Mike Ashley's acclaimed history of science-fiction magazines comes to the 1980s with Science Fiction Rebels: The Story of the Science-Fiction Magazines from 1981 to 1990. This volume charts a significant revolution throughout science fiction, much of which was driven by the alternative press, and by new editors at the leading magazines. The period saw the emergence of the cyberpunk movement, and the drive for what David Hartwell called 'The Hard SF Renaissance', which was driven from within Britain. Ashley plots the rise of many new authors in both strands: William Gibson, John Shirley, Bruce Sterling, John Kessel, Pat Cadigan and Rudy Rucker in cyberpunk, and Stephen Baxter, Alistair Reynolds, Peter Hamilton, Neal Asher and Robert Reed in hard sf. He also shows how the alternative magazines looked to support each other through alliances, which allowed them to share and develop ideas as science fiction evolved.
Mike Ashley has specialised in the history of science fiction and fantasy for over fifty years. He is the author and editor of over 130 books that in total have sold more than a million copies worldwide. He received the Science Fiction Research Association's Pilgrim Award in 2002 for Lifetime Achievement in the field of science-fiction scholarship.
List of TablesPrefaceNote on TerminologyAcknowledgementsChronologyChapter 1: Before the Revolution: Bastion of ExcellenceChapter 2: The First Revolution: Cyberpunk DaysThe McCarthy YearsThe Impact of OmniCyberpunk DazeThe Analog DimensionDozois in ChargeAmazing RebirthChapter 3: The First Interlude: The Dark CornersTwilight ZoneHorror StruckChapter 4: The Second Revolution: The British Hard-SF RenaissanceOut of the WildernessInterzoneBeyond InterzoneChapter 5: The Second Interlude: Other WorldsÉireCanadaAustraliaFar CornersChapter 6: The Third Rebellion: The SF UndergroundSF RenegadesDangerous PulphouseChapter 7: Postlude: Back to BasicsStuck on the Launch PadShared WorldsSmall-Press EndeavoursMagazine with a MissionA Qualified SuccessA Problem Shared … Chapter 8: EpilogueAppendix 1: Non-English-Language Science-Fiction MagazinesAppendix 2: Checklist of English-Language Science-Fiction MagazinesAppendix 3: Directory of Magazine Editors and PublishersAppendix 4: Directory of Magazine Cover ArtistsAppendix 5: Schedule of Magazine Circulation FiguresSelect BibliographyAddenda and CorrigendaIndex
'The information Mike Ashley has put together is really astonishing: researchers of the field, and anyone who’s interested in popular fiction of the period are going to find this book an immense help.'Andy Sawyer