The Guide concentrates on the criticism of science fiction produced in English since around 1960. It summarises the main critical trends and developments of the genre; reviews the attempts to formulate a critical history of science fiction; attempts to connect the major developments in science fiction itself with the rise of certain theoretical paradigms (feminism, postmodernism); discursively introduces key critical texts and the bodies of work of major critics of science fiction; and provides short quotations from major texts (both articles and monographs) to give the reader a direct sense of the style and texture of these major critical works.