Anne McCaffrey: A Critical Companion

(Hardback)

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The first woman to win the Hugo award (given annually by the World Science Fiction convention) and the Nebula award (given annually by the Science Fiction Writers of America), Anne McCaffrey has invented many worlds of science fiction that have made her work enormously popular. Her series The Dragonriders of Pern has become one of the most widely read series in science fiction history. This is the first complete critical study of her work. It examines all of her novels to date, both individual and series, and reveals why she deserves the critical recognition and popularity her works have received. Roberts explores the range and complexity of her novels and the recurrent themes that have attracted so many young adults to her work: the heroine as outsider, the need for tolerance and the acceptance of difference, the importance of living harmoniously with nature, and the value of art and literature. McCaffrey's contributions to science fiction are many, including the creation of scientifically engineered dragons, brain ships, and scientifically explained mental powers such as telepathy and telekinesis. Roberts shows how McCaffrey's extrapolation of science raises social issues and causes us to think about the future. Each chapter in this study deals with an individual novel or series and features sections on genre, plot, theme, and character development. In addition, Roberts defines and applies a variety of theoretical approaches to the worksfeminist, Marxist, environmental, psychoanalytic, and mythicto widen the reader's perspective on the works. The study also features a chapter on McCaffrey's life, including an interview with the author, and a chapter defining the science fiction genre and McCaffrey's place in it. A complete bibliography of McCaffrey's fiction and bibliography of reviews and criticism complete the work. Because of her great popularity among teenagers and adults, this study is a necessary purchase by secondary schools and public libraries.

Reviews

Highly recommended for librarians, English instructors and professors of young adult literature. It responds to a crying need for quality literary criticism in the field. A vital purchase for public, academic, and secondary school libraries.-Catholic Library World
Science Fiction enthusiasts with a solid grounding in McCaffrey's works receive a fine critical examination which probes her noves to date. While young adults producing reports will find this quite useful, many an adult enthusiast can easily use this as a key to understanding mcCaffrey's many contributions to her field.-Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin
This recent addition to Greenwood's Critical Companions to Contemporary Writers series is a truly useful guide to Anne McCaffrey's fiction. Although written for readers who are probably unfamiliar with science fiction, this book would be a useful tool for scholars and McCaffrey's fans.-SFRA Review
"Highly recommended for librarians, English instructors and professors of young adult literature. It responds to a crying need for quality literary criticism in the field. A vital purchase for public, academic, and secondary school libraries."-Catholic Library World
"This recent addition to Greenwood's Critical Companions to Contemporary Writers series is a truly useful guide to Anne McCaffrey's fiction. Although written for readers who are probably unfamiliar with science fiction, this book would be a useful tool for scholars and McCaffrey's fans."-SFRA Review
"Science Fiction enthusiasts with a solid grounding in McCaffrey's works receive a fine critical examination which probes her noves to date. While young adults producing reports will find this quite useful, many an adult enthusiast can easily use this as a key to understanding mcCaffrey's many contributions to her field."-Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin

Author Bio

ROBIN ROBERTS is Associate Professor of English and Women's and Gender Studies at Louisiana State University. She is the author of A New Species: Gender and Science in Science Fiction (1993), Ladies First: Feminist Music Videos (forthcoming), and numerous articles on science fiction.