Peter Nicholls (1)Critiques

I read this a few years ago so cannot recall much about it, but it is a collection of lectures given in London years ago by science fiction (SF) writers. Some quite interesting, some a bit pretentious. The weirdest was Phil K Dick's unsurprisingly.

4/5/22

I was shocked, on picking up this book, to see that it dates from 1982 - in other words, it has sat on my shelf, unread, for nearly forty years! With that in mind, I started to read, interested to see how much of the book was out of date.

The answer was - quite a lot. Indeed, I had thought to make this review a tabulation of the areas where we now knew better, but by the time I was a third of the way into the book, I realised that such an approach would be a) extensive, and b) a bit petty. There is little that is laugh-out-loud wrong; mostly, the areas where the book fails is in statements like "Researchers hope that X might be possible within 50 years" and in my response along the lines of "Yes, I've got one just like it in my kitchen."

The only time I rang up a 100% cast-iron WRONG! was in a segment talking about computing, which described 1946's ENIAC as "the world's first functional electronic computer". But none of the writers could have known about the British World War 2 codebreaking computer COLOSSUS, because at that time, its existence remained the UK's best-kept secret, even though Churchill ordered its destruction and purging from the records at the wars end.

There are ten chapters covering the major themes of sf; then a chapter on 'mysteries' (flying saucers, ancient astronauts, vanished civilizations and so on); and finally a chapter on where sf got it wrong. Much of the book is actually perfectly serviceable; little of the science has been entirely superseded by the developments of the last forty years, though it spends time discussing the coming Ice Age and hopes that anthropogenic environmental warming might help offset some of that. Perhaps the things that date the book the most are the examples: many of the sf writers cited are Golden Age authors, Star Trek only consisted of the three seasons of the original show, Star Wars had a sequel but had not yet become a global phenomenon, and global terrorism barely merits a mention as a possible future horror. Perhaps the thing about the book that dates it the worst are the graphic design and the choice of illustrations.

The whole thing is quite readable, and the book is worth acquiring if you see a copy on sale. But the reader should keep an open internet connection (itself something suggested in this book) and a large notepad to jot down the areas where we have advanced since 1982. There will be plenty of them.

The hardback second edition dates from 1993; the third edition is only available online, (http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/). The second edition had over 6,500 entries and 1.3 million words; the third edition has just passed 18,000 entries and 5.9 million words. So you will understand which is the more comprehensive version.

Yet if I want to quickly look up some writer, or obscure old film, and I've shut my devices down for the night, I'll still reach for the second edition. The extent to which the gilt printing on the dust jacket of my copy has worn shows how often it has been on and off the shelf! And for idle browsing, it's still invaluable. If you see one second-hand and the asking price is within your pocket, go for it.

An illustrated survey of the actual science behind recent science fiction investigates the frontiers of contemporary scientific knowledge and the possibility, and probability, of starships, cyborgs, time travel, and other "science-fiction" phenomena

There is a difference between the hardback and paperback editions. The paperbacks have the update with new data, typographical errors, factual corrections, and miscellanea. That update actually makes the paperback the better and more useful reference.

There is a difference between the hardback and paperback editions. The paperbacks have the update with new data, typographical errors, factual corrections, and miscellanea. That update actually makes the paperback the better and more useful reference.

A companion volume to the Encyclopedia of Fantasy, and equally indispensable.

Despite now being a bit "dated", The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction by Clute and Nicholls, published in hardback in 1993 (which the library has) and reprinted with updates and an addendum in paperback in 1995 (which the library does NOT have), is an absolutely essential part of any science fiction fan's reference collection. This exhaustively researched volume contains biographies and bibliographies for every known author of science fiction literature through the early 1990s. Each author's entry features a biographical blurb, followed by a critical look at that author's most important or noteworthy stories or novels. If the author wrote books set in a series, there is a specific examination of that series. If the author's work are prominent within a SF subgenre, there are suggestions for additional topics to look under in the encyclopedia. But wait, there's more! You will also find detailed examinations of SF categories (cyberpunk, robots, artificial intelligence, big dumb objects), looks at famed science fiction artists, and entries on hundreds of classic and contemporary science fiction movies and television series. The 1993/95 edition is the 2nd Edition (the first was in 1979), and the editors have stated that all future editions of this Encyclopedia are intended to be on the Internet, once they are finalized. This volume is in the Reference Collection on the second floor at the Bennett Martin Public library downtown. [If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the companion volume from the same editors, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. Clute has also edited Science Fiction: The Illustrated Encyclopedia, a handsomely-illustrated but noticeably less-exhaustive book, available in our circulating collection.]

Originally reviewed for my local libraries' website: http://www.lincolnlibraries.org/depts/bookguide/srec/staffrec11-02.htm

What can you say about this tome? Its legendary! Mine was a christmas gift some years ago, boy was I happy that day!

A great resource, of course it must be interesting having to write an entry about yourself. Orbit, in theory will be publishing an updated online version, which should have 50% more material at launch. Clute is still working on this according to his website.

Outstanding collection of essays adapted from a series of lectures by a range of (mostly sci-fi) writers and thinkers, including Ursula K. Le Guin, John Brunner, Alvin Toffler and Philip K. Dick. Insightfully edited by Peter Nicholls, this book is likely to appeal to anyone interested in the possibilities of SF and speculative fiction.

Excellent - if dated. Give good, if slightly academic, bios and reviews of major (and less major) writers. Shame there is not a new edition.

Essential if SF interests you. The less subtle critical judgements in the first edition were more fun, but this is a major update.

many b&w illustrations

Have read substantial portions, if perhaps not all