Alternate Worlds ― The Illustrated History of Science Fiction

Alternate Worlds was first published in 1975 and became an instant classic, winning a Hugo award the next year. This edition brings the history of science fiction up to date with a chapter covering developments over the past forty years—a period that has seen the advent of technologies only imagined in the genre’s Golden Age. As a literature of change, science fiction has become increasingly meaningful, presaging dangers to humanity and, as Alvin Toffler wrote, guarding against “the premature arrival of the future.” The world has begun to recognize science fiction in myriad ways, incorporating its visions in products, visual media and huge conventions. James Gunn describes its arc from early myth and fancy to today’s complex literature, as the world itself was changed by exploration, science and technology.

James Gunn, an emeritus professor of English at the University of Kansas, is the author or editor of 45 books and more than 100 short stories, has been president of both the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and the Science Fiction Research Association and has received their lifetime awards, including the Grand Master Award of SFWA and induction into the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. He lives in Lawrence, Kansas.