ABSTRACT
Science fiction studies are in the anomalous position of having to maintain an amplitude which accommodates an academic approach towards popular reading material. Where the genre is more generally considered legitimate for study, an assumption has bccn made that scicncc fiction is composed of classics plus a wide-ranging morass of lesser quality work. Thc texts for inclusion in scholarly commentary or the school curriculum have been thrown up in spite of the genre's commercial nature. The larger latter group is more representative and has a poor standard of literature at its best and ideas at its worst. This group follows themes which arc directly subject to market forces, space being another exotic backdrop to more regular formula fiction, as it is thcorctically understood.
