Science Fiction Rebels

Book excerpt: This is the fourth volume in a five-volume series covering the history, development and influence of science fiction magazines within the genre as a whole. This volume covers the 1980s and looks at the contribution of a new generation of writers to the development of new sub-genres in science fiction such as cyberpunk, slipstream, nanotechnology and what was called the hard SF Renaissance. It shows how the small press and alternative magazines developed a science fiction underground that had a significant impact upon the genre, and the professional SF magazines, as well as such alternative forms of fiction as slipstream. The text highlights the growing international interest in science fiction with significant coverage of SF in countries including China, Japan, and those in Eastern Europe and South America, which are covered in an appendix.