"Science fiction is the characteristic literary genre of the century. It is the genre that stands in opposition to literary modernism." -David G. Hartwell, from the Introduction

First published in hardcover in 1997, The Science Fiction Century was an anthology that defined and explained what we mean when we talk about modern SF. Now it returns to print in an affordable two-volume softcover edition. Here in volume 2, bestsellers like Frank Herbert and William Gibson mix with stylists like Harlan Ellison and Cordwainer Smith, alongside titans of the genre such as Gregory Benford, John Crowley, Robert Silverberg, John Wyndham, Roger Zelazny, Bruce Sterling, and Nancy Kress. Here is modern science fiction in all its breadth, from the anthologist hailed by John Updike as a "loving expert."