SF in Dimension — Alexei Panshin

This collection of essays displays the talent and insight that make the Panshins the obvious and worthy successors to Damon Knight and James Blish in the field of science fiction and fantasy criticism. The Panshins document the evolution of a new and fruitful paradigm and offer a challenge to all conventional opinion about science fiction. They demonstrate that the conception of science fiction as fiction about science was fatally compromised from the outset. They trace the continuity of science fiction with man's most ancient and meaningful stories, the great fantasy of the past, and find this continuity in symbols of transcendent mystery.Nearly half of this book is devoted to studying the works of Robert Heinlein, extending and reconsidering the analysis begun in Heinlein in Dimension, and concluding with a long discussion of The Number of the Beast.The Panshin team applies theories of human psychological development to show the deeper meanings of the stories of Heinlein and other authors. They say: In the mirror of a science fiction story may be seen a reflection of the author. In the mirror of science fiction stories may be seen a reflection of an era. And in our reading of science fiction--he stories we choose and what we make of them--ay be seen a reflection of ourselves. We read science fiction to know ourselves better.ContentsPreface: SF in DimensionPart 1: The Nature of SFThe Magic of Their SingingThe Elizabethan Theatre in 1590The Short History of Science FictionSearching for the HeartlandThe World Beyond the HillPart 2: SF in the SeventiesFragmentationScience Fiction: New Trends and OldThe Special Nature of FantasyReflections and CommentariesHeinlein RereadReading Heinlein SubjectivelyTime Enough for LoveFound in Space, by R. Monroe WeemsPart 4: The Renewal of SFRetrospectionFiction and Human DevelopmentThe Unicorn and the MirrorFarwell to Yesterday's TomorrowIntuition and MysteryA New WorldviewPart 5: A Season of ChangeThe Past and the Future of SFThe End of the Ghetto?Dealing with Higher RealitiesThe Death of Science Fiction: A DreamReferences