[[Margaret Atwood]] does for science fiction and fantasy what Stephen Kind did for horror in [Danse Macabre]. It's a wonderful, and quite intelligent, review of the genres - their components and differences. Her take on these kinds of narratives is imminently tied to her own voice and, obviously, informs her work a great deal. What I wouldn't give for a graduate level seminar with this as the text and Atwood as the maven. There are some flash-fiction entries connected to a few of her other longer works, which some reviewers here did not care much for. But I wonder how familiar those same reviewers were with the other content, and how these stories fit into the larger narrative. To be fair, a couple read as sections of the longer books that were edited out. Honestly, though, I'd read Atwood's shopping list, and I bet a couple of paychecks those lists would be uncannily smart and savant-level creative.

Highly Recommended!!!!!
4 1/2 bones!!!!! ( )

2021 book #43. 2011. Margaret Atwood ("The Handmaid's Tail") writes about science fiction and her life long love of the genre. I share that feeling and really liked this book. Her views, some SF reviews, and some of her (very) short fiction. ( )

There are some overlapping ideas and references but that is to be expected in any collection of related topic essays and non-fiction pieces. Altogether, an enjoyable dive into SF and its antecedents. ( )

Before I get on with the review, I'd like to ask the publishers one simple question: why is the robot-woman on the cover of this book wearing egg cartons on her breasts? I realize the cover is made up of a number of objects meant to be silly and toy-like, but ... egg cartons? Wouldn't that be awfully uncomfortable?

Anyway.

In Other Worlds is about Margaret Atwood's opinions on science fiction: what it is, what it's good for, why she reads and (occasionally) writes it. It's good, if you like both Margaret Atwood and science fiction. I'm having a hard time visualizing someone who likes neither of those things getting much out of this book; particularly if you dislike Atwood, as her personality and perspectives are all over this thing.

Fortunately for me, I love Atwood, so I enjoyed it. Even better, it was inspired (as far as I could see) by a conversation she had with Ursula K le Guin about science fiction, and I love le Guin. It reads, in many places, like an extended letter written to her good friend Ursula about what exactly this sci fi thing is that they both devote so much time to.

However, Atwood is not a great science fiction writer. She is a great prose writer and I love her novels and non-fiction, except for Oryx and Crake and the Year of the Flood, because I found she took her inventions too far and from poor beginnings. One gets the feeling that her research was composed of reading opinion pieces of new technologies in popular newspapers and magazines, without checking the original sources and research to see if there's anything to it, and then developing them in her novels to an unsupportable extreme, thus causing mass hysteria in her very large audience, who believe that since it's Margaret Atwood she must know what she's talking about.

Still, In Other Worlds is a fun book if you like the thought of reading what Margaret Atwood would have to say to Ursula le Guin on the subject of science fiction. ( )

This book was given to me by the perfectly brilliant
[b:In Other Worlds|7046493|In Other Worlds (Were-Hunter, #1; Dark-Hunter, #1.5; The League, #3.5)|Sherrilyn Kenyon|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1311279919s/7046493.jpg|7296562] is a brilliant examination of the science fiction genre, that those in charge of the "SyFy" network really should read prior to premiering a film like "Wolf Town" again. In its chapters, [a:Margaret Atwood|3472|Margaret Atwood|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1282859073p2/3472.jpg] muses about everything from Flying Rabbits to [b:Never Let Me Go|6334|Never Let Me Go|Kazuo Ishiguro|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165592008s/6334.jpg|1499998]. Classic authors such as [a:H.G. Wells|880695|H.G. Wells|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1201281795p2/880695.jpg] and [a:Jules Verne|696805|Jules Verne|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1322911579p2/696805.jpg] are discussed, and there is a particularly brilliant analysis of [b:Animal Farm|7613|Animal Farm|George Orwell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327872845s/7613.jpg|2207778] and [b:Nineteen Eighty-Four|828051|Nineteen Eighty-Four (Letts Explore Literature Guide) |Claire Crane|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178734228s/828051.jpg|10523460] that is making me want to read both books again.

While this book is not for everyone, as some people aren't particularly fond of literary criticism, for those looking for a succinct history of the genre and a consideration of futurology in light of it - this is your book. [a:Margaret Atwood|3472|Margaret Atwood|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1282859073p2/3472.jpg] is a wry, accessible author who makes what otherwise may be dry essays both insightful and hilarious to all who wish to read them.

One wishes that all academics had such supreme talent. ( )