science fiction, american

Contains four original novellas, presenting tales of alternate history in ancient Greece, the Turkish Empire, the Old West, and Texas. Includes selections by Harry Turtledove, S.M. Stirling, Mary Gentle, and Walter Jon Williams.

Showcases eighteen major stories by significant science fiction writers of the 1980s, each with an introduction, and story notes by editor Orson Scott Card.

Contains essays in which the authors discuss the appearance of dystopian societies in the science fiction writings and films of Anglo-American cultures in the late twentieth century.

Presents Twain's literature chronologically in three categories "Whimsical Wonders," "Instantaneous Communication," and "Dark visions.".

A guide to reading Lois Lowry's "The Giver," a novel in which Jonas, given his lifetime assignment at the Ceremony of Twelve, becomes the receiver of memories shared by only one other in his community and discovers the terrible truth about the society in which he lives, discussing narrative technique, plot, characters and characterization, setting, themes, and symbols.