Overview
Science fiction produced in the 1970s has long been undervalued, dismissed by Bruce Sterling as “confused, self-involved, and stale.” The New Wave was all but over and Cyberpunk had yet to arrive. The decade polarised sf – on the one hand it aspired to be a serious form, addressing issues such as race, Vietnam, feminism, ecology and sexuality, on the other hand it broke box office records with Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alien and Superman: The Movie. Across the political spectrum, writers perceived a series of invisible enemies: radicals addressed the ideological structures of racism, sexism, homophobia, colonialism, pollution and capitalism and the possibility of new social structures, whereas conservatives feared the gains made by the civil rights movement, feminism, gay liberation, independence movements, ecology and Marxism and the perceived threats to the nuclear family. Sf would never be the same again. Beginning with chapters on the First sf and New Wave authors who published during the 1970s, Solar Flares examines the ways in which the genre confronted a new epoch and its own history, including the rise of fantasy, the sf blockbuster, children’s sf, pseudoscience and postmodernism. It explores significant figures such as Joanna Russ, Samuel R. Delany and Octavia Butler. From Larry Niven’s Ringworld to Thomas M. Disch’s On Wings of Song, from The Andromeda Strain to Flash Gordon and from Doctor Who to Buck Rogers, this book reclaims seventies sf writing, film and television – alongside music and architecture – as a crucial period in the history of science fiction.
Reviews
The author's knowledge of the science fiction texts of the 1970s is absolutely compendious, covering not only the more mainstream sf writers of the 1970s but also some of the less well-known byways. Solar Flares constitutes a significant addition to sf scholarship. A superb work of narrative reference. Solar Flares is an unusual book that offers a virtual encyclopedia of 1970s science fiction. When one reads an academic monograph, one usually expects to encounter a thesis-driven analysis that makes some central claim about its object of study; but the opening argument in Andrew Butler's Prologue- that the ""metaphor of the Invisible Enemy [can be used] to describe the ideological battlegrounds of the 1970s"" (1)-is really more of a broad conceptual framework that allows him to map the sf of the period in wide-ranging strokes. After an overview of the existing scholarship on the subject (basically, there is not much), he suggests that early 1970s sf reflects cynicism and pessimism regarding the invisible and uncontrollable forces that seem to have cast Western societies into chaos; by the end of the 1970s, however, blockbuster films such as Star Wars (1977) exemplify a more optimistic attitude, emphasizing heroes who are able to triumph over these unseen forces. Butler asserts that his study ""offers readings of how the real-world politics of ethnicity, sex, gender, sexuality, class struggles, environmental [sic] and imperialism encourage certain narratives and downplay others"" in order to show how ""sf addresses the issues of these invisible enemies as litmus tests of the time"" (7). He suggests that much of the period's sf is ""radical,"" though there is also ""a strain of conservatism and anxiety"" (7). This focus on ""invisible forces"" suggests an alignment with Timothy Melley's Empire of Conspiracy: The Culture of Paranoia in Postwar America (2000), an excellent literary analysis that investigates a similar trend. Yet it quickly becomes apparent that the critical apparatus cobbled together in the Prologue exists merely to satisfy the generic demands of an academic monograph, rather than providing a consistent analytic lens to be developed throughout the book. Indeed, Butler cheerfully abandons this framework in order to offer a more general survey of the breadth of 1970s science fiction. Each chapter of Solar Flares follows an identical template: Butler first introduces an issue or topic (imperialism, feminism, postmodernism, etc.), then offers a concise snapshot of the cultural history and theoretical context of this issue or topic, then dives into an exhaustive catalogue of seemingly every sf text during the period that reflected this issue or topic (with examples ranging from literature and film to music and fan fiction). The final result, as I observed at the outset, is more like a narrative encyclopedia than a cohesive study-in essence, this is a comprehensive reference volume masquerading as a topical analysis, and each chapter feels like a long encyclopedia entry. On the one hand, such an approach has extraordinary breadth: if you are researching environmentalism and science fiction, for example, Butler's chapter on this topic provides a detailed catalogue of how environmental concerns are reflected in different ways within sf imaginings during the period, attending to both popular and neglected texts. On the other hand, the chapters offer little more than voluminous plot summaries, along with very brief reviews of the notable critical perspectives brought to bear on these texts. Like most reference works, there are few (if any) original insights about the primary sources-or, indeed, 1970s SF as a whole-and the reading experience can be a bit dry, depending on one's interest in the topics. This critique aside, Solar Flares functions as a superb work of narrative reference. Following the Prologue, Butler offers a chapter examining early sf pioneers (such as Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke) who were still publishing in the 1970s, a chapter on the impact of the New Wave on 1970s SF, a chapter on sf following the moon landing, a chapter on sf as self-parody, and a chapter on science-fantasy. Each of these is extremely knowledgeable, packed with useful information conveyed by a critic well-grounded in sf history. Butler then proceeds to offer a series of chapters centered on how 1970s sf reflected dominant critical themes or trends of the period, such as race, the Vietnam war, postwar countercultures, imperialism, environmentalism, feminism, gay liberation, the emergence of children's literature, the emergence of cinematic blockbusters, pseudoscience and the paranormal, architecture, and postmodernism. Butler's use of critical theory to frame each chapter is solid, coherent, and appropriate. In sum, I do not feel that I have learned very much about 1970s science fiction other than the fact that there was a lot of it, and this actually seems to be one of Butler's goals: his central task seems to be to correct an erroneous notion that nothing much really happened in 1970s sf, that it was a fallow period lying between the respective ferments of the New Wave and cyberpunk. Butler's accomplishment is to show the sheer volume of work produced during the period and the range of diverse and relevant topics upon which it focused. Other studies delving deeper into the period's sf remain to be undertaken, but Butler's book serves as a useful launching point.
The author's knowledge of the science fiction texts of the 1970s is absolutely compendious, covering not only the more mainstream sf writers of the 1970s but also some of the less well-known byways. Solar Flares constitutes a significant addition to sf scholarship. -- Dr Brian Baker A superb work of narrative reference. Science Fiction Studies, Volume 40 2013 Solar Flares is an unusual book that offers a virtual encyclopedia of 1970s science fiction. When one reads an academic monograph, one usually expects to encounter a thesis-driven analysis that makes some central claim about its object of study; but the opening argument in Andrew Butler's Prologue- that the metaphor of the Invisible Enemy [can be used] to describe the ideological battlegrounds of the 1970s (1)-is really more of a broad conceptual framework that allows him to map the sf of the period in wide-ranging strokes. After an overview of the existing scholarship on the subject (basically, there is not much), he suggests that early 1970s sf reflects cynicism and pessimism regarding the invisible and uncontrollable forces that seem to have cast Western societies into chaos; by the end of the 1970s, however, blockbuster films such as Star Wars (1977) exemplify a more optimistic attitude, emphasizing heroes who are able to triumph over these unseen forces. Butler asserts that his study offers readings of how the real-world politics of ethnicity, sex, gender, sexuality, class struggles, environmental [sic] and imperialism encourage certain narratives and downplay others in order to show how sf addresses the issues of these invisible enemies as litmus tests of the time (7). He suggests that much of the period's sf is radical, though there is also a strain of conservatism and anxiety (7). This focus on invisible forces suggests an alignment with Timothy Melley's Empire of Conspiracy: The Culture of Paranoia in Postwar America (2000), an excellent literary analysis that investigates a similar trend. Yet it quickly becomes apparent that the critical apparatus cobbled together in the Prologue exists merely to satisfy the generic demands of an academic monograph, rather than providing a consistent analytic lens to be developed throughout the book. Indeed, Butler cheerfully abandons this framework in order to offer a more general survey of the breadth of 1970s science fiction. Each chapter of Solar Flares follows an identical template: Butler first introduces an issue or topic (imperialism, feminism, postmodernism, etc.), then offers a concise snapshot of the cultural history and theoretical context of this issue or topic, then dives into an exhaustive catalogue of seemingly every sf text during the period that reflected this issue or topic (with examples ranging from literature and film to music and fan fiction). The final result, as I observed at the outset, is more like a narrative encyclopedia than a cohesive study-in essence, this is a comprehensive reference volume masquerading as a topical analysis, and each chapter feels like a long encyclopedia entry. On the one hand, such an approach has extraordinary breadth: if you are researching environmentalism and science fiction, for example, Butler's chapter on this topic provides a detailed catalogue of how environmental concerns are reflected in different ways within sf imaginings during the period, attending to both popular and neglected texts. On the other hand, the chapters offer little more than voluminous plot summaries, along with very brief reviews of the notable critical perspectives brought to bear on these texts. Like most reference works, there are few (if any) original insights about the primary sources-or, indeed, 1970s SF as a whole-and the reading experience can be a bit dry, depending on one's interest in the topics. This critique aside, Solar Flares functions as a superb work of narrative reference. Following the Prologue, Butler offers a chapter examining early sf pioneers (such as Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke) who were still publishing in the 1970s, a chapter on the impact of the New Wave on 1970s SF, a chapter on sf following the moon landing, a chapter on sf as self-parody, and a chapter on science-fantasy. Each of these is extremely knowledgeable, packed with useful information conveyed by a critic well-grounded in sf history. Butler then proceeds to offer a series of chapters centered on how 1970s sf reflected dominant critical themes or trends of the period, such as race, the Vietnam war, postwar countercultures, imperialism, environmentalism, feminism, gay liberation, the emergence of children's literature, the emergence of cinematic blockbusters, pseudoscience and the paranormal, architecture, and postmodernism. Butler's use of critical theory to frame each chapter is solid, coherent, and appropriate. In sum, I do not feel that I have learned very much about 1970s science fiction other than the fact that there was a lot of it, and this actually seems to be one of Butler's goals: his central task seems to be to correct an erroneous notion that nothing much really happened in 1970s sf, that it was a fallow period lying between the respective ferments of the New Wave and cyberpunk. Butler's accomplishment is to show the sheer volume of work produced during the period and the range of diverse and relevant topics upon which it focused. Other studies delving deeper into the period's sf remain to be undertaken, but Butler's book serves as a useful launching point. -- David M. Higgins Science Fiction Studies, Volume 40 2013
The author's knowledge of the science fiction texts of the 1970s is absolutely compendious, covering not only the more mainstream sf writers of the 1970s but also some of the less well-known byways. Solar Flares constitutes a significant addition to sf scholarship. -- Dr Brian Baker A superb work of narrative reference. Science Fiction Studies, Volume 40 Solar Flares is an unusual book that offers a virtual encyclopedia of 1970s science fiction. When one reads an academic monograph, one usually expects to encounter a thesis-driven analysis that makes some central claim about its object of study; but the opening argument in Andrew Butler's Prologue- that the metaphor of the Invisible Enemy [can be used] to describe the ideological battlegrounds of the 1970s (1)-is really more of a broad conceptual framework that allows him to map the sf of the period in wide-ranging strokes. After an overview of the existing scholarship on the subject (basically, there is not much), he suggests that early 1970s sf reflects cynicism and pessimism regarding the invisible and uncontrollable forces that seem to have cast Western societies into chaos; by the end of the 1970s, however, blockbuster films such as Star Wars (1977) exemplify a more optimistic attitude, emphasizing heroes who are able to triumph over these unseen forces. Butler asserts that his study offers readings of how the real-world politics of ethnicity, sex, gender, sexuality, class struggles, environmental [sic] and imperialism encourage certain narratives and downplay others in order to show how sf addresses the issues of these invisible enemies as litmus tests of the time (7). He suggests that much of the period's sf is radical, though there is also a strain of conservatism and anxiety (7). This focus on invisible forces suggests an alignment with Timothy Melley's Empire of Conspiracy: The Culture of Paranoia in Postwar America (2000), an excellent literary analysis that investigates a similar trend. Yet it quickly becomes apparent that the critical apparatus cobbled together in the Prologue exists merely to satisfy the generic demands of an academic monograph, rather than providing a consistent analytic lens to be developed throughout the book. Indeed, Butler cheerfully abandons this framework in order to offer a more general survey of the breadth of 1970s science fiction. Each chapter of Solar Flares follows an identical template: Butler first introduces an issue or topic (imperialism, feminism, postmodernism, etc.), then offers a concise snapshot of the cultural history and theoretical context of this issue or topic, then dives into an exhaustive catalogue of seemingly every sf text during the period that reflected this issue or topic (with examples ranging from literature and film to music and fan fiction). The final result, as I observed at the outset, is more like a narrative encyclopedia than a cohesive study-in essence, this is a comprehensive reference volume masquerading as a topical analysis, and each chapter feels like a long encyclopedia entry. On the one hand, such an approach has extraordinary breadth: if you are researching environmentalism and science fiction, for example, Butler's chapter on this topic provides a detailed catalogue of how environmental concerns are reflected in different ways within sf imaginings during the period, attending to both popular and neglected texts. On the other hand, the chapters offer little more than voluminous plot summaries, along with very brief reviews of the notable critical perspectives brought to bear on these texts. Like most reference works, there are few (if any) original insights about the primary sources-or, indeed, 1970s SF as a whole-and the reading experience can be a bit dry, depending on one's interest in the topics. This critique aside, Solar Flares functions as a superb work of narrative reference. Following the Prologue, Butler offers a chapter examining early sf pioneers (such as Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke) who were still publishing in the 1970s, a chapter on the impact of the New Wave on 1970s SF, a chapter on sf following the moon landing, a chapter on sf as self-parody, and a chapter on science-fantasy. Each of these is extremely knowledgeable, packed with useful information conveyed by a critic well-grounded in sf history. Butler then proceeds to offer a series of chapters centered on how 1970s sf reflected dominant critical themes or trends of the period, such as race, the Vietnam war, postwar countercultures, imperialism, environmentalism, feminism, gay liberation, the emergence of children's literature, the emergence of cinematic blockbusters, pseudoscience and the paranormal, architecture, and postmodernism. Butler'is really more of a broad conceptual framework that allows him to map the sf of the period in wide-ranging strokes. After an overview of the existing scholarship on the subject (basically, there is not much), he suggests that early 1970s sf reflects cynicism and pessimism regarding the invisible and uncontrollable forces that seem to have cast Western societies into chaos; by the end of the 1970s, however, blockbuster films such as Star Wars (1977) exemplify a more optimistic attitude, emphasizing heroes who are able to triumph over these unseen forces. Butler asserts that his study offers readings of how the real-world politics of ethnicity, sex, gender, sexuality, class struggles, environmental [sic] and imperialism encourage certain narratives and downplay others in order to show how sf addresses the issues of these invisible enemies as litmus tests of the time (7). He suggests that much of the period's sf is radical, though there is also a strain of conservatism and anxiety (7). This focus on invisible forces suggests an alignment with Timothy Melley's Empire of Conspiracy: The Culture of Paranoia in Postwar America (2000), an excellent literary analysis that investigates a similar trend. Yet it quickly becomes apparent that the critical apparatus cobbled together in the Prologue exists merely to satisfy the generic demands of an academic monograph, rather than providing a consistent analytic lens to be developed throughout the book. Indeed, Butler cheerfully abandons this framework in order to offer a more general survey of the breadth of 1970s science fiction. Each chapter of Solar Flares follows an identical template: Butler first introduces an issue or topic (imperialism, feminism, postmodernism, etc.), then offers a concise snapshot of the cultural history and theoretical context of this issue or topic, then dives into an exhaustive catalogue of seemingly every sf text during the period that reflected this issue or topic (with examples ranging from literature and film to music and fan fiction). The final result, as I observed at the outset, is more like a narrative encyclopedia than a cohesive study-in essence, this is a comprehensive reference volume masquerading as a topical analysis, and each chapter feels like a long encyclopedia entry. On the one hand, such an approach has extraordinary breadth: if you are researching environmentalism and science fiction, for example, Butler's chapter on this topic provides a detailed catalogue of how environmental concerns are reflected in different ways within sf imaginings during the period, attending to both popular and neglected texts. On the other hand, the chapters offer little more than voluminous plot summaries, along with very brief reviews of the notable critical perspectives brought to bear on these texts. Like most reference works, there are few (if any) original insights about the primary sources-or, indeed, 1970s SF as a whole-and the reading experience can be a bit dry, depending on one's interest in the topics. This critique aside, Solar Flares functions as a superb work of narrative reference. Following the Prologue, Butler offers a chapter examining early sf pioneers (such as Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke) who were still publishing in the 1970s, a chapter on the impact of the New Wave on 1970s SF, a chapter on sf following the moon landing, a chapter on sf as self-parody, and a chapter on science-fantasy. Each of these is extremely knowledgeable, packed with useful information conveyed by a critic well-grounded in sf history. Butler then proceeds to offer a series of chapters centered on how 1970s sf reflected dominant critical themes or trends of the period, such as race, the Vietnam war, postwar countercultures, imperialism, environmentalism, feminism, gay liberation, the emergence of children's literature, the emergence of cinematic blockbusters, pseudoscience and the paranormal, architecture, and postmodernism. Butler'is really more of a broad conceptual framework that allows him to map the sf of the period in wide-ranging strokes. After an overview of the existing scholarship on the subject (basically, there is not much), he suggests that early 1970s sf reflects cynicism and pessimism regarding the invisible and uncontrollable forces that seem to have cast Western societies into chaos; by the end of the 1970s, however, blockbuster films such as Star Wars (1977) exemplify a more optimistic attitude, emphasizing heroes who are able to triumph over these unseen forces. Butler asserts that his study offers readings of how the real-world politics of ethnicity, sex, gender, sexuality, class struggles, environmental [sic] and imperialism encourage certain narratives and downplay others in order to show how sf addresses the issues of these invisible enemies as litmus tests of the time (7). He suggests that much of the period's sf is radical, though there is also a strain of conservatism and anxiety (7). This focus on invisible forces suggests an alignment with Timothy Melley's Empire of Conspiracy: The Culture of Paranoia in Postwar America (2000), an excellent literary analysis that investigates a similar trend. Yet it quickly becomes apparent that the critical apparatus cobbled together in the Prologue exists merely to satisfy the generic demands of an academic monograph, rather than providing a consistent analytic lens to be developed throughout the book. Indeed, Butler cheerfully abandons this framework in order to offer a more general survey of the breadth of 1970s science fiction. Each chapter of Solar Flares follows an identical template: Butler first introduces an issue or topic (imperialism, feminism, postmodernism, etc.), then offers a concise snapshot of the cultural history and theoretical context of this issue or topic, then dives into an exhaustive catalogue of seemingly every sf text during the period that reflected this issue or topic (with examples ranging from literature and film to music and fan fiction). The final result, as I observed at the outset, is more like a narrative encyclopedia than a cohesive study-in essence, this is a comprehensive reference volume masquerading as a topical analysis, and each chapter feels like a long encyclopedia entry. On the one hand, such an approach has extraordinary breadth: if you are researching environmentalism and science fiction, for example, Butler's chapter on this topic provides a detailed catalogue of how environmental concerns are reflected in different ways within sf imaginings during the period, attending to both popular and neglected texts. On the other hand, the chapters offer little more than voluminous plot summaries, along with very brief reviews of the notable critical perspectives brought to bear on these texts. Like most reference works, there are few (if any) original insights about the primary sources-or, indeed, 1970s SF as a whole-and the reading experience can be a bit dry, depending on one's interest in the topics. This critique aside, Solar Flares functions as a superb work of narrative reference. Following the Prologue, Butler offers a chapter examining early sf pioneers (such as Asimov, Heinlein, and Clarke) who were still publishing in the 1970s, a chapter on the impact of the New Wave on 1970s SF, a chapter on sf following the moon landing, a chapter on sf as self-parody, and a chapter on science-fantasy. Each of these is extremely knowledgeable, packed with useful information conveyed by a critic well-grounded in sf history. Butler then proceeds to offer a series of chapters centered on how 1970s sf reflected dominant critical themes or trends of the period, such as race, the Vietnam war, postwar countercultures, imperialism, environmentalism, feminism, gay liberation, the emergence of children's literature, the emergence of cinematic blockbusters, pseudoscience and the paranormal, architecture, and postmodernism. Butler's use of critical theory to frame each chapter is solid, coherent, and appropriate. In sum, I do not feel that I have learned very much about 1970s science fiction other than the fact that there was a lot of it, and this actually seems to be one of Butler's goals: his central task seems to be to correct an erroneous notion that nothing much really happened in 1970s sf, that it was a fallow period lying between the respective ferments of the New Wave and cyberpunk. Butler's accomplishment is to show the sheer volume of work produced during the period and the range of diverse and relevant topics upon which it focused. Other studies delving deeper into the period's sf remain to be undertaken, but Butler's book serves as a useful launching point. -- David M. Higgins Science Fiction Studies, Volume 40
