Brave New Words

From Stargate and Droid to Zero Gravity and Force Field, this historical dictionary is filled with fun and fascinating entries on all things science fiction. It's a unique window into the entire genre, through the words invented and passed along by science fictions most talented writers, critics, and fans.

Each entry includes numerous citations of the words usage, from the earliest known appearance forward. Drawn not only from science fiction novels and short stories, citations are also taken from mainstream publications, fanzines, screenplays, newspapers, comics, songs, and the Internet. This historical look at the language of science fiction shows how many of the words we consider everyday vocabulary, including spacesuit (1929), blast off (1937), and robot (1920), have roots in imaginative literature rather than hard science. In fact, science fiction has created a wealth of language later adopted by the sciences and popular culture. Also, it is often surprising how old some of these terms are. Death Ray, for instance, dates to 1915, and Science Fiction itself has been in use since 1851.

Winner of a 2008 Hugo Award, Brave New Words represents the shared language of the entire genre, including the vocabulary of science fiction criticism and science fiction fans. Not only a useful reference, an informative history, and an entertaining browse, this book is also a document of the enduring legacy of science fiction. It is a must-have for every science fiction writer or fan, whether actifan, passifan, faan, or just a plain old Earther.


This is a fine work, helpful for anyone who has ever been asked what the hell we've been talking about all this time. Grade: A -SciFi MagazineR

I had an embarrassingly good time poring through Brave New Words. It's more than a dictionary, it's a secret history of science fiction-and of the last 50 years of popular culture. - John Scalzi, Author of Old Man's WarR

An earnest cataloguing of the jargon of the might-be futurecheerily eccentric. -Washington PostR

It's terrific to browse, full of all sort of citations of first appearances of words and their subsequent usage, showing how many words commonly used today had their origin in our genre. -Fantasy & Science FictionR

For anyone needing information about an important science fiction author or subgenre, this is a definitive list, making it useful for readers' advisors, students writing papers, and science fiction fans of all ages. -BooklistR