By Les Phipps – Business Development Manager

This has been a much maligned category in writing over the years but is now finally getting the recognition it deserves. There was a period from the eighties onward where the critics derided it and dismissed it. This was something that always puzzled me and I can only put this down to the snobbery that exists in publishing and within the reviewing community as a whole.

In simplistic terms, Science Fiction is the same as any story, with the difference that it is set in the future (unless we’re talking time travel!) Be it a love story, crime novel, social commentary or dystopian, it’s the same as any novel with a contemporary setting, it’s just set in a different time period so it deserves to judged in the same way. If it’s poor quality writing, it’s just a bad book whatever the time period and setting.

I look forward to the day when I see a pure Science Fiction novel winning the Booker prize for fiction, though I fear I may have to wait until I am awakened from my cryogenic sleep many years in the future before that happens!

“We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty!”
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

There are many writers who have stood the test of time and can rightly be recognised as classic authors, H.G.Wells, Asimov, Arthur C Clarke, Philip K Dick, Robert Heinlein, Douglas Adams and it can be argued that one of the founding authors of Sci Fi was Mary Shelley.

It is also a genre that has given us some of the biggest movies in recent times; The War of the Worlds, Alien, Star Wars, Star Trek, and a film which features in many peoples top ten films of all time – Blade Runner. It seems that film critics don’t have the same hang-ups that the book ones do. It would also seem that the general public also have a great affection for Sci Fi, why else would Dr. Who be one of the longest running and most popular shows still on TV?

One of the other attractions of Sci Fi is the artwork that goes with the books, this is one area which is also overlooked, the range and quality is quite breathtaking and where the designers can for once give reign to their creative juices. In particular the work done in the 50’s and 60’s on artwork is still my favourite period and much of this is collectible, if you don’t like the writing then then you can at least create a stunning visual display.

So next time you hear someone being dismissive of Science Fiction writing, please send them in my direction and I will send them to a galaxy far away in my space ship.

Browse our full Science Fiction collection here at World of Rare Books.