Synopsis: From the Back Cover of the Academy Chicago TPB edition: "This is the first historical anthology of Australian science fiction. It offers a good selection of exciting recent works and also reveals a long history of science fiction in Australia, providing a comprehensive chronological sampling of the various styles, attitudes and ideas of Australian science fiction writers from 1845 to the present. The selection includes excerpts from the utopian and anti-utopian novels of the 1800s and 1890s, social criticism from a feminist romance of 1901, and social despair from an anti-socialist novel of 1911. "Lost Civilization" romances of 1847 and 1898 offer mystery, excitement and high adventure, and an account of a Japanese invasion of Sydney gives a dire warning of racial fear. Major contemporary writers represented are Damen Broderick, Frank Bryning, Peter Carey, A. Bertram Chandler, Lee Harding, David J. Lake, Dal Stivens, George Turner, Wynne N. Whiteford, Michael Wilding and Jack Woodhams. Australian science fiction has undergone a renaissance since 1975. Writers such as George Turner and Lee Harding have produced award-winning novels, Peter Carey's speculative short stories have attracted international interest, and films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock and Mad Max have won worldwide acclaim. In his introduction, Van Ikin traces the development of SF in Australia showing its preoccupation with the Australian emptiness and discussing its reflection of the conflict between conservative and visionary social attitudes. Dr. Ikin holds a Ph.D. from the University of Sydney and currently teaches Australian Literature at the University of Western Australia. He is editor and publisher of the magazine Science Fiction: A Review of Speculative Literature, has published articles and reviews in the Australian literary journals and has published his own stories in a number of magazines and anthologies."