Colourfields is a wide-ranging, deeply knowledgeable, cheerfully argumentative exploration of how historians, critics, biographers have thought about the many interweaving traditions of science fiction. In the reviews and essays collected here, Paul Kincaid examines the changing stories told about SF, asks how different theoretical approaches are useful (or not) to readers, and demonstrates why in the end, it’s each individual perspective – each individual work – that really matters.Praise for Colourfields“Why is it that we are drawn again and again to theorise, proselytise and re-invent the perennial arguments about science fiction? Paul Kincaid is here to help us find out. This is a fascinating and essential volume that every fan and critic will want to read.” – Nina Allan, author, Conquest“The clarity of Kincaid's thought, allied to the precision of his prose, has made him one of the central voices of science fiction criticism … Kincaid is always authoritative without being pompous, generous without being sentimental. Read this latest collection and then read everything else.” – Paul March-Russell, editor, The International Review of Science Fiction“One of speculative fiction's most erudite critics discusses criticism itself. A refreshingly sophisticated, beautifully grounded analysis of the many histories, definitions, and purposes with which science fiction contends.”– Vajra Chandrasekera, author, The Saint of Bright Doors“A book for anyone interested not only in science fiction, but in how literature as a whole works - its communities and cross-currents, its contexts and contradictions.”– Dan Hartland, reviews editor, Strange HorizonsAbout the AuthorPaul Kincaid has been writing about science fiction in one form or another for nearly half a century. In that time he has twice been a Hugo finalist, twice won the BSFA Best Non-Fiction Award, and has received the Thomas D. Clareson Award from the Science Fiction Research Association. He has written acclaimed books on Brian Aldiss, Iain M. Banks, and Christopher Priest, as well as critical studies of Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock and Pavane by Keith Roberts.