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The Issue at Hand by William Atheling, Jr. (James Blish)
A legendary critic lifts the hood on science fiction’s engines. In crisp, incisive essays, The Issue at Hand dissects how stories work, why they falter, and what makes them soar—an illuminating companion for anyone who loves to read, write, or argue about the genre’s craft.
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In The Issue at Hand, did you enjoy ...
... acerbic, scientifically grounded criticism that demands logical rigor from SF?
In Search of Wonder by Damon Knight
If what hooked you in The Issue at Hand was Atheling’s no‑nonsense insistence that SF earn its speculation—those sharp passages where he dismantles hand‑waving tech and sloppy causality—you’ll click with Damon Knight’s In Search of Wonder. Knight coins ideas like the “idiot plot,” dissects authors from van Vogt to Heinlein with line‑by‑line clarity, and holds extrapolation to the same high bar Atheling sets. It’s that same bracing mix of close reading, scientific skepticism, and wit—only from a different, equally formidable scalpel.
... deep, idea-dense essays that turn SF reading into an intellectual laboratory?
The Jewel-Hinged Jaw by Samuel R. Delany
Loved how The Issue at Hand made you think harder about what SF is doing on the page? Delany’s The Jewel-Hinged Jaw goes even further. In essays like “About 5,750 Words,” he anatomizes how sentences and structures generate speculative meaning; in his close readings of works by Zelazny and others, he maps the mechanics of wonder with the same analytic zeal Atheling brought to his most exacting columns. You’ll get that same heady, precise feeling—only widened into a full toolkit for reading SF as a system of ideas.
... philosophical inquiry into what speculative fiction is for—and how it should speak?
The Language of the Night by Ursula K. Le Guin
If Atheling’s pieces drew you in with their probing questions—why this trope matters, what responsibility SF has to truth—Le Guin’s The Language of the Night will feel like a rich companion. Essays like “From Elfland to Poughkeepsie” argue for stylistic integrity in fantasy; others wrestle with ethics, power, and myth in much the way Atheling interrogates SF’s truth‑claims. It offers the same thoughtful rigor, but refracted through Le Guin’s humane, philosophical lens.
... wry, witty surveying of the SF field that skewers clichés while taking the genre seriously?
New Maps of Hell: A Survey of Science Fiction by Kingsley Amis
If you relished Atheling’s dry asides and surgical one‑liners, Amis’s New Maps of Hell delivers that same sly pleasure. He tours themes, stock devices, and authors (from Asimov to Wyndham) with an eyebrow permanently quirked—mocking lazy conventions even as he argues for SF’s literary legitimacy. It’s the blend of gimlet‑eyed humor and respect for the craft that made The Issue at Hand such a crisp read.
... satirical, insider critiques of the SF world’s foibles and myths?
The Engines of the Night by Barry N. Malzberg
If part of the fun in The Issue at Hand was watching Atheling puncture the field’s self‑congratulation, Malzberg’s The Engines of the Night doubles down with mordant, often hilarious candor about magazines, awards, and career myths. His essays mix memoir with sharp critique, lampooning the same kinds of market pressures and formulae Atheling flagged—only with a darker, satirical bite.
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