 First edition cover | |
| Author | Damon Knight |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | J. L. Patterson |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction Literary criticism |
| Publisher | Advent |
Publication date | 1956 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 180 |
| ISBN | 978-0-911682-31-1 |
In Search of Wonder: Essays on Modern Science Fiction is a collection of critical essays by American writer Damon Knight. Most of the material in the original version of the book was originally published between 1952 and 1955 in various science fiction magazines including Infinity Science Fiction, Original SF Stories, and Future SF. The essays were highly influential, and contributed to Knight's stature as the foremost critic of science fiction of his generation.[1] The book also constitutes an informal record of the "Boom Years" of science fiction from 1950 to 1955.
In the opening chapter, Knight states his "credos", two of which are:
That science fiction is a field of literature worth taking seriously, and that ordinary critical standards can be meaningfully applied to it: e.g., originality, sincerity, style, construction, logic, coherence, sanity, garden-variety grammar. That a bad book hurts science fiction more than ten bad notices.
One essay in the book is "Cosmic Jerrybuilder: A. E. van Vogt", a review of the 1945 magazine serialization of A. E. van Vogt's The World of Null-A, in which Knight "exposed the profound irrationality lying at the heart of much traditional science fiction".[2]
In 1956 Knight was awarded a Hugo as "Best Book Reviewer" based largely on the essays reprinted in this book.
- ^ Gunn, James, ed. (2003). The Road to Science Fiction, Volume 4: From Here to Forever. Scarecrow Press.
- ^ Clute, John (April 17, 2002), "Damon Knight: Intellectual gadfly of science fiction", The Independent[dead link]