Sound of Things to Come

Trace Reddell is associate professor of emergent digital practices at the University of Denver.

• Introduction: New Sounds in Science Fiction1. The Origins of Sonic Science Fiction (1924–50)2. Ambient Novum, Alien Novum (1950–68)3. Cosmos Philosophy and Thought Synthesizers (1959–1968)4. Sonic Alienation and the Psytech at War (1971–77)5. Sonorous Object-Oriented Ontologies (1979–89)Conclusion: Sonic Science Fiction into the Twenty-First CenturyAcknowledgmentsNotesBibliographyIndex

"The Sound of Things to Come is a lively, endlessly inventive exploration of the sonic worlds of science fiction cinema (beginning even before the advent of synchronized sound). The breadth and subtlety of Trace Reddell’s interdisciplinary scholarship is impressive, and his book is an ongoing homage to the valuable conceptual and cognitive challenges upon which effective science fiction depends."-Scott Bukatman, Stanford University"Building on the highly original concept of the sonic novum, Trace Reddell has written the first comprehensive theoretical approach to musical science fiction. The Sound of Things to Come is an alternative history of science fiction cinema, a handbook of sophisticated close analyses of many important films, and a re-envisioning of the role of sound technology in modernist aesthetics."-Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, author of The Seven Beauties of Science Fiction Studies"Trace Reddell’s The Sound of Things To Come provides a highly detailed and expansive analysis of the history of intersecting aesthetic practices and disciplines that create the diverse sonic space of sf cinema."-Science Fiction Studies"This book is a methodological investigation of tools and composition techniques used in Science Fiction films’ soundtracks."-Neural"A challenging text deserving careful reading and study as one of the best works in this field."-Film International"The Sound of Things to Come is a timely-and welcome-study of the aural aesthetics of sf cinema, a subject that has barely been broached in the critical literature."-Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts "The Sound of Things to Come is an excellent start to the conversation about sound in sf cinema, and it should encourage other scholars to continue the conversation."-Extrapolation " Reddell’s insightful monograph sparks an exciting  interdisciplinary conversation whose “shape-to-come” begins to emerge here and now."-Studies in the Fantastic