GILEAD, Margaret Atwood's sexually oppressive society in THE HANDMAID'S TAIL. A.E. Vogt's IMPERIAL CITY, the seat of power of the Ishar dynasty, who ruled Earth, Mars, and Venus for nearly five thousand years. Isaac Asimov's utopian space habitat, ROTOR. These are but a few of the places Brian Stableford visits in this extraordinary guidebook, designed and organised in the bestselling tradition of THE DICTIONARY OF IMAGINARY PLACES. With the same skills displayed in his own popular works and the depth of understanding of a scholar of the genre, the internationally acclaimed Stableford has created an all-inclusive popular directory on the strange worlds created by writers ranging from H.G. Wells to Arthur C. Clarke, Ursula K. Le Guin to William Gibson and Ray Bradbury and illuminates their histories, geography, the physical and social characteristics of their populations. This unique volume is a browsers delight and a first class reference book for every science fiction fan.