''The World Beyond the Hill: Science Fiction and the Quest for Transcendence'' (1989) is a book about the history of

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

, written by

Alexei Panshin Alexei Panshin (August 14, 1940 – August 21, 2022) was an American writer and science fiction critic. He wrote several critical works and several novels, including the 1968 Nebula Award–winning novel ''Rite of Passage''Nicholls 1979, p. 447 ...

and

Cory Panshin Cory Panshin (born 1947) is an American science fiction critic and writer. She often writes in collaboration with her husband, Alexei Panshin (1940–2022). The Panshins won the Hugo award for Best Non-Fiction Book in 1990 for ''The World Beyo ...

Publication

It was first published in hardcover by Jeremy P. Tarcher in August 1989 in a limited signed and numbered edition of 500 copies; a broader hardcover edition for general release and a trade paperback edition followed from the same publisher in the same year. An ebook edition was issued by ElectricStory.com in December 2002, and a new hardcover edition by Phoenix Pick in April 2010.

Scope

It took the Panshins about ten years to research and write, though they had made earlier attempts at writing a book on the genre. The book considers the evolution of

from

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whigs (British political party), Whig politician. He had Strawb ...

's 1764 fantasy, ''

The Castle of Otranto ''The Castle of Otranto'' is a novel by Horace Walpole. First published in 1764, it is generally regarded as the first gothic novel. In the second edition, Walpole applied the word 'Gothic' to the novel in the subtitle – ''A Gothic Story''. Se ...

'' to modern science fiction writers through the middle of the twentieth century.

Reception

The book received wide critical acclaim and won the 1990

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...

for Best Non-Fiction Book.

Notes

External links

The Abyss of Wonder
Alexei Panshin's web site

Cory Panshin's web site 1989 non-fiction books Science fiction studies Hugo Award for Best Non-Fiction Book winning works Books of literary criticism TarcherPerigee books {{sf-book-stub