Sense of wonder is a fannish
science fiction term used to describe the
feeling that some
SF evokes in the
reader. In current
fandom it is often spelled "sensawunda".
Sense of wonder is the
feeling you had when you read your first SF novel as a
teenager. You imagined the starships, the
alien races, the exotic
planets, and you wondered and dreamed. You'd never read something like this before, and you were excited, and you wanted more. If it was the real thing, you are probably still reading
SF.
As
SF readers become older, it becomes harder and harder to find this effect. See also the
cynical line stating that "The Golden Age of Science Fiction is 12".
"
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction" (ed. Clute/Nichols) points out that the term is interesting in two ways: it describes SF by its effect rather than its content, and it can be found in a number of books that are usually regarded as badly written.