“The best, the best, history of science fiction I have ever read...I expect to read The World Beyond the Hill over and over for the rest of my life. It is an unbelievably wonderful book.”— Isaac Asimov
“This IS the history of science fiction...My only real complaint is that it ended too soon”—Science Fiction Chronicle
“Painstaking research & wealth of fascinating detail.”—The Washington Post
“A tremendous job in the collection and reevaluation of material from The Castle of Otranto to Asimov's The Mule.”—Locus
“Partly a study of the nature of myth, partly a critical overview of the genre and also a contemplation on the psychology of human aspiration, the search for higher meaning and hidden worlds.”—Dallas Morning News
“A marvelous job of setting the development of SF in a context of developing science and technology.”—Analog
“Really marvelous. It is obviously the classic history of science fiction.”—Colin Wilson
“It is a book I cannot recommend too highly.”—Phlogiston (New Zealand)
“Is it 'The best, the best, history of science fiction I have ever read' as Isaac Asimov says on the back cover? Yes.”—Fantasy & Science Fiction
“The World Beyond the Hill places science fiction in context with world literature, begging no favors, asking no special treatment. It is clear that, in the view of the Panshins, science fiction can stand on its own strong legs amid the best literature the world has ever produced without feeling awkward or out of place...The basic premises of the book are fine, the insights truly eye-opening.”—Ben Bova
“A Landmark in literary historiography.”—L. Sprague de Camp
“I learned a great deal from reading The World Beyond the Hill. It is an authentic history, unified by a controlling vision, rather than a simple chronicle of names, dates and events.”
—Northrop Frye, author of 'Anatomy of Criticism'
“This fascinating book makes it clear that science fiction is indeed the visionary literature of our civilization, and a much needed source of vitality.”
—Charles T. Tart, author of 'Open Mind, Discriminating Mind'
“This is a masterful and an utterly fascinating book, of interest to anyone who ponders how we in modern society got to where we are and where we are likely to go from here.”—Willis Harman, author of 'Higher Creativity' and 'Global Mind Change'
“The World Beyond the Hill explores the development of science fiction with an insight and cogency that, so far as my own reading goes, has never been equaled.”—Jack Williamson
