When a number of writers, including Kurt Vonnegut, expressed resentment at the fact that their work was thought of as "science fiction," and did everything in their power to avoid the label, Blish campaigned for all "loyal" science fiction writers to insist that their works should be clearly labelled, and for they themselves to wear the title of "SF writer" with pride. He was always an earnest advocate of … [specifying] that known scientific facts should never be violated by science fiction, which must work only within the realms of the possible. He also wanted science fiction to be good—to be literate as well as logically competent. As a critic he was merciless when attacking on either front. (p. 4)

There is a great deal of labelled science fiction [in which] … the establishment of the basic hypothesis [is] little more than a ritual process involving the deployment of conventional...