rdpulfer's review
4.0
Still holds up for the most part.
I was overjoyed when I found this in a used book store, and it didn't disappoint. The book provides a wealth of writing advice from Who's Who of classic science fiction writers - including Robert A. Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp and John W. Campbell, Jr.
Now the traditional caveat about writing advice and its usefulness applies here now more than ever. After all, there's plenty of writing advice on the internet at all given time and its usefulness is debatable in the best cases. Now imagine said writing advice is well over fifty years old. Some of it - such as Campbell's thoughts on first person vs. third person - definitely needs to be taken with a grain of salt, even if the theory behind it still holds some value.
The genre of science fiction has changed a lot and this book definitely reflects that transformation. Still, it's worth a read, especially for anyone who is a fan of classic sci-fi.
I was overjoyed when I found this in a used book store, and it didn't disappoint. The book provides a wealth of writing advice from Who's Who of classic science fiction writers - including Robert A. Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp and John W. Campbell, Jr.
Now the traditional caveat about writing advice and its usefulness applies here now more than ever. After all, there's plenty of writing advice on the internet at all given time and its usefulness is debatable in the best cases. Now imagine said writing advice is well over fifty years old. Some of it - such as Campbell's thoughts on first person vs. third person - definitely needs to be taken with a grain of salt, even if the theory behind it still holds some value.
The genre of science fiction has changed a lot and this book definitely reflects that transformation. Still, it's worth a read, especially for anyone who is a fan of classic sci-fi.
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