Religion in Science Fiction: The Evolution of an Idea and the Extinction of a Genre

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This book teaches you not only about the important role writers of science fiction play in leading us to novel insights into religion, but also about the relationship between scientific and religious approaches to the world-and especially the usefulness of cognitive science in explaining the life of the imagination. -- E. Thomas Lawson, Editor, Journal of Cognition and Culture A delightful read that fills a much needed gap in the study of religion's occasionally ambiguous relationship with science fiction. Hrotic takes us on a lovely ride through a wide variety of imagined futures. Highly recommended. -- Douglas E. Cowan, Professor of Religious Studies and Social Development Studies, Renison University College at University of Waterloo, Canada I started reading Religion in Science Fiction with the intention to review it – and ended up just devouring the book. Hrotic's study is a learned, intelligent, often original, and highly readable contribution to research; in short: unputdownable. -- Susanne Bach, Department for English and American Studies, University Kassel, Germany Religion is a major preoccupation of science fiction, though this has not always been acknowledged. Steve Hrotic has constructed a persuasive narrative about the different ways in which genre SF writers have approached religion, considered primarily as a special type of social system. -- Rowland Wymer, Professor of English, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK Cover Half-title Title Copyright Dedication Contents Introduction Part One 1 The Rules Defining religion A cognitive anthropology of narratives Defining genre science fiction 2 The Raw Materials of Science Fiction Poe: Another mother? Science fiction on a desert island U- and dys-topias Conclusion 3 Uncertain Paternity The fatherhood of Mary Shelley H. G. Wells’ social speculations Olaf Stapledon: The last Victorian Conclusion Part Two 4 Gernsback and the Pulps Walter Kateley, “The Fourteenth Earth” (1928) Fred Barclay, “The Troglodytes” (1930) Arthur Jones, “The Inquisition of 6061” (1933) Conclusion 5 Campbell’s “Social Science Fiction” Isaac Asimov, “Trends” (1939) Robert Heinlein, “If This Goes On—” (1940) L. Sprague de Camp, “Ultrasonic God” (1954) Lester del Rey, “Into Thy Hands” (1945) Conclusion 6 The Rise of the Novel Arthur C. Clarke, Childhood’s End (1953) Walter Miller, A Canticle for Leibowitz (1959) Leigh Brackett, The Long Tomorrow (1955) George Stewart, Earth Abides (1949) James Blish, A Case of Conscience (1958) Conclusion 7 Poli-Sci-Fi Fritz Leiber, “When the Change-Winds Blow” (1964) Roger Zelazny, “A Rose for Ecclesiastes” (1963) Robert Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) Frank Herbert, Dune (1965) Conclusion End of Part Two: Mid-point of the metanarrative Part Three 8 The Need to Believe Ray Bradbury, “The Messiah” (1973) Lawrence Manning, The Man Who Awoke (1975) Michael Moorcock, “Behold the Man” (1966) Jack L. Chalker, Midnight at the Well of Souls (1977) Conclusion 9 The Humanity of God (and Vice Versa) Piers Anthony, “Incarnations of Immortality” (1983–1990) James Morrow, Only Begotten Daughter (1990) Theodore Sturgeon, Godbody (1986) Orson Scott Card, Speaker for the Dead (1986), Folk of the Fringe (1989) William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, The Difference Engine (1990) Conclusion 10 Acceptence David Weber, Honor of the Queen (1993) Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower (1993) Mary Doria Russell, The Sparrow (1996) Conclusion End of Part Three: Conclusion of the metanarrative Part Four 11 The Extinction of SF (or, at least, gSF) Conclusion 12 Cultural Evolution The social use of narratives Memory Humor Whitehouse’s Modes Conclusion Notes References Index