Book excerpt: Patterns II includes ten scholarly essays on a variety of science fiction themes and topics, as presented at ConStellation, the Forty-First World SF Convention, held at Baltimore, Maryland, from September 1-5, 1983. Included are essays by Merritt Abrash, Rosemarie Arbur, Jared Lobdell, Edward A. Boyno, Constance M. Mellott, Lawrence I. Charters, Thomas P. Dunn, Judith B. Kerman, Philip E. Kaveny, and Janice M. Bogstad on such writers as H. G. Wells, Thornton Wilder, David Gerrold, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Philip K. Dick, and on the film Blade Runner. Includes a comprehensive Introduction by Hassler.