The impetus behind this collection of original essays is the tension between the aesthetic emphasis on stylistics in science fiction and fantasy writing and the critical limitations imposed by prevailing literary theory. From a variety of perspectives, the contributors show how a new, or expanded, set of methods and models can enrich critical exchange within the genre and between it and other types of fiction.

The focus of the book is not entirely on critical restraints but also on the genre's robustly subversive, creative drive--its unwillingness or inability to pause for critical...