09-08-2016, 11:17 AM
This book is supposed to be about how Science Fiction has gone mainstream and has shaped our view of the future. I don't think he really succeeds at proving that, but the book has a lot of good stuff in it, with chapters on Poe (and an SF antecedent), the space race, militarism, aliens, nuclear war, Star Trek, feminism in SF, and religion (focusing on Hubbard and P.K. Dick). He's a pretty good writer but occasionally gets wordy. Some good insights into a number of books, stories and authors.
I do have two complaints about the book. First, he focuses way too much on Heinlein. (Does anyone still read that stuff?) I only ever read Stranger in a Strange Land as a teenager, and reading a few stories more recently thought they were very dated and that the writing was clumsy. Second, the book is 18 years old. It came before Amazon got huge. He mentions the decline of the backlist, but now it's so easy to get used books that they are still readily available despite being out of print. Also the rise of YA and Steampunk came after the book and so get no mention.
I do have two complaints about the book. First, he focuses way too much on Heinlein. (Does anyone still read that stuff?) I only ever read Stranger in a Strange Land as a teenager, and reading a few stories more recently thought they were very dated and that the writing was clumsy. Second, the book is 18 years old. It came before Amazon got huge. He mentions the decline of the backlist, but now it's so easy to get used books that they are still readily available despite being out of print. Also the rise of YA and Steampunk came after the book and so get no mention.
the hands that guide me are invisible