Reflections on the Fantastic

In Reflections on the Fantastic: Selected Essays from the Fourth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, editor Michael R. Collings has selected the best of the conference proceedings reflecting the intent of the conference to discover aspects of the fantastic in every branch of the arts. The twelve essays commence with theoretical discussions of the fantastic as it relates to other genres and elements of life. The second section examines individual authors including Peter Beagle, French fantasists Alain Robbe-Grillet and Felix Labisse, and Spanish authors Amado Nervo and Jose Maria Merino. The third section discusses issues in contemporary science fiction, opening with a look at artificial language in the work of Samuel R. Delaney. It continues with examinations of the work of Brian W. Aldiss, and a look at the narrative structure in works by Ursula K. Le Guin and Frederik Pohl. The section concludes with a further discussion of artificial language by Gregory Shreve.