Published In

Science Fiction Studies

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-2012

Subjects

Science fiction -- History and criticism

Abstract

Colorado has long functioned in American culture as the epitome of the American West, identified both as a safe refuge and as a place for starting over. This essay examines the ways in which writers of speculative fiction have drawn on Colorado's historically constructed identity as the setting for stories of refuge and retreat. The discussion examines parallels in the use of the Colorado setting by sf writers Robert A. Heinlein, Philip K. Dick, Walter M. Miller, Jr., Leigh Brackett, and Ursula K. LeGuin, by political novelist Ayn Rand, and by mainstream thriller writers Stephen King and Justin Cronin. The analysis suggests that popular ideas about regional characteristics can play important roles in framing thescience-fiction imagination

Description

This is the publisher's final PDF. Copyright © 2012, DePauw University. Reproduced by permission.

DOI

10.5621/sciefictstud.39.2.0221

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/10008

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