Ten new critical essays written for presentation at the first Eaton Conference on Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature held 24-25February 1979, at the University of California, Riverside. While critical discussion of science fiction has become increasingly sophisticated during the past decade, there remains a tendency among some teachers and readers to consider science fiction as an independent phenomenon that exists unconnected to the mainstream of our cultural inheritance. These essays--by Harry Levin, Irving Babbitt Professor of Comparative Litera­ture at Harvard University; Kent T. Kraft, Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Georgia, Athens; Stephen Potts, writer and instructor at San Diego State Univer­sity; Gregory Benford, writer and Associate Professor of Physics at the University of California, Irvine; Robert Hunt, an editor at Glencoe Publishing; Eric S. Rabkin, Professor of English at the University of Michigan; Patrick Parrinder, instructor at the University of Reading, England; Thomas Keeling, Lecturer in English at the University of California, Los Angeles; Carl D. Malmgren, instructor at the University of Oregon, Eugene; and Thomas Hanzo, Professor of English and Chairman of the de­partment at the University of California, Davis--suggest the connections that exist between science fiction and other aspects of Western cultural tradition. Ranging in interest from the specifically philosophical to the specifically literary, the essays relate science fiction to such top­ics as medieval cosmological discourse, classical empirical phi­losophy, fairy tale, epic, and Gothic fiction. Emerging from the volume as a whole are both a coherent view of science fiction as a genre and a heightened sense of its complex relation to our cultural heritage.

The J. Lloyd Eaton Conferences on Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature--long held at the University of California, Riverside--have been a major influence in the study of science fiction and fantasy for thirty years. The conferences have attracted leading scholars whose papers are published in Eaton volumes found in university libraries throughout the world. This collection brings together 22 of the best papers--most with new afterwords by the authors--presented in chronological order to show how science fiction and fantasy criticism has evolved since 1979.

Somewhere in the Multiverse, in a lab distant from the Makers’ Planet, Tunnel Maker, Creator of Bridges, answers an alarm. His inter-universe probe is detecting signals from another bubble universe, indicating that some new high-intelligence alien species is doing high-energy physics and creating hyperdimensional signals. Tunnel Maker knows that, in another bubble universe, the predatory Hive Mind should be receiving the same signals. It is time to make a Bridge . . . George Griffin, experimental physicist working at the newly-operational Superconducting Super Collider (SSC), observes a proton-proton collision that doesn’t make sense. He chases it down and discovers a Bridgehead, a wormhole link to the Makers’ universe. With help from theorist Roger Coulton and writer Alice Lancaster, he establishes communication with the Makers, only to learn that a Hive invasion of Earth is imminent. As the Hive invasion is destroying humanity, by wormhole the Makers transport George and Roger back to 1987, where they must undertake the task of manipulating the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations to change the future and prevent construction of the SSC. At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).

Bridges are remarkable structures. Often vast, immense, and sometimes beautiful, they can be icons of cities. David Blockley explains how to read a bridge, how they stand up, and how engineers design them to be so strong. He examines the engineering problems posed by bridges, and considers their cultural, aesthetic, and historical importance.

"Get to know your universe!"--Front cover.

Thirteen original essays written specifically for the second Eaton Conference on Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, held February 23-24, 1980, at the University of California, Riverside. These essays demonstrate the variety of fantasy forms and their pervasiveness throughout the ages and will stimulate further study of this complex and elusive mode. The essays--by Harold Bloom, writer and DeVane Professor of the Humanities at Yale University; Larry McCaffery, Assistant Professor of En­glish at San Diego State University; Marta E. Sánchez, Instructor of English at the University of California, San Diego; Arlen J. Hansen, Professor of English at the University of the Pacific, Stockton; David Clayton, Instructor of Comparative Literatureat the University of California, San Diego; Robert Sale, writer and Professor of English at the University of Washington; G. Richard Thompson, Professor of English at Purdue Univer­sity, West Lafayette; Robert A. Collins, Coordinator of the an­nual Swann Conference on the Fantastic and Instructor at Flor­ida Atlantic University, Boca Raton; John Gerlach, Associate Professor of English at Cleveland State University; David Ket­terer, writer and Professor of English at Concordia University, Montreal; George R. Guffey, Professor of English at the Univer­sity of California, Los Angeles; Jack P. Rawlins, Associate Pro­fessor of English at California State University, Chico; and Gary Kern, writer and translator of early Soviet literature--examine fantasy on many levels of interest: as an element of human thought, as a constant factor in the social and intellectual environment, and as a generator of form in art and literature.

Tom Winter thought the secluded cottage in the Pacific Northwest would be the perfect refuge—a place to nurse the wounds of lost love and happiness. But Tom soon discovers that his safe haven is the portal of a tunnel through time. At one end is the present. At the other end—New York City, 1963. His journey back to the early 1960s seems to offer him the chance to start over in a simpler, safer world. But he finds that the tunnel holds a danger far greater than anything he left behind: a human killing machine escaped from a bleak and brutal future, who will do anything to protect the secret passage that he thought was his alone. To preserve his worlds, past and present, Tom Winter must face the terrors of an unknown world to come. From Robert Charles Wilson, the Hugo Award-winning author of Spin, A Bridge of Years is a classic science fiction story of time-travel and human transformation. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.