author : Edward James

Books

• The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction. 2003, with Farah Mendlesohn
• The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature. 2012, with Farah Mendlesohn

Books : reviews

Edward James, Farah Mendlesohn.
The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction.
CUP. 2003

Science fiction 1s at the intersection of numerous fields. It is a literature which draws on popular culture, and which engages in speculation about science, history, and all types of social relations. This volume brings together essays by scholars and practitioners of science fiction, which look at the genre from these different angles. It examines science fiction from Thomas More to the present day, and introduces important critical approaches including Marxism, postmodernism, feminism and queer theory. A number of well-known science-fiction writers contribute to this volume.

Edward James, Farah Mendlesohn.
The Cambridge Companion to Fantasy Literature.
CUP. 2012

Fantasy is a crestion of the Enlightenment, and the recognition that excitement and wonder can be found in imagining impossible things. From the ghost stories of the Gothic to the zombies and vampires of twenty-first-century popular literature, from Mrs Radcliffe to Ms Rowling, the fantastic has been popular with readers. Since Tolkien and his many imitators, however, it has become a major publishing phenomenon. In this volume, critics and authors of fantasy look at its history since the Enlightenment, introduce readers to some of the different codes for the reading and understanding of fantasy, and examine some of the many varieties and subgenres of fantasy; from magical realism at the more literary end of the genre, to paranormal romance at the more popular end. The book is edited by the same pair who produced The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction (winner of a Hugo Award in 2005).