From Mary Shelley onwards, women writers have played a central role in the shaping and reshaping of science fiction, irrespective of its undeniably partriarchal image. Where No Man Has Gone Before traces the history of the genre from Frankenstein to the present day, focusing on the work of women whose writing has been central to its development this century. The contributors - writers, readers and critics of science fiction - examine the work of well-known writers such as Doris Lessing and Ursula Le Guin as well as others. These writers have not only subverted the science fiction form and its conventions for their own ends, but have also contributed a specifically female voice to a seemingly male genre. As well as essays on fiction, the collection includes work on the science fiction film and its implications for women, and addresses the issue of how the publishing industry has responded to the recent influx of women authors.