Table of Contents

Introduction Section 1: What is Science Fiction?

1. Genre Theory and Science Fiction

2. Reading Science Fiction

3. Science Fiction and Technology

Section 2: Genre History

4. Pre-History, 1895-1950

5. Defining the Genre, 1950-70

6. Science Fiction as Blockbuster, 1970-90

7. Science Fiction as Mainstream, 1990-2010

Section 3: Selling Science Fiction

8. ‘Adventure Dramas of the Future': Advertising Genre

9. Genre and Spectacle: The Science Fiction Trailer

10. Audience and Genre: Science Fiction and the Internet

Promotional Information

A student overview of one of the most popular film genres.

About the Author

Keith M. Johnston is Lecturer in Film and Television Studies at the University of East Anglia and author of Coming Soon: Film Trailers and the Selling of Hollywood Technology.

Reviews

Johnston brings a fresh eye to science fiction criticism in this book, drawing attention to some of the exciting and influential films that resonate within the genre and discussing often forgotten elements such as trailers, posters and adverts.
*Lincoln Geraghty, University of Portsmouth, UK*

Johnston's book should take its place as the most sophisticated and original introduction to the genre.
*Kevin Heffernan, Southern Methodist University, USA*

Compiling an introductory work that briefly comprehensively covers a particular film genre - particularly one as richly diverse and complex as science fiction -is no easy tasks. Yet Keith Johnston has been remarkably successful in this endeavour, surveying and unpacking in detail a wide range of issues and films pertinent to the science fiction film scholar, student and general reader.
*Media International Australia*