Review by Choice Review
The Oxford Handbook of Science Fiction is a stunning achievement. Science fiction, as a genre and as a phrase, is notoriously hard to pin down, and Latham (Univ. of California, Riverside) was wise in deciding to explore the widest possible limits rather than set up any sort of rigid boundaries. This is not to suggest the handbook ducks the question of definition; the first 11 essays, grouped together under the heading "Science Fiction as Genre," approach the problem from a variety of angles, from historical to aesthetic. The other three sections (33 essays) explore science fiction as medium, culture, and worldview, and thus allow critics to engage with topics that would almost certainly be left out of a more narrow approach. There are essays on music, architecture, body modification, and pseudoscience, to name just a few of the subjects treated. The only thing this reviewer finds missing is an overview: though each essay has a detailed bibliography, overall bibliographies of both the works and theorists mentioned, as well as a time line, would have made this work more useful. But even without these elements this is a stellar accomplishment. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Annalisa Castaldo, Widener University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review