-powered robots toil
in the fields. Voyage to Venus has often been mentioned in many
histories of space travel and science fiction, although the
difficulty of obtaining the original text until now meant that few
have read it. This ground-breaking work is at last available in
English in its first annotated translation by award-winning author
Brian Stableford.
During an August heat-wave, the Comte de Saint-Germain seeks the
help of detective Auguste Dupin. Someone--or someTHING--is trying
to kill him! The Comte has inherited a magical cello and a
mysterious sealed box. A psychic vampire (an "egregore") intends to
use the cello and a magical musical composition to steal another
soul. Can Dupin and his faithful companion unravel the puzzle in
time to save the Comte?
In the tradition of the old "Ace Doubles" (flip one book over to
read the second title), here is the tenth Wildside Double:
VALDEMAR'S DAUGHTER: A ROMANCE OF MESMERISM, by Brian
Stableford
Following the sad demise of Ernest Valdemar, as related in the
story by Edgar Allan Poe, his mortal remains are sent to his
daughter in Paris--but go astray--and detective Auguste Dupin must
track them down. The Comte de Saint-Germain seems implicated in the
mystery. Meanwhile, the great writer Balzac lies at death's door,
convinced that only Valdemar's body can save him. Will Dupin thwart
his adversary in the nick of time?
THE MAD TRIST: A ROMANCE OF BIBLIOMANIA, by Brian Stableford
The Comte de Saint-Germain has come into possession of The Mad
Trist, the book from which Edgar Allan Poe and Roderick Usher read
aloud before the collapse recorded in "The Fall of the House of
Usher." He intends it as a gift to detective Auguste Dupin, but
Dupin's friend, Richard Carstairs, cannot deliver the volume
immediately. Richard is unintimidated by the prospect of reading a
supposedly cursed book--after all, Dupin has a whole shelf full of
them A classic tale of horror.
Ignis (1883) is about the industrial exploitation of Earth's
central fire by a multinational cartel. It also contains fanciful
digressions into biological engineering, Utopian city planning, the
possibility of brain control by means of electrical stimulation and
the potential exhaustion of fossil fuels. Proving again that
science fiction writers are harbingers of the future, it features
the first depiction of the revolt of machines-steam-powered
non-humanoid robots-that have become intelligent, all penned at a
time before the automobile was even invented Brian Stableford has
been a professional writer since 1965. He has published more than
60 science fiction and fantasy novels, as well as several
authoritative non-fiction books.
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