The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction

by Arthur B. Evans, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Joan Gordon, Veronica Hollinger, Rob Latham

Overview

The best single-volume anthology of science fiction available—includes online teacher's guide

The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction features over a 150 years' worth of the best science fiction ever collected in a single volume. The fifty-two stories and critical introductions are organized chronologically as well as thematically for classroom use. Filled with luminous ideas, otherworldly adventures, and startling futuristic speculations, these stories will appeal to all readers as they chart the emergence and evolution of science fiction as a modern literary genre. They also provide a fascinating look at how our Western technoculture has imaginatively expressed its hopes and fears from the Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century to the digital age of today. A free online teacher's guide at http://sfanthology.site.wesleyan.edu/ accompanies the anthology and offers access to a host of pedagogical aids for using this book in an academic setting.

The stories in this anthology have been selected and introduced by the editors of Science Fiction Studies, the world's most respected journal for the critical study of science fiction.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780819569554
Publisher:	Wesleyan University Press
Publication date:	08/01/2010
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	792
Sales rank:	202,354
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

ARTHUR B. EVANS is a professor of French at DePauw University. He has published numerous books and articles on Jules Verne and is the general editor of Wesleyan University Press's Early Classics of Science Fiction book series. ISTVAN CSICSERY-RONAY JR. is a professor of English at DePauw University and the author of The Seven Beauties of Science Fiction (Wesleyan, 2008). JOAN GORDON is a professor of English at Nassau Community College and coeditor of several volumes of scholarly essays on science fiction. VERONICA HOLLINGER is a professor of cultural studies at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario and the coeditor of Queer Universes: Sexualities in Science Fiction (2008). ROB LATHAM is an associate professor of English at the University of California, Riverside, and author of Consuming Youth: Vampires, Cyborgs, and the Culture of Consumption (2002). CAROL MCGUIRK is a professor of English at Florida Atlantic University and is widely published in eighteenth-century studies and Romanticism.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Chronological Listing of Stories

"Rappaccini's Daughter" (1844) Nathaniel Hawthorne 1

from Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) Jules Verne 26

"The Star" (1897) H. G. Wells 39

"The Machine Stops" (1909) E. M. Forster 50

"The Man Who Evolved" (1931) Edmond Hamilton 79

"The Conquest of Gola" (1931) Leslie F. Stone 96

"Shambleau" (1933) C. L. Moore 110

"A Martian Odyssey" (1934) Stanley Weinbaum 136

"Reason" (1941) Isaac Asimov 160

"Desertion" (1944) Clifford D. Simak 177

"Thunder and Roses" (1947) Theodore Sturgeon 189

"That Only a Mother" (1948) Judith Merril 211

"Coming Attraction" (1950) Fritz Leiber 221

"There Will Come Soft Rains" (1950) Ray Bradbury 234

"The Sentinel" (1951) Arthur C. Clarke 241

"Specialist" (1953) Robert Sheckley 250

"The Liberation of Earth" (1953) William Tenn 266

"Fondly Fahrenheit" (1954) Alfred Bester 283

"The Golem" (1955) Avram Davidson 303

"The Game of Rat and Dragon" (1955) Cordwainer Smith 309

"'All You Zombies-'" (1959) Robert A. Heinlein 324

"The Cage of Sand" (1962) J. G. Ballard 337

"Slow Tuesday Night" (1965) R. A. Lafferty 359

"'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" (1965) Harlan Ellison 367

"Day Million" (1966) Frederik Pohl 379

"We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" (1966) Philip K. Dick 385

"Aye, and Gomorrah …" (1967) Samuel R. Delany 405

"The Heat Death of the Universe" (1967) Pamela Zoline 415

"Passengers" (1968) Robert Silverberg 430

"Super-Toys Last All Summer Long" (1969) Brian Aldiss 443

"Nine Lives" (1969) Ursula K. Le Guin 452

"Seed Stock" (1970) Frank Herbert 477

"The Seventh Voyage," from The Star Diaries (1971) Stanislaw Lem 490

"When It Changed" (1972) Joanna Russ 507

"And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side" (1972) James Tiptree Jr. 516

"Air Raid" (1977) John Varley 525

"Abominable" (1980) Carol Emshwiller 539

"Burning Chrome" (1982) William Gibson 547

"Speech Sounds" (1983) Octavia E. Butler 566

"Out of All Them Bright Stars" (1985) Nancy Kress 580

"Pretty Boy Crossover" (1986) Pat Cadigan 587

"Forever Yours, Anna" (1987) Kate Wilhelm 598

"We See Things Differently" (1989) Bruce Sterling 611

"Chippoke Na Gomi" (1989) Misha Nogha 630

"Computer Friendly" (1989) Eileen Gunn 637

"Invaders" (1990) John Kessel 654

"Useful Phrases" (1992) Gene Wolfe 675

"Closer" (1992) Greg Egan 683

"Think Like a Dinosaur" (1995) James Patrick Kelly 698

"Everywhere" (1999) Geoff Ryman 717

"Rogue Farm" (2003) Charles Stross 727

"Exhalation" (2008) Ted Chiang 742

Thematic Listing of Stories

Alien Encounters

"Shambleau" (1933) C. L. Moore 110

"A Martian Odyssey" (1934) Stanley Weinbaum 136

"The Sentinel" (1951) Arthur C. Clarke 241

"Specialist" (1953) Robert Sheckley 250

"Passengers" (1968) Robert Silverberg 430

"Out of All Them Bright Stars" (1985) Nancy Kress 580

"Useful Phrases" (1992) Gene Wolfe 675

"Think Like a Dinosaur" (1995) James Patrick Kelly 698

Apocalypse and Post-apocalypse

"The Star" (1897) H. G. Wells 39

"Coming Attraction" (1950) Fritz Leiber 221

"There Will Come Soft Rains" (1950) Ray Bradbury 234

"The Cage of Sand" (1962) J. G. Ballard 337

"Speech Sounds" (1983) Octavia E. Butler 566

"Chippoke Na Gomi" (1989) Misha Nogha 630

Artificial/Posthuman Life-forms

"Rappaccini's Daughter" (1844) Nathaniel Hawthorne 1

"Reason" (1941) Isaac Asimov 160

"Fondly Fahrenheit" (1954) Alfred Bester 283

"The Golem" (1955) Avram Davidson 303

"Super-Toys Last All Summer Long" (1969) Brian Aldiss 443

"Nine Lives" (1969) Ursula K. Le Guin 452

"Exhalation" (2008) Ted Chiang 742

Computers and Virtual Reality

"We Can Remember It for You Wholesale" (1966) Philip K. Dick 385

"Burning Chrome" (1982) William Gibson 547

"Pretty Boy Crossover" (1986) Pat Cadigan 587

"Computer Friendly" (1989) Eileen Gunn 637

Evolution and Environment

from Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) Jules Verne 26

"The Man Who Evolved" (1931) Edmond Hamilton 79

"Desertion" (1944) Clifford D. Simak 177

"Seed Stock" (1970) Frank Herbert 477

"Rogue Farm" (2003) Charles Stross 727

Gender and Sexuality

"The Conquest of Gola" (1931) Leslie F. Stone 96

"Day Million" (1966) Frederik Pohl 379

"Aye, and Gomorrah …" (1967) Samuel R. Delany 405

"The Heat Death of the Universe" (1967) Pamela Zoline 415

"When It Changed" (1972) Joanna Russ 507

"And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side" (1972) James Tiptree Jr. 516

"Abominable" (1980) Carol Emshwiller 539

"Closer" (1992) Greg Egan 683

Time Travel and Alternate History

"'All You Zombies-'"(1959) Robert A. Heinlein 324

"The Seventh Voyage" from Star Diaries (1971) Stanislaw Lem 490

"Air Raid" (1977) John Varley 525

"Forever Yours, Anna" (1987) Kate Wilhelm 598

"Invaders" (1990) John Kessel 654

Utopias/Dystopias

"The Machine Stops" (1909) E. M. Forster 50

"Slow Tuesday Night" (1965) R. A. Lafferty 359

"'Repent, Harlequin!' Said the Ticktockman" (1965) Harlan Ellison 367

"Everywhere" (1999) Geoff Ryman 717

War and Conflict

"Thunder and Roses" (1947) Theodore Sturgeon 189

"That Only a Mother" (1948) Judith Merril 211

"The Liberation of Earth" (1953) William Tenn 266

"The Game of Rat and Dragon" (1955) Cordwainer Smith 309

"We See Things Differently" (1989) Bruce Sterling 611

Acknowledgments 757

Further Reading 761

What People are Saying About This

Kim Stanley Robinson

"This is an excellent collection of one of world literature's greatest treasure troves: the science fiction short story in English. The stories form a kind of history of the genre, and are a continuous reading pleasure."
— Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the Mars Trilogy and The Years of Rice and Salt

John Clute

“The key word here is megatext. The Wesleyan Anthology presents the best sample from today's sf megatext—the ‘fictive universe that includes all the sf stories that have ever been told,’ as the Wesleyan's editors neatly put it—that I could imagine fitting between two covers. Every story feels necessary to the whole. And the whole is a lure for readers, for teachers who want to inspire their classes, for all of us who care about understanding the turbulent world about us.”

From the Publisher

"This is an excellent collection of one of world literature's greatest treasure troves: the science fiction short story in English. The stories form a kind of history of the genre, and are a continuous reading pleasure."—Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the Mars Trilogy and The Years of Rice and Salt

"The key word here is megatext. The Wesleyan Anthology presents the best sample from today's sf megatext—the 'fictive universe that includes all the sf stories that have ever been told,' as the Wesleyan's editors neatly put it—that I could imagine fitting between two covers. Every story feels necessary to the whole. And the whole is a lure for readers, for teachers who want to inspire their classes, for all of us who care about understanding the turbulent world about us.""—John Clute, editor of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

"This is an excellent collection of one of world literature's greatest treasure troves: the science fiction short story in English. The stories form a kind of history of the genre, and are a continuous reading pleasure."—Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the Mars Trilogy and The Years of Rice and Salt

Editorial Reviews

"[I]f the story is good people will flock to it. This seems to be the operative philosophy of The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction."—Alan Bisbort, Sunday Republican

"No institutional library should be without this truly phenomenal volume, and non-academic readers will greatly appreciate the bargain-basement price on the trade paperback edition."—Publishers Weekly

"It's an absolutely knockout collection that belongs on ever serious collector's shelf."—John O'Neill, Black Gate Magazine

"The stories in The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction reveal modern, written sf to be a mature, flexible, often sophisticated way to tell tales whose concerns are those of realistic literature but whose focus is on the impact of science and technology. The Wesleyan Anthology succeeds brilliantly."—Michael A. Morrison, World Literature Today

"[I]t comes closer to perfection than any single-volume collection of science fiction short stories I have seen. The six editors have selected the contents with care, highlighting the heterogeneous nature of the field in almost every respect, from gender and race to subject matter and stylistic approach."—Paul Witcover, Locus

"[W]hat has notably been missing is an anthology that bridges the gap between the classroom and the general reader, a book that is both an excellent teaching tool and a pretty good overview of the field for SF Readers who began their reading in the 1980s or later. The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction is very nearly that book, and is almost certainly the most useful SF teaching and historical anthology now available."—Gary K. Wolfe, Locus magazine

"This anthology offers an overview from the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Jules Verne to those of William Gibson - so thorough with its brief, informative analyses at the start of each story, reading this collection is like taking a course without the bother of tests."—Eve Ottenberg, Washington City Paper

"No institutional library should be without this truly phenomenal volume, and non-academic readers will greatly appreciate the bargain-basement price on the trade paperback edition."—Publishers Weekly

"This big book is both a thrilling and entertaining and a convincing argument for the way SF can refresh the mind, play boldly with form and reflect its era creatively – in other words, what all good literature should do."—Ed Park, Los Angeles Times

"This is an excellent collection of one of world literature's greatest treasure troves: the science fiction short story in English. The stories form a kind of history of the genre, and are a continuous reading pleasure."—Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the Mars Trilogy and The Years of Rice and Salt

"The key word here is megatext. The Wesleyan Anthology presents the best sample from today's sf megatext—the 'fictive universe that includes all the sf stories that have ever been told,' as the Wesleyan's editors neatly put it—that I could imagine fitting between two covers. Every story feels necessary to the whole. And the whole is a lure for readers, for teachers who want to inspire their classes, for all of us who care about understanding the turbulent world about us.""—John Clute, editor of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

"This is an excellent collection of one of world literature's greatest treasure troves: the science fiction short story in English. The stories form a kind of history of the genre, and are a continuous reading pleasure."—Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the Mars Trilogy and The Years of Rice and Salt

From the Publisher