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IF YOU LIKE THIS page of ULTIMATE SCIENCE FICTION WEB GUIDE1 of 148
IF YOU LIKE THIS
Return to Ultimate SF Table of Contents
IF YOU LIKE THIS, THEN YOU'LL LIKE THAT
Copyright 1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2003,2004 by Magic Dragon Multimedia.All rights reserved Worldwide. May not be reproduced without permission.May be posted electronically provided that it is transmitted unaltered, in itsentirety, and without charge.Just over 455 Kilobytes of text: may load VERY slowlyMost recently updated: 7 February 2004Ever loved a book or story, and been unable to find another quite like it?Maybe we at Magic Dragon Multimedia can help to steer you in the right direction...
START HERE IF YOU KNOW WHAT SUBGENRE CATEGORY YOU LIKE
ALIENS ON EARTH:they came from outer spaceALTERNATE WORLDS:history might have happened differentlyANTIGRAVITY:what goes up may not come downBAMBI'S CHILDREN:animals who speak, think, or act humanBEAM ME UP:matter transmission, techno-teleportationBEYOND THE FIELDS WE KNOW:magical world unconnected to oursCITIES OF THE FUTURE:bigger, better, and more astonishing urban visionsCLONES:stories of genetic engineering, especially of peopleCYBER PUNK:239 gritty near-future tales of hackers and cyberspaceDEFINITIONS:what is science fiction?DEFINITIONS:what is fantasy?DYSTOPIA:really, really bad futures (opposite of "Utopia")ECOLOGY:books, stories, and films about Ecology and BiologyEXTRA-SENSORY PERCEPTION:telepathy, psi, other paths to the mindFASTER THAN LIGHT:impossibly fast travel, beyond the Einstein barrierFEMINIST:science fiction and fantasy of, by, or for womenHARD SCIENCE FICTION:based on real science & engineeringHEROIC FANTASY:also known as "Swords & Sorcery"HORROR:that old black magic, the really scary stuffIMMORTALITY:Those who live forever, or try toINVISIBILITY:Mostly about people who can't be seenLOST LANDS/LOST RACE:neoprimitive place/people discoveredMATHEMATICS:Fantasy and Science Fiction about Mathematics
 NEW!
[5 Feb 04]MYTHOLOGY:Mythology and Science Fiction or Fantasy about ReligionPOLITICS:science fiction about social and political concernsSEX:science fiction authors who also write eroticaSPACE OPERA:battles between planets and starsSPACE TRAVEL:rockets to asteroids, moons, planets, starsSUPERMEN:extra powers make characters more than humanTHEOLOGY:Science Fiction or Fantasy about Religion [NEW: 12 Aug 98]THERE AND BACK AGAIN:leave our world for a more magical oneTIME TRAVEL:time machines, travel to the past or the future:
 NEW LINKS!
TV and MOVIE:books spun-off from television series or sc-fi filmsUNDER THE SEA:submarines, undersea cities, underwater livingUNICORNS IN THE GARDEN:magic events within our mundane worldUTOPIA:Fictional and Nonfictional glimpses of an ideal future
 
IF YOU LIKE THIS page of ULTIMATE SCIENCE FICTION WEB GUIDE2 of 148
WORLD COMES TO AN END:no more civilization, or people, or worse...YOU CAN TELL A BOOK BY ITS COVER:science fiction, fantasy, horrorSEND YOUR INFORMATION/URL/LINK to THE ULTIMATE SCIENCE FICTION WEB GUIDE.We will review your information and add it to this list if appropriate.
START HERE IF YOU ONLY REMEMBER WHAT THE BOOK COVER LOOKED LIKE
David Hartwell supplied the quotations here, Your Humble Webmaster did the rest..."Futuristic Mechanical Devices?" TryHARD SCIENCE FICTION, but it might be a trick toget you to read any kind of science fiction.1."Humans Against a Futuristic Setting, With or Without Machines?" TrySPACE OPERA,but it might be some related Adventure science fiction.2."Humans Carrying Swords or Other Anachronistic Weapons?" TryTHERE AND BACK AGAINorUNICORNS IN THE GARDEN, but it might be any kind of"fantasy or fantastic adventure against a cardboard or cliched SF background."3."Hypermuscled Males Carrying Big Swords and Adorned with HyperzaftigFemales, Both Scant-Clad Against a Threatening Monstrous background?"Almost certainlyHEROIC FANTASY, also known as "Swords & Sorcery".4.Skulls, Discolored Flesh, Sharp Teeth? TryHORROR:that old black magic, the really scary stuff.5. Flying Saucers, Ray Guns, Tentacles, or Bug Eyed Monsters? TryALIENS ON EARTH:.6. Historical Figures in Strange Combinations, Such as Elvis With Hitler,or Civil War Soldiers Carrying Machine Guns? TryALTERNATE WORLDS.7.Cute Furry Animals, No Humans? TryBAMBI'S CHILDREN.8. Exotic Flowery Landscape, Perhaps with Castles? TryBEYOND THE FIELDS WE KNOW.9. Futuristic Buildings, Weirdly Dressed People Looking Scared or Furtive?TryCYBER PUNK,DYSTOPIA, orCITIES OF THE FUTURE. 10.Several Identical People, or Emphasis on Glowing Eyes?TryCLONESorEXTRA-SENSORY PERCEPTION. 11.
Definitions of "Science Fiction"
And what do we even mean by "science fiction" anyway? In one sense, thefirst article to define the field was published over 150 years ago, beforethe field was widely ackonwledged to exist: 
 New Species of Literature
 "We learn that Mr. R. A. Locke, the ingenious author of the late'Moon Story' or 'Astronomical Hoax,' is putting on the stocks theframe of a new novel on a subject similar to that of his recent able
 
IF YOU LIKE THIS page of ULTIMATE SCIENCE FICTION WEB GUIDE3 of 148
invention in astronomy.... His style is nearly as original as hisconception. It is ornamented and highly imaginative. He may be saidto be the inventor of an entirely new species of literature, which wemay call the 'scientific novel'.... We have had crowds of 'fashionablenovels'; but fictitious history, founded on the discoveries andscientific hypotheses of the day has seldom been attempted untilMr.Locke did so. In fact, Mr.Locke has opened a new vein, asoriginal, as curious, as beautiful, as any of the greatest geniuseswho ever wrote. He looks forward into futurity, and adapts hischaracters to the light of science." [New York Herald, 5 September 1835]Two websites of definitions are:Definitions of "Science Fiction"@panix.comDefinitions of "Science Fiction"@webco.comSome particularly good definitions are:"By 'scientifiction' I mean the Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and Edgar Allan Poetype of story -- a charming romance intermingled with scientificfact and prophetic vision."-- Hugo Gernsback, in "Amazing Stories" (April 1926)1."Science Fiction is a branch of fantasy identifiable by the fact thatit eases the 'willing suspension of disbelief' on the part of its readersby utilizing an atmosphere of scientific credibility for its imaginativespeculations in physical science, space, time, social science, andphilosophy."--Sam Moskowitz, in "Explorers of the Infinite" (1963)2."We might try to define science fiction in this broader sense asfiction based upon scientific or pseudo-scientific assumptions(space-travel, robots, telepathy, earthly immortality, and so forth) orlaid in any patently unreal though non-supernatural setting (the future,or another world, and so forth)."--L. Sprague de Camp, in "Science Fiction Handbook" (1953)3."A science fiction story is a story built around human beings, with ahuman problem, and a human solution, which would not have happened at allwithout its speculative scientific content."--Theodore Sturgeon, as amended by Damon Knight, in "A Century ofScience Fiction" (1962)4."Science fiction is that branch of literature which is concerned withthe impact of scientific advance upon human beings."--Isaac Asimov, in "Modern Science Fiction", edited byReginald Bretnor (1953)5."Science fiction is that branch of literature wthat deals with humanresponses to changes in the level of science and technology."--Isaac Asimov, in "Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine" (Mar-Apr 1978)6."Science fiction is that class of prose narrative wtreating of asituation that could not arise in the world we know, but which ishypothesized on the basis of some innovation in science or technology, orpseudo-science or pseudo-technology, whether human or extraterrestrial inorigin."-- Kingsley Amis, in "New Maps of Hell" (1961)7."Science fiction is the search for a definition of man and his statusin the universe which will stand in our advanced but confused state ofknowledge (science), and is cast in the Gothic or post-Gothic mould."-- Brian W. Aldiss, in "Billion Year Spree" (1973)8."A literary genre developed principally in the 20th Century, dealingwith scientific discovery or development that, whether set in the future,or the fictitious present, or in the putative past, is superior to orsimply other than that known to exist."-- Fred Saberhagen, in "Encyclopedia Britannica" 15th edition (1979)9."The branch of fiction that deals with the possible effects of analtered technology or social system on mankind in an imagined future, analtered present, or an alternative past."-- Barry M. Malzberg, in "Collier's Encyclopedia" (1981)10.
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