Grade 4–6—These three volumes vary widely in quality, but will give fledgling fans a quick grounding in SF basics. Cogently noting that many authors have created aliens as stand-ins for humanity in order to treat controversial topics (Ursula LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness is properly cited as an archetypal example), Hamilton presents well-chosen instances from stories and films of creatures both friendly and hostile, then closes with a reference to SETI. In Final Frontier, the author offers a sketchy history of space opera that mentions Dan Simmons and Alastair Reynolds, but leaves out the better-known likes of Ben Bova, C. J. Cherryh, and Lois McMaster Bujold, and in Modern Masters, he profiles a dozen authors—but all are primarily writers for adults, and all, except for British-born Neil Gaiman (who's better known for fantasy anyway), are American.
