Science fiction and fantasy have come to be popular genres for Canadian writers. The work of Margaret Atwood, for example, contains many allusions to science fiction; indeed she has written novels that work explicitly with the tropes of the genre. While some science fiction and fantasy texts are concerned with little more than brains in jars on a distant planet or similarly fabulous Fairy-land fare, many works in both genres have contained penetrating social commentary and cutting-edge narrative techniques.
Worlds of Wonder brings together an array of scholarship on Canadian Science fiction and fantasy as varied as the genres themselves. Collectively, the contributors strive to define the ethos particular to Canadians working in the genres. They pay particular attention to narrative modes, and there are many allusions to such theorists of 'grand narratives' as Northrop Frye, Frank Kermode, Jean-Fran簿聶翻ois Lyotard, and Fredric Jameson. Amongst many things, the essays demonstrate that duality and ambiguity are defining characteristics of Canadian science fiction and fantasy.
