Full Description
Science fiction has often been considered the literature of futuristic technology: fantastic warfare among the stars or ruinous apocalypses on Earth. The last century, however, saw, through John W. Campbell, the introduction of "psience fiction," which explores such themes of mental powers as telepathy, precognition of the future, teleportation, etc.--and symbolic machines that react to such forces.
The author surveys this long-ignored literary shift through a series of influential novels and short stories published between the 1930s and the present. This discussion is framed by the sudden surge of interest in parapsychology and its absorption not only into the SF genre, but also into the real world through military experiments such as the Star Gate Program.
Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
1. Donald Macpherson (George Humphrey), Go Home, Unicorn (1935)
2. Olaf Stapledon, Odd John (1935)
3. E.E. Smith, The History of Civilization (1937/1951)
4. A.E. van Vogt, Slan (1940/1946/1968)
5. James Blish, Jack of Eagles (1949/1952)
6. James H. Schmitz, The Witches of Karres (1949/1966)
7. Alfred Bester, The Demolished Man (1952)
8. Zenna Henderson, The People (1952)
9. J.T. McIntosh, The ESP Worlds (1952)
10. Theodore Sturgeon, More Than Human (1953)
11. Mark Clifton and Frank Riley, They'd Rather Be Right (1953-1956)
12. Mark Clifton, "What Thin Partitions" to "Remembrance and Reflection" (1953-1958)
13. Wilson Tucker, Wild Talent (1954)
14. James H. Schmitz, The Ties of Earth (1955)
15. John Wyndham, The Chrysalids/Re-Birth (1955)
16. Robert A. Heinlein, Time for the Stars (1956)
17. Frank M. Robinson, The Power (1956) and Waiting (1999)
18. George O. Smith, Highways in Hiding (1956)
19. Alfred Bester, The Stars My Destination (1956-57)
20. Lan Wright, A Man Called Destiny (1958)
21. Marion Zimmer Bradley, Darkover Series (1958-)
22. Jack Vance, "Parapsyche," "The Miracle Workers" and "Telek" (1958)
23. Short Stories (1940s-1950s)
Katherine MacLean, "Defense Mechanism" (1949)
C.M. Kornbluth, "The Mindworm" (1950)
Walter M. Miller, Jr., "Command Performance" (1952)
Isaac Asimov, "Belief" (1953)
Algis Budrys, "Riya's Foundling" (1953)
Cordwainer Smith, "The Game of Rat and Dragon" (1955)
Brian W. Aldiss, "Psyclops" (1956)
J.T. McIntosh, "Empath" (1956)
Poul Anderson, "Journeys End" (1957)
24. Mark Phillips (Randall Garrett and Laurence M. Janifer), Brain Twister, Impossibles and Supermind (1959-1961)
25. Arthur Sellings, Telepath (1962)
26. Keith Woodcott, a.k.a. John Brunner, Crack of Doom/The Psionic Menace (1962-1963)
27. John Brunner, Telepathist/The Whole Man (1964)
28. Dan Morgan, The Sixth Perception Series (1967-75)
29. Richard Cowper, Breakthrough (1967)
30. Anne McCaffrey, Talents Universe (1968-)
31. Philip K. Dick, Ubik (1969)
32. Colin Wilson, The Philosopher's Stone (1969)
33. Joanna Russ, And Chaos Died (1970)
34. Lester del Rey, Pstalemate (1971)
35. Robert Silverberg, Dying Inside (1972)
36. Katherine MacLean, Missing Man (1975)
37. Robert Silverberg, The Stochastic Man (1975)
38. Octavia Butler, Mind of My Mind (1976)
39. Joan D. Vinge, Psion (1982)
40. Lucius Shepard, Life During Wartime (1987)
41. Carrie Vaughn, After the Golden Age (2011) and Dreams of the Golden Age (2013)
42. Connie Willis, Crosstalk (2016)
43. Two Novels by Psychics (1978, 1998)
44. Short Stories (1960s-1990s)
Poul Anderson, "Night Piece" (1961)
Robert Silverberg, "Something Wild Is Loose" (1971)
C.J. Cherryh, "Cassandra" (1978)
Brian M. Stableford, "The Oedipus Effect" (1991)
Conclusion
Appendix 1: A Brief Guide to Paranormal Research
Appendix 2: Psi and Afterlife in Psience Fiction
Chapter Notes
References
Index
