{"product_id":"frontiers-past-and-future-science-fiction-and-the-american-west-hardcover","title":"Frontiers Past and Future: Science Fiction and the American West - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eCarl Abbott\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWill the settlement of Mars prove much different from the settlement of the West? Look to science fiction master Kim Stanley Robinson for fascinating ideas; then turn to historian Carl Abbott for further insights. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eOver the last half-century, science fiction has witnessed increasing complexity in its treatments of future homesteading, community building, mining, and other themes familiar to western historians. Considering these common threads, this is the first book to explore the ways that science fiction writers have drawn directly on narratives of the American West to frame their visions of the future. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAbbott offers a fruitful new way to read science fiction, one that also greatly enriches our understanding of western history and its impact on our collective imagination. Detailing the overlap of science fiction and western fiction--especially relating to their mutual interest in and concerns about frontier expansionism--he reveals an unsuspected common ground that informs the writings of both camps. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eReviewing the work of many Hugo and Nebula Award winners, as well as drawing upon popular film and television series (like the Buck Rogers serials), Abbott's study journeys across the far reaches of science fiction's universe. His cast of notables ranges from venerable masters like Robert Heinlein and Fritz Lieber to new-wave feminist Ursula Le Guin and cyberpunk pioneer William Gibson; their settings are as diverse as the near-future West of Octavia Butler and the entrancing extraterrestrial visions of Pamela Sargent, Jonathan Lethem, and C. J. Cherryh. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBoth enlightening and energizing, Abbott's study deftly shows us how the ways we remember the past greatly influence our ability to imagine multiple futures-in distant universes that appear very strange and yet utterly familiar. \u003ci\u003eFrontiers Past and Future\u003c\/i\u003e boldly goes where no historian has gone before and rewards us with new insights into our probable pasts and possible futures.\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 240\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.83 x 9.26 x 6.34 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 09, 2006\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47379756875954,"sku":"9780700614301","price":98.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/3891\/1666\/files\/a7250047e0aca41c0351333d238aa677.webp?v=1777770395","url":"https:\/\/box.dadyminds.org\/products\/frontiers-past-and-future-science-fiction-and-the-american-west-hardcover","provider":"DADYMINDS BOX","version":"1.0","type":"link"}