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ALIENS ON EARTH: they came from outer space ALTERNATE WORLDS: history might have happened differently ANTIGRAVITY: what goes up may not come down BAMBI'S CHILDREN: animals who speak, think, or act human BEAM ME UP: matter transmission, techno-teleportation BEYOND THE FIELDS WE KNOW: magical world unconnected to ours CITIES OF THE FUTURE: bigger, better, and more astonishing urban visions CLONES: stories of genetic engineering, especially of people CYBER PUNK: 239 gritty near-future tales of hackers and cyberspace DEFINITIONS: what is science fiction? DEFINITIONS: what is fantasy? DYSTOPIA: really, really bad futures (opposite of "Utopia") ECOLOGY: books, stories, and films about Ecology and Biology EXTRA-SENSORY PERCEPTION: telepathy, psi, other paths to the mind FASTER THAN LIGHT: impossibly fast travel, beyond the Einstein barrier FEMINIST: science fiction and fantasy of, by, or for women HARD SCIENCE FICTION: based on real science & engineering HEROIC FANTASY: also known as "Swords & Sorcery" HORROR: that old black magic, the really scary stuff IMMORTALITY: Those who live forever, or try to INVISIBILITY: Mostly about people who can't be seen LOST LANDS/LOST RACE: neoprimitive place/people discovered MATHEMATICS: Fantasy and Science Fiction about Mathematics NEW! [5 Feb 04] MYTHOLOGY: Mythology and Science Fiction or Fantasy about Religion POLITICS: science fiction about social and political concerns SEX: science fiction authors who also write erotica SPACE OPERA: battles between planets and stars SPACE TRAVEL: rockets to asteroids, moons, planets, stars SUPERMEN: extra powers make characters more than human THEOLOGY: Science Fiction or Fantasy about Religion [NEW: 12 Aug 98] THERE AND BACK AGAIN: leave our world for a more magical one TIME TRAVEL: time machines, travel to the past or the future: NEW LINKS! TV and MOVIE: books spun-off from television series or sc-fi films UNDER THE SEA: submarines, undersea cities, underwater living UNICORNS IN THE GARDEN: magic events within our mundane world UTOPIA: Fictional and Nonfictional glimpses of an ideal future WORLD COMES TO AN END: no more civilization, or people, or worse... YOU CAN TELL A BOOK BY ITS COVER: science fiction, fantasy, horror
SEND YOUR INFORMATION/URL/LINK to THE ULTIMATE SCIENCE FICTION WEB GUIDE. We will review your information and add it to this list if appropriate.
David Hartwell supplied the quotations here, Your Humble Webmaster did the rest...
- "Futuristic Mechanical Devices?" Try HARD SCIENCE FICTION, but it might be a trick to get you to read any kind of science fiction.
- "Humans Against a Futuristic Setting, With or Without Machines?" Try SPACE OPERA, but it might be some related Adventure science fiction.
- "Humans Carrying Swords or Other Anachronistic Weapons?" Try THERE AND BACK AGAIN or UNICORNS IN THE GARDEN, but it might be any kind of "fantasy or fantastic adventure against a cardboard or cliched SF background."
- "Hypermuscled Males Carrying Big Swords and Adorned with Hyperzaftig Females, Both Scant-Clad Against a Threatening Monstrous background?" Almost certainly HEROIC FANTASY, also known as "Swords & Sorcery".
- Skulls, Discolored Flesh, Sharp Teeth? Try HORROR: that old black magic, the really scary stuff.
- Flying Saucers, Ray Guns, Tentacles, or Bug Eyed Monsters? Try ALIENS ON EARTH:.
- Historical Figures in Strange Combinations, Such as Elvis With Hitler, or Civil War Soldiers Carrying Machine Guns? Try ALTERNATE WORLDS.
- Cute Furry Animals, No Humans? Try BAMBI'S CHILDREN.
- Exotic Flowery Landscape, Perhaps with Castles? Try BEYOND THE FIELDS WE KNOW.
- Futuristic Buildings, Weirdly Dressed People Looking Scared or Furtive? Try CYBER PUNK, DYSTOPIA, or CITIES OF THE FUTURE.
- Several Identical People, or Emphasis on Glowing Eyes? Try CLONES or EXTRA-SENSORY PERCEPTION.
Definitions of "Science Fiction"
And what do we even mean by "science fiction" anyway? In one sense, the first article to define the field was published over 150 years ago, before the field was widely ackonwledged to exist: New Species of Literature "We learn that Mr. R. A. Locke, the ingenious author of the late 'Moon Story' or 'Astronomical Hoax,' is putting on the stocks the frame of a new novel on a subject similar to that of his recent able invention in astronomy.... His style is nearly as original as his conception. It is ornamented and highly imaginative. He may be said to be the inventor of an entirely new species of literature, which we may call the 'scientific novel'.... We have had crowds of 'fashionable novels'; but fictitious history, founded on the discoveries and scientific hypotheses of the day has seldom been attempted until Mr.Locke did so. In fact, Mr.Locke has opened a new vein, as original, as curious, as beautiful, as any of the greatest geniuses who ever wrote. He looks forward into futurity, and adapts his characters to the light of science." [New York Herald, 5 September 1835] Two websites of definitions are: Definitions of "Science Fiction" @panix.com Definitions of "Science Fiction" @webco.com Some particularly good definitions are:RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
- "By 'scientifiction' I mean the Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and Edgar Allan Poe type of story -- a charming romance intermingled with scientific fact and prophetic vision." -- Hugo Gernsback, in "Amazing Stories" (April 1926)
- "Science Fiction is a branch of fantasy identifiable by the fact that it eases the 'willing suspension of disbelief' on the part of its readers by utilizing an atmosphere of scientific credibility for its imaginative speculations in physical science, space, time, social science, and philosophy." -- Sam Moskowitz, in "Explorers of the Infinite" (1963)
- "We might try to define science fiction in this broader sense as fiction based upon scientific or pseudo-scientific assumptions (space-travel, robots, telepathy, earthly immortality, and so forth) or laid in any patently unreal though non-supernatural setting (the future, or another world, and so forth)." -- L. Sprague de Camp, in "Science Fiction Handbook" (1953)
- "A science fiction story is a story built around human beings, with a human problem, and a human solution, which would not have happened at all without its speculative scientific content." -- Theodore Sturgeon, as amended by Damon Knight, in "A Century of Science Fiction" (1962)
- "Science fiction is that branch of literature which is concerned with the impact of scientific advance upon human beings." -- Isaac Asimov, in "Modern Science Fiction", edited by Reginald Bretnor (1953)
- "Science fiction is that branch of literature wthat deals with human responses to changes in the level of science and technology." -- Isaac Asimov, in "Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine" (Mar-Apr 1978)
- "Science fiction is that class of prose narrative wtreating of a situation that could not arise in the world we know, but which is hypothesized on the basis of some innovation in science or technology, or pseudo-science or pseudo-technology, whether human or extraterrestrial in origin." -- Kingsley Amis, in "New Maps of Hell" (1961)
- "Science fiction is the search for a definition of man and his status in the universe which will stand in our advanced but confused state of knowledge (science), and is cast in the Gothic or post-Gothic mould." -- Brian W. Aldiss, in "Billion Year Spree" (1973)
- "A literary genre developed principally in the 20th Century, dealing with scientific discovery or development that, whether set in the future, or the fictitious present, or in the putative past, is superior to or simply other than that known to exist." -- Fred Saberhagen, in "Encyclopedia Britannica" 15th edition (1979)
- "The branch of fiction that deals with the possible effects of an altered technology or social system on mankind in an imagined future, an altered present, or an alternative past." -- Barry M. Malzberg, in "Collier's Encyclopedia" (1981)
- "Science fiction deals with improbable possibilities, fantasy with plausible impossibilities." -- Miriam Allen deFord, in "Elsewhere, Elsewhen, Elsehow" (1971)
- "A piece of science fiction is a narrative of an imaginary invention or discovery in the natural sciences and consequent adventures and experience." -- J. O. Bailey, in "The SF Book of Lists", p.256, ed. Malcolm Edwards & Maxim Jakubowski, New York: Berkeley (1982)
- "[Fiction] in which the author shows awareness of the nature and importance of the human activity known as the scientific method, and shows equal awareness of the great body of knowledge already collected through that activity, and takes into account in his stories the effect and possible future effects on human beings of scientific methods and scientific fact." -- Reginald Bretnor, in "The SF Book of Lists", p.257, ed. Malcolm Edwards & Maxim Jakubowski, New York: Berkeley (1982)
- "Science fiction is a label applied to a publishing category and its application is subject to the whims of editors and publishers." -- John Clute & Peter Nichols, in "The SF Book of Lists", p.257, ed. Malcolm Edwards & Maxim Jakubowski, New York: Berkeley (1982)
- "A handy short definition of almost all science fiction might read: realistic speculation about possible future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present, and on a thorough understanding of the scientific method. To make the definition cover all science fiction (instead of 'almost all') it is necessary only to strike out the word 'future'." -- Robert Heinlein, in "The SF Book of Lists", p.257, ed. Malcolm Edwards & Maxim Jakubowski, New York: Berkeley (1982)
- "Speculative fiction: stories whose objective is to explore, to discover, to learn, by means of projection, extrapolation, analogue, hypothesis-and-paper-experimentation, something about the nature of the universe, of man, of 'reality'." -- Judith Merrill, in "The SF Book of Lists", p.257, ed. Malcolm Edwards & Maxim Jakubowski, New York: Berkeley (1982)
- "It is that thing that people who understand science fiction point to, when they point to something and say 'That's science fiction!" -- Frederik Pohl, in "The SF Book of Lists", p.257, ed. Malcolm Edwards & Maxim Jakubowski, New York: Berkeley (1982)
- "Science fiction is hard to define because it is the literature of change and it changes while you are trying to define it." -- Tom Shippey, in "The SF Book of Lists", p.258, ed. Malcolm Edwards & Maxim Jakubowski, New York: Berkeley (1982)
- "There is only one definition of science fiction that seems to make pragmatic sense: 'Science fiction is anything published as science fiction'." -- Norman Spinrad, in "The SF Book of Lists", p.257, ed. Malcolm Edwards & Maxim Jakubowski, New York: Berkeley (1982)
- "A literary genre whose necessary and sufficient conditions are the presence and interaction of estrangement and congnition, and whose main formal device is an imaginative framework alternative to the author's empirical environment." -- Darko Suvin, in "The SF Book of Lists", p.258, ed. Malcolm Edwards & Maxim Jakubowski, New York: Berkeley (1982); this is a particularly often-cited definition in the academic study of science fiction
- "Science fiction is that branch of fantasy which, while not true of present-day knowledge, is rendered plausible by the reader's recognition of the scientific possibilities of it being possible at some future date or at some uncertain period in the past." -- Donald A. Wollheim, in "The SF Book of Lists", p.258, ed. Malcolm Edwards & Maxim Jakubowski, New York: Berkeley (1982)
- "Science fiction is a label applied to a publishing category and its application is subject to the whims of editors and publishers." -- John Clute & Peter Nichols, in "The SF Book of Lists", p.257, ed. Malcolm Edwards & Maxim Jakubowski, New York: Berkeley (1982)
- xxxx, in "yyyy" (19zz)
Definitions of "Fantasy"
And what do we even mean by "Fantasy" anyway?RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
- First of all, we distinguish between "Science Fiction" and "Fantasy" in that "Science Fiction", as defined elsewhere in this page (DEFINITIONS: what is science fiction?) involves strangeness extrapolated from science and technology, rather than contrary to natural law. Fantasy, according to Callois, presumes the unbreakable laws of nature, as anlyzed by human reason, to be un-naturally or uncannily violated. "It should be particularly stressed that the fantastic makes no sense in an out-and-out strange world. To imagine the fantastic in it is even impossible. In a world full of marvels the extraordinary loses its power." -- Roger Callois, "Au couer du fantastique" (Paris: 1965); "Images, images... Essais sur le role et les pouvoirs de l'imagination" (Paris: 1966)
- "The fantastic is always a break in the acknowledged order, an irruption of the inadmissable within the changeless everyday legality." -- Roger Callois, "Au couer du fantastique" (1965); "Images, images" (1966) To Callois, the presence of a unicorn in a garden, or something else strange into the familiar world, causes "the impression of irreducible strangeness."
- The fantastic in literature doesn't exist as a challenge to what is probable, but only there where it can be increased to a challenge of reason itself: the fantastic in literature consists, when all has been said, essentially in showing the world as opaque, as inaccessible to reason on principle. This happens when [the artist] Piranesi in his imagine prisons [Carceri] depicts a world peopled by other beings than those for which it was created." -- Lars Gustafsson "On the Fantastic in Literature", in "Utopier och andra essaer om 'dikt' och 'Liv'", [Stockholm: 1969]
- Alternatively, the fantastic is in the text itself, and depends upon the degree to which the characters in the story are themselves in doubt as to whether they have experienced the supernatural, or merely an illusion of their imaginations: "The fantastic occupies the duration of this uncertainty. Once we choose one answer or the other, we leave the fantastic for a neighboring genre, the uncanny or the marvellous. The fantastic is the hesitation experienced by a person who knows only the laws of nature, confronting an apparently supernatural event." -- Tzvetan Todorov, in "The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre", translated by Richard Howard, Ithaca NY: 1975, p.25
- "A fiction evoking wonder and containing a substantial and irreducible element of supernatural or impossible worlds, beings, or objects with which the reader or the characters within the story become on at least familiar terms." -- C. N. Manlove, "Modern Fantasy: Five Studies", London: 1975, pp.10-11
- "Fantasy is a natural human activity. It certainly does not destroy or even insult Reason; and it does not either blunt the appetite for, nor obscure the perception of, scientific verity. On the contrary: the keener and clearer is the reason, the better fantasy it will make. If men were ever in a state in which they did not want to know or could not perceive the truth (facts or evidence), then Fantasy would languish until they were cured. If they ever got into that state (it would not seem at all impossible), Fantasy will perish, and become Morbid Delusion." -- J. R. R. Tolkien, "On Fairy Stories", in "Tree and Leaf", [London: 1964, New York: 1965]
- {to be done}
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they came from outer space The actual title "Aliens on Earth" was first used by John Tayne, as a nonfiction article, in "Authentic Science Fiction" #55, March 1955 -- but this subgenre has long been a popular one. Arguably the first novel of aliens visiting Earth was "Micromegas", by Voltaire (1750). A giant from Sirius and a giant from Saturn come to our home planet, make satirical obervations, and humble our puny philosphy and mental capacity. Peter Nichols, in "The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction," asserts that the first story of hostile aliens invading Earth was "The Germ Growers", by the Australian clergyman Robert Potter (1892). It wasn't until 6 years later that H. G. Wells published the vastly more popular and influential "The War of the Worlds."
ALIENS: list of 32 movies/TV movies with Aliens, last updated 2 March 1997 Some recommended books on Aliens on Earth include, by order of publication:For an entire book on how to communicate with extraterrestrials, click on: How to Talk to an Extraterrestrial
- "Auf Zwei Planeten", by Kurd Lasswitz (1897)
Perhaps the first modern science fiction novel to describe first contact between human and ET, with some concern for linguistic problems, was "Two Planets" by Kurd Lasswitz, published in German in 1897 ["Two Planets", Kurd Lasswitz, published in German under the original title "Auf Zwei Planeten", Lepzig: Verlag B. Elischer Nachfolger, 1897; translated in English Carbondale: Southern Illinois Press, 1971] The human protagonists (Saltner and Grunthe) meet Martians ("Nume") who have colonized Earth's North and South Poles. The Martians look very human, and Saltner saves and falls in love with the female Martian "La." Lasswitz' "Two Planets"- "The War of the Worlds", by H. G. Wells (1898)
- "The Puppet Masters", by Robert A. Heinlein (1951)
- "The Day of the Triffids", by John Wyndham (1951)
- "Invaders of Earth", by Groff Conklin [editor] (1952)
(New York: Vanguard) Theme anthology of 22 aliens-on-Earth stories (from late 1940s and early 1950s)- "Childhood's End", by Arthur C. Clarke (New York: Houghton-Mifflin, 1953)
In the classic novel Childhood's End, Arthur C. Clarke outlines a race of beings superior to human beings, who effortlessly communicate with us, but achieve their mysterious goals by educating human children to attain super-human powers, until our children's behavior passes beyond that of human and alien alike. On the same theme, Arthur C. Clarke's book 2001, and the film made in collaboration with director Stanley Kubrick, involve human-ET communication which results in one man transcending human limits and human understanding. The inverse of this occurs in the short story "The Children's Hour96" by Kuttner and Moore, in which the apparently adult ET with whom the protagonist falls in love is in fact a superchild: A child can't completely comprehend an adult. But a child can more or less understand another child--which is reduced to the same equation as his own, or at least the same common denominator. A superman would have to grow. He wouldn't start out mature... Similarly, Ted Sturgeon's story "The [Widget], the [Wadget], and Boff97" has ETs on the verge of destroying the human race until they have fun with a child, and understand us at last: Throughout the continuum as we know it (and a good deal more as we don't know it) there are cultures that fly and cultures that swim; there are boron folk and fluorine fellowships, cupro-copraphages and (roughly speaking) immaterial lifeforms which swim and swirl around each other in space like so many pelagic shards of metaphysics. And some organize into super- entities like a beehive or a slime-mold so that they live plurally to become singular, and some have even more singular ideas of plurality.... Prognosis [for Earth] Positive. Their young are delightful.- "Shadows in the Sun", by Chad Oliver (1954)
(New York: Ballentine) Small town in Texas is covert base of super-society of interstellar origin; man who finds out must prepare humanity for galactic UN membership; uses author's expertise as Anthropologist- "A Mirror for Observers", by Edgar Pangborn (1954)
(Garden City NY: Doubleday) Martians covertly on Earth plant the seeds of moral enlightenment; philosophical examination of what it means for a man to be "good"; I see this as a science fictional equivalent of C. S. Lewis' theological fantasy "The Screwtape Letters." Winner of 1954 International Fantasy Award.- "The Black Cloud", by Fred Hoyle (London: Heinemann, 1957; New York: Harper, 1957)
A particularly important novel that almost makes it into this subgenre (the alien comes between Sun and Earth, not strickly to Earth) is "The Black Cloud", by prominent Astronomer-Author Sir Fred Hoyle. He explores the communications problems between humans and a very intelligent and powerful, but very alien, creature made up of organic life distributed on particles within an ultra-cold "molecular cloud" in space. This novel also lays out (for the 1950s) a good summary of the kind of logistics needed to assemble and support a Science Team.- "The Wanderer", by Fritz Leiber (New York: Ballantine, 1964)
"The Wanderer" by Fritz Leiber is also a detailed and thoughtful examination of First Contact, in which a planet-sized UFO (The Wanderer) pulverizes our Moon for fuel and raises deadly tides on Earth. "Then a voice, strangely sweet and cajoling, called to him [astronaut Don Merriam] in only slightly slurred English: 'Come! Unsuit yourself and come down!'" [p.138]. The felinoid ET Tigerishka is offended that humans keep cats as pets, and on meeting her, Merriam ponders "It was unreasonable to think of an alien being being able to speak English without any preliminary parleying. Or was it?" [p.143]. It turns out that these ETs are telepathic, and disdain humans: "Monkeys! Cowardly, chattering, swarming -- no individuality, no flair!... We think he smells. Makes smells with his mind, too" [p.170]. They have a fabulous technology, though: "I come superior galactic culture. Read minds, throw thoughts, sail hyperspace, live forever if want, blow up suns, all that sort stuff. Look like animal -- resume ancestral shapes. Make brain small but really large (psychophysiosubmicrominiaturization)! We stay superior. You not believe?" [pp.192-3]. The story then gives an explanation for why we haven't seen ETs before, despite their being prevalent: "Because mankind is young, you think the universe is, too. But it is old, old, old.... You think that space is empty, but it's full. Your own solar system is one of the few primeval spots left, like a small, weed-grown lot overlooked by builders in the heart of a vast but ancient city that has overgrown all the countryside.... There is the drama of meeting other life forms -- shocks, moments of poignent wonder.... The universe is full.... Intelligent life is everywhere, its planets darkening the stars" [pp.255-256].- "Nightwings", by Robert Silverberg (1969)
- "Contact", by Carl Sagan (1985)
[Contact, Carl Sagan, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985; grown out of a film treatment by Carl Sagan & Ann Druyan, assisted by Gentry Lee & Lynda Obst] "Contact" by Carl Sagan was a remarkable first novel by the well-known scientist and author. It tells of signals being received from near the star Vega, consisting initially of "the first few hundred prime numbers in order," consistent with our "Rosetta Stone" theory of mathematics in common. The aliens also send a copy of the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games TV broadcast, and an enormous encrypted "Message" which turns out to be blueprints and assembly instructions for a space-warp spaceship to carry a five-human crew to the center of the galaxy, so that superior aliens can gather our "feelings, memories, instincts, learned behaviors, insights, madness, dreams, love" for a sort of "Office of the Galactic Census."Weinbaum's "Martian Odyssey"
The first time this idea was explored in science fiction was in 1934, when chemical engineer Stanley Weinbaum's story "A Martian Odyssey" ["A Martian Odyssey," Stanley G. Weinbaum, Wonder Stories, July 1934] introduced a fascinatingly different alien named Tweel, who, for the first time in literature, was as smart as a human but did not think remotely like a human. This birdlike Martian, who jumped into the air and landed on his beak as a mode of travel, was able to learn the human protagonist's name, and the human learn his name, but then their communications bogged down in mutual incomprehension: "I couldn't get the hang of his talk. Either I missed some subtle point or we just didn't think alike--and I rather believe the latter view." Weinbaum then solved the problem in a way that forms the basis of our Handbook: "After a while I gave up the language business, and tried mathematics. I scratched two plus two equals four on the ground, and demonstrated it with pebbles. Again Tweel caught the idea, and informed me that three plus three equals six." This first step -- communicating about elementary arithmetic, and then working up to more and more advanced mathematics -- is the recommended technique, as many scientists today agree. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C. Clarke, New York: New American Library, 1968; Stanley Kubrick's 1968 MGM filmLeinster's "First Contact"
Another classic story of human-ET communications, indeed the one that gave the name to this whole genre of fiction, was "First Contact" by Murray Leinster in 1945 ["First Contact," Murray Leinster (pseudonym of W.F. Jenkins), Astounding Science Fiction, May 1945]. A human-crewed spaceship and an alien-crewed spaceship encounter each other thousands of light years away, in the Crab Nebula. They communicate by radio, again beginning with mathematics, and accumulate a vocabulary of words that they can both agree upon. They find that they, broadly speaking, think in the same way. Unfortunately, that means that they both realize that if either of them returned to their home planet, the other might follow and begin an interstellar war. "I'd like to say," said the skipper heavily, "the appropriate things about this first contact of two dissimilar civilized races, and of my hopes that a friendly intercourse between the two peoples will result." Tommy Dort, the radio operator, sends this message, and receives a response from the ET captain: "He says, sir, 'That is all very well, but is there any way for us to let each other go home alive? I would be happy to hear of such a way if you can contrive one. At the moment it seems to me that one of us must be killed.'" Rather than destroy each other on the spot, they have a clever idea: "Swap ships!.... We can fix our instruments so they'll do no trailing, and he can do the same with his. We'll each remove our star maps and records. We'll each dismantle our weapons. The air will serve, and we'll take their ship and they'll take ours, and neither one can harm or trail the other, and each will carry home more information than can be taken otherwise." They communicate so well that, by the end of the story, they are telling each other dirty jokes!Piper's "Omnilingual"
Further confirmation of our basic strategy was intelligently presented in the story "Omnilingual" by H. Beam Piper in 1957. ["Omnilingual", H. Beam Piper, Astounding Science Fiction, February 1957]. Human archeologists on an alien planet try to understand a vanished civilization. They succeed, based on the discovery of an alien "Rosetta Stone" which permits translation of the alien language. The key to recognition of shared knowledge is the Periodic Table of the Elements. Both humans and ETs have found the same inevitable pattern of the elements Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium, Boron, Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, and so forth. From that pattern, on the "Rosetta Stone," the alien arithmetic and technology become quickly able to be decoded.Katherine MacLean's "Pictures Don't Lie"
["Pictures Don't Lie," Katherine MacLean, Galaxy Science Fiction, August 1951; reprinted in The Diploids, New York: Avon, 1962] other fiction on the subject: Dec 1934 Raymond Z. Gallun's "Old Faithful" in "Astounding", a famous story of a Martian astronomer who travels to Earth, a fatal trip but one that fulfills him with the joy of finally being able to study humans close up.Delany's "Babel-17"
"Babel-17" by Samuel R. Delany [New York: Ace, 1968] is another novel which about communication with extraterrestrials. This complex study of alien language is strongly based on Delany's careful study of Semiotic and linguistic theory.Vance's "Languages of Pao" and the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Another essential idea is fictionally explored in "The Language of Pao" by Jack Vance [The Language of Pao, Jack Vance, Satellite Science Fiction, December 1957].Lem's "Solaris"
"Solaris" by Polish author Stanislaw Lem [Solaris, Stanislaw Lem, 1961; translation London: Faber, 1970] was made into an outstanding film [Solaris, directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, xxxx, yyyy] which some critics praised and others found impossible to understand. An entire ocean planet seems to be a single alien lifeform, with intelligence and power so far beyond the human level that our scientists are absolutely incapable of comprehending it. "We think of ourselves as the Knights of the Holy Contact," says the scientist character Snow. Eventually, after a century of study is reviewed, the character Giese concludes "no semantic system is as yet available to illustrate the behavior of the ocean."Pohl's JEM
Frederik Pohl, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, wrote expertly about communication with ETs in his novel JEM. ["JEM", Frederik Pohl, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1978; New York Baen, 1994].Moffitt's "Jupiter Theft"
In Donald Moffitt's fine novel "The Jupiter Theft" [The Jupiter Theft, Donald Moffitt, New York: Del Rey, 1977 we have a closer examination of the notion that ET language may be musical in nature.Clement's "Mission of Gravity"
"Mission of Gravity" [Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement, Garden City NJ: Doubleday, 1954] has one of the most vividly rendered alien planets with ETs ever written.White's "All Judgment Fled"
The book "All Judgment Fled", by James White, [All Judgment Fled, James White, New York: Walker, 1969] is a novel of first contact by human astronauts who board an extraterrestrial spaceship which has entered the solar system, and is in orbit near Jupiter.Farmer's "Mother"
Philip Jos� Farmer's famous short story "Mother" ["Mother", Philip Jos� Farmer, Thrilling Wonder Stories, April 1953, reprinted in Strange Relations, Philip Jos� Farmer, New York: Avon, 1974] has a notoriously Oedipal relationship between human and alien.Oliver's "Unearthly Neighbors"
Chad Oliver, an Anthropologist, wrote particularly plausible novels of First Contact -- a term, after all, which originated in the field of Anthropology. The first of his masterpieces. "Unearthly Neighbors" ["Unearthly Neighbors", Chad Oliver, New York: Ballentine, 1960; revised (first hardcover) edition, New York: Crown, 1984] in 1960 later had a sequel, "The Shores of Another Sea." {to be done} RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS page
history might have happened differently The "Alternate History" or "Allohistory" novels are those in which some one moment in time produced an event different from what we know in our history, and things went off in a different track ever since. Other terms for this popular genre include: "counterfactuals", "uchronias", and "what-ifs." Benjamin Disraeli's "The Wondrous Tale of Alroy, and the Rise of Iskander" [1833] is about a Jew who founds a global empire in 12th Century Baghdad, after which history takes on a different flavor. This novelist/Prime Minister can be assumed to have had a profound understanding of History and how it might have been different... since he was, of course, himself Jewish. Edmund Lawrence may have invented the modern form of this genre in 1899 with his novel "It May Happen Yet", where Napoleon invaded Great Britain. Others cite Castello Holford's novel "Aristopia: A Romance-History of the New World" (1895) or the French Louis-Napoleon Geoffroy-Chateu's "Napoleon et la conquete du monde: 1812-1823, Histoire de la Monarchie Universelle." In 1907, the historian/essayist G. M. Trevelyan published a nominally nonfictional article about what might have happened if Napoleon had won at Waterloo. Had he read Edmund Lawrence's 1899 novel "It May Happen Yet"? Alfred Toynbee, in his "A Study of History" tried the same sort of academic experiments in allohistory. One of the most common sub-subgenres involve World War II having been won by the Axis (as in Philip K. Dick's 1962 masterpiece "The Man in the High Castle") or the American Civil War having been won by the South ("Guns of the South") by Harry Turtledove. Some other splendid examples are:Perhaps the first website you should look at, specializing in this genre: Jim Rittenhouse's Alternate History and a fascinating inside look by a professional science fiction author: Stephen Baxter's "Branches in Time: Alternate Histories Are True SF" Fairly thorough search results, including anthologies, references, and listings by author may be found in: The 'Net Alternate History List by Robert B. Schmunk also check out: Chris Blakely's Alternate Histories and Chris Palmer's Alternate Histories and Dan Goodman's Alternate Histories and David Johnson's Alternate Histories @ Geocities Evelyn C. Leeper's Alternate Histories @ Geocities and Eric Dunkleberger's Alternate Histories {to be done} A definition that seems to take allohistory into account is: "A handy short definition of almost all science fiction might read: realistic speculation about possible future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present, and on a thorough understanding of the scientific method. To make the definition cover all science fiction (instead of 'almost all') it is necessary only to strike out the word 'future'." -- Robert Heinlein, in "The SF Book of Lists", p.257, ed. Malcolm Edwards & Maxim Jakubowski, New York: Berkeley (1982) There is a scientific basis for such speculations, namely the "Many Worlds" interpretation of Quantum Mechanics. The notion is that each time a subatomic particle can one of several things, it actually does all them, splitting the universe into multiple copies which differ only in that one micro-event. The universe splits, splits again, and ramifies into an astonishing tree of alternative realities, a quintillion times a second. This theory was developed by Hugh Everett in 1957, but he had philosophical predecessors. Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake (1600 A.D.) for suggesting that there were an infinite number of worlds in the universe, and that any possible world must thus exist. What really got him in trouble was his specific example that there must be a world identical to ours, except that the Mass was spoken in the vernacular instead of in Latin. Small differences can be a matter of life or death. Rudjer Josip Boscovich [1711-1787] gave a qualitative description of alternate universe theory in "Theoria Philsophiae Naturalis" [1758]. See "New Scientist", 24 May 1997, p.53 for a letter to the editor summarizing Boscovich's idea. Each possible universe is a single point in a much larger (infinite?) superubiverse, which is itself a single point in an an even larger super-super-universe... There is some evidence (see the Doug Jones and James Hogan sites hotlinked below) that a majority of informed physicists actually believe the Hugh Everett "Many Worlds" interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, but won't tell the public because it just sounds too weird. Well, we Science Fiction folks can handle the idea! For more on the Many-Worlds interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, particularly as it related to consciousness, extraterrestrials, philosphy, and immortality, see: Are We Alone? Doug Jones' fascinating and unique metaphysical inquiry, presented as a socratic dialogue between himself and an on-line alien, with hotlinks (and which is the source of the hotlinks listed below) Many Worlds FAQ Many-Worlds interpretation of Quantum Mechanics by Doug Jones Quantum Indeterminacy: is it possible that Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle is due to uncertainty as to which alternate universe we're in? Quantum Future Physics Omega Point Theory: comments on Frank Tipler's theory that everyone who ever lived will be resurrected at the end of the universe, according to Physics Stapp's Quantum Theory of Consciousness, Part 2 Ontology: summary, references, and hotlinks relating to Ontology, the Philosphy of the nature of Being, similar to Metaphysics, i.e. the Theory of The Multiverse as a whole, whether Realist or Nominalist in nature Metascience, or Science and Spirituality Metatechnology James P. Hogan's "Pathways to Otherwhere": introduction and hotlinks to novel chapters Alternate View Column #16: by Prof. John Cramer? Alcor's Page on Many-Worlds, Immortality, and Cryonics RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS page
- "P.'s Correspondance", by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1845)
, the earliest such short story?- "Of a History of Events Which Have Not Happened", by Isaac Disraeli (1849)
- "The Blind Spot" by Homer Eon Flint and A. Hall [originally serialized in Argosy All-Story Weekly, starting 14 May 1921; New York: Ace, 1964??] "The most famous fantastic novel of all time. Fabulous!" -- Forrest J. Ackerman Ace blurb: "The Blind Spot is surely the great classic novel of parallel worlds. It is one of the most enthralling science-fiction books ever written. At once a fantasy adventure, an exceptional mystery, it is a new concept that touches the very framework of reality. What was 'The Blind Spot?' A room in San Francisco where strange things happened -- or a doorway into another cosmos, a different world, or perhaps the key to past or future? The fantastic events that follow from its deceptively simple opening are the sort of stuff from which Charles Fort wove his world-shaking books and A. Merritt wrought fabulous novels. 'The Blind Spot' is an experience in science-fiction imagination not to be missed."
- "If It Had Happened Otherwise: Lapses into Imaginary History", edited by J. C. Squires, London: Longmans Green (1931)
which included- "If Lee Had Not Won the Battle of Gettysburg", by Winston Churchill (1931), short story
- "If Booth Had Missed: A Drama of the Reconstruction Period", by Arthur Goodman (1932)
,- "Ancestral Voices", by Nat Schachner (1933)
, flawed time-travel change-the-past story, in which the accidental consequence is the passage into never-beingness of tens of thousands of descendants of one killed ancestor- "Sideways in Time", by Murray Leinster (1934)
, gives a four-dimensional view of alternate timelines, and a protagonist who switches from one to another, some in which humans never evolved. The breakthrough into explicitly science-fictional allohistory.- "The Curfew Tolls", by Stephen Vincent Benet (1935)
- "If the South Had Won the War", by Virginia Dabney (1936)
- "Victoire a Waterloo", by Robert Aron (1937)
- "Lest Darkness Fall", by L. Sprague de Camp, in "Unknown" (1939), 6th Century time traveler tries to forestall the Dark Ages
- "The Wheels of If", by L. Sprague de Camp, in "Unknown" (1940), 10th Century Norsemen colonize America
- "Horsesense Hank in the Parallel Worlds" by Nelson S. Bond [Amazing, Aug 1942]
- "Police Operation" by H. Beam Piper, in "Astounding" (July 1948), starting a series of stories about an infinity of alternate time-lines in "paratime"
- "The Sound of His Horn", by "Sarban" (1952), Germany wins WW II
- "Bring the Jubilee", by Ward Moore (1953), South beats North in America
- "The Man in the High Castle" by Philip K. Dick (1962), Germany and Japan conquer and split the U.S.
- "Pavane", by Keith Roberts (1966), Spanish Armada beats England, Queen Elizabeth assassinated
- "Moon of Ice", by Brad Linaweaver (1968), Nazis won WWII
- "The Alteration", by Kingsley Amis (1976), Spanish Armada beats England, no Reformation
- "The Anubis Gates", by Tim Powers (1983), Victorian London a nexus of evil
- "West of Eden", by Harry Harrison (1984), Dinosaurs survived, two sequels
- "A Different Flesh", by Harry Turtledove (1988), non-extinct non-homo-sapiens hominids
- "The Difference Engine", by William Gibson & Bruce Sterling (1990), Charles Babbage completed computer, English Empire automated
- "A Troubling Along the Border", by Donald Aamodt [AvoNova, Dec 1991] sword & sorcery humor, sequel to "A Name to Conjure With" [Avon, Aug 1989],
- "Fatherland", by Robert Harris (1992), Nazis won WWII
- "Pasquale's Angel", by Paul McAuley (1994), da Vinci sparks Industrial Revolution
- "Pathways to Otherwhere", by James P. Hogan (1997): introduction and hotlinks to novel chapters
- "The Dog King", by Christoph Ransmayr (1997), America thoroughly deindustrializes Germany after WWII, war in Japan ends in 1965
reviewed in the New York Times Book Review, 22 June 1997, by Gabriele Annan
what goes up may not come down"We may learn to deprive large masses of their gravity, and give them absolute levity, for the sake of easy transport." -- Benjamin Franklin, letter to Joseph Priestley, 8 February 1780 Cyrano de Bergerac, in "A Voyage to the Moon" (1650) had the protagonist devise several ways to reach Luna. One involved building an iron vehicle, then throwing a lodestone (natural magnet) into the air, which pulls the vehicle upwards, at which point the adventurer throws the lodestone higher, and thereby hoists himself up by his own bootstraps. This was adapted by Jonathan Swift for his floating Island of Laputa, in "Gulliver's Travels." In 1827, the novel "A Voyage to the Moone" was published in New York by George Tucker, under the pseudonym "Joseph Atterly." The spaceship is coated with an antigravity chemical, similar to the "Cavorite" used by H. G. Wells in "The First Men in the Moon" (1901), almost three-quarters of a century later. John Ames Mitchell's "Drowsy" (1917) is one of several novels which link antigravity to the discovery of an ultimate source of energy. The field has developed considerably, since Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity has changed our concept of gravity far beyond the Universal Law of Gravitation by Isaac Newton. All we need to build a working antigravity machine, according to Einstein's theory, is to make a hollow donut shape with a cross-section about the size of a football field, and fill it with a few trillion tons of neutronium circulating at a good fraction of the speed of light. The "frame dragging" effect of General Relativity would reduce gravity in the donut's hole to zero, or a little bit less... We have built actual Gravity Wave detectors, perhaps the first of which was constructed by Dr. Robert Forward, now a full-time science fiction author. We believe that gravity has caused the existence of "Black Holes", which I tend to lump into this category. According to Sam Moskowitz, in "Fantasy Commentator", Vol.VIII, No.4, Fall 1995, p.281, "Willy Ley had an article in the third (1939) issue of the British professional magazine Fantasy titled "Impossibilities.' Among those he included anti-gravity devices. As a follow-up to this, The Satellite for February 1940 carried an article by George Medhurst loquaciously titled 'The Life Story, Together with Some Account of the Reputed Death, of the Anti-Gravitational Screen." This reviewed devices authors had employed to defeat gravity, starting with Francis Godwin's 'The Man in the Moone' (1638) and citing worls by Cyrano de Bergerac (1657), Joseph Atterly (1827), Achille Eyraud (1864), Chrystotum Trueman (1864) and modern authors. For that time in fan history, it was an impressive effort." Some antigravity theories (in science and fiction) relate to FASTER THAN LIGHT. There have been some recent reports of purported antigravity in the laboratory, including... Antigravity hotlinks Antigravity Research Website Antigravity, Contragravity: Mainstream and Fringe Websites {to be done} RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS page
animals who speak, think, or act human [Revised: 4 July 1998] Felix Salten actually used this title for the sequel to his better-known "Bambi." This is (as Baird Searles, Beth Meacham, and Michael Franklin point out ["A Reader's Guide to Fantasy", New York: Avon, 1982] a fine description of tales in which animals speak, think, or act human. Hugh Lofting's "Dr. Dolittle" stories are so captivatingly charming and yet realistic that they make us forget that talking animals are Fantasy. Some such tales are designed to show how humans fit into a world that contains many more species of beings, all deserving our compassion. Other stories are designed to make people look bad by comparison. Still others scarcely have people in the background, and are self-contained stories from the point of view of creatures with somewhat different perceptions and social structures. Aesop's Fables are based directly or indirectly on Greek tradition. It is said that Soctrates, on "death row" in 399 B.C. whiled away his time turning Aesop stories into verse. Herodotus records that Aesop was a slave who lived around 550 B.C., probably not Greek, possibly from Sardis (in asia). The moralized beast tale associated with Aesop is common worldwide, surely not his invention, typical of 7th century B.C. Greek poetry and the oldest parts of the Old Testament. Still, we are stuck with his name when we discuss "Bambi's Children." Similarly, Jean de La Fontaine's "Fables in Verse" (1668) comes to mind through classics such as "The Grasshopper and the Ant" or "The Fox and the Cheese." His Fables were turned, by demanding readers and moneyed publishers, into a trilogy, with volume II in 1679 and Volume III in 1693. Few today recall his prose works ("Contes") of the genre of Boccacchio and Marguerite de Navarre, yet they were the works he cared for most. There are many novels and stories about intelligent animals, either as straight fantasy, or (if science fiction), often resulting from genetic engineering: Apes * Pierre Boulle's novel Monkey Planet, later adapted into the "Planet of the Apes" films * Richard Cowper's novel Clone * Peter van Greenaway's novel Manrissa Man * James Fenimore Cooper's 1835 novel: "The Monikins" (monkey society near the North Pole) Birds * Dick King-Smith, pseudonym of Ronald Gordon King-Smith (1922- ): novel Godhanger [Doubleday UK, Sep 1996] ISBN 0-385-40778-5, �9.99, 172pp, hardcover, Young Adult Animal Fantasy/Bird [Corgi, Oct 1997] ISBN 0-552-54501-5, �3.99, 172pp, paperback Bears * Richard Adams' novel Shardik (Macmillan, 1975; Avon) Cats * Fritz Leiber's story "Space-Time for Springers", and his novel The Wanderer * Cordwainer Smith's story "The Ballad of Lost C'Mell", part of his "Instrumentality of Man" series in which various animals have been raised to human intelligence, and fight for civil rights millennia from now. * Gabriel King's The Wild Road [Century, Nov 1997] ISBN 0-7126-7870-0, �16.99, hardcover [Arrow, Nov 1997] ISBN 0-09-924252-4, �5.99, 463pp, paperback kitten must rescue the Queen and King of Cats * Robert Lawson's (1892-1957) Captain Kidd's Cat [1956] cat sidekick of pirate captain Dogs * Harlan Ellison's novel A Boy and His Dog, later adapted into a very fine and faithful film * Clifford Simak's novel City * Olaf Stapledon's novel Sirius, as mentioned in the thumbnail description of "Man's Best Friend") Dolphins or Whales * Arthur C. Clarke's novel Dolphin Island * Robert Merle's novel Day of the Dolphins * Roy Meyers' novel Dolphin Boy (and sequels) * Joe Poyer's novel Operation Malacca * Robert Silverberg's story "Ishmael in Love" * Leo Szilard's story "The Voice of the Dolphins", in his story collection of the same name (one of the few science fiction story collections by a Nobel laureate scientist) * AIan Watson's novel The Jonah Kit * Roger Zelazny's story "Kjwalll'kje'k'koothailll'kej'k" (no, that's not a typo) Hares * Gary Kilworth's novel Frost Dancers [HarperCollins UK, Aug 1992] ISBN 0-246-13915-3, �14.99, 381pp, hardcover [HarperCollins UK, Nov 1993] ISBN 0-586-21463-1, �4.99, 381pp, paperback * see "Rabbits", below Foxes * Gary Kilworth's novel The Foxes of First Dark [Unwin Hyman, 1989, as "Hunter's Moon"; [Doubleday, May 1990] ISBN 0-385-26427-5, $18.95, 371pp, hardcover Mice * Douglas Adam's novel The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy reveals that Mice have been secretly running our planet for a long time... * Gary Kilworth's novel House of Tribes [Bantam UK, Nov 1995] ISBN 0-593-03376-0, �12.99, 430pp, hardcover [Corgi, Sep 1996] ISBN 0-552-14111-9, �5.99, 430pp, paperback * Robert Lawson's (1892-1957): * Ben and Me [1939] mouse sidekick of Benjamin Franklin filmed animation [Disney, 1953] * I Discover Columbus [1941] mouse sidekick of Columbus * Mr. Revere and I [1953] mouse sidekick of Paul Revere Moles * Robert Lawson's (1892-1957): Mr. Twigg's Mistake (Boston: Little Brown, 1947) is a sort of rewrite of H.G. Wells' "Food of the Gods" about a mole the size of a Bear Newts * Karel Capek's novel War With the Newts, not in any way related to Newt Gingrich, has these amphibians used as slaves, until they overhtrow their masters and begin reshaping the planet to their desires. Capek introduced the word "robot" into literature in his play "R.U.R.", which is closer to cloning than to metal robots in subject matter. Pigs * Charlotte's Web * Dick King-Smith, pseudonym of Ronald Gordon King-Smith (1922- ): "Babe" books: * The Sheep-Pig [Gollancz, 1983] Young Adult Animal Fantasy/Pig adapted to the film "Babe" {hotlink to be done} * Ace [Gollancz, 1990] sequel to "The Sheep-Pig" * The Sheep-Pig and Ace [Puffin, Oct 1996] ISBN 0-14-038503-7, �4.99, 242pp, trade paperback, Young Adult Animal Fantasy omnibus edition of "The Sheep-Pig" and its sequel Rabbits * Richard Adams' novel Watership Down [Macmillan, 1974; Avon] * Robert Lawson (1892-1957): Fantasy illustrator/author * the "Rabbit Hill" series about talking rabbits * Rabbit Hill [1944] * Robbut, a Tale of Tales [1948] * Edward, Hoppy, and Joe [1952] * The Tough Winter [1954] * see "Hares", above Rats * A. Bertram Chandler's novel Giant Killer, about smart rats infesting a spaceship. The author told me that he wrote this abord a ship in Sydney Harbor, Australia, which was infested with ordinary rats. Skunks * Clifford Simak's story "Operation Stinky" Spiders * Charlotte's Web Weasels * Gary Kilworth's novel The Welkin Weasels: Thunder Oak [Corgi, July 1997] ISBN 0-552-54546-5, �4.99, 382pp, paperback Wolves * Gary Kilworth's novel Midnight's Sun [Unwin Hyman, Sep 1990] ISBN 0-04-440683-5, �12.95, 317pp, hardcover [Grafton, Mar 1992] ISBN 0-586-21495-X, �4.99, 317pp, paperback RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS page
matter transmission, techno-teleportation If you do it be mental means, it's called "teleportation", if it's done by science and engineering, it's called "matter transmission." Star Trek's "Beam Me Up, Scottie" is far from the first use of this device in science fiction. Earlier examples include:The earliest of all, according to Sam Moskowitz, was "The Man Without a Body" by Edward Page Mitchell [New York Sun, 25 March 1877]. Sam Moskowitz calls this "the first fictional exposition yet discovered of breaking matter down into energy scientifically and transmitting it to a receiver where it may be reformed." The adverb "scientifically" is used by Moskowitz, one presumes, to eliminate the earlier but more fantasy-oriented "Helionde" by Sidney Whiting (1855) where the protagonist dreams that he is dissolved into vapor and transmitted to an inhabited Sun.
- Poul Anderson's "The Enemy Stars" (Lippincott, 1959)
- John Brunner's "Web of Everywhere" (Bantam, 1974)
- Algis Budrys' "Rogue Moon" (Fawcett Gold Medal, 1960)
: the protagonist with a death wish is again and again transmitted to the Moon to explore a deadly alien maze- Thomas M. Disch's "Echo Round His Bones" (Berkley, 1967)
: but after you are transmitted, a ghost of you is left behind- Joe Haldeman's "Mindbridge" (St.Martins, 1976)
- Harry Harrison's "One Step from Earth" (Macmillan, 1970)
- Fred T. Jane's "To Venus in Five Seconds" (1897 !)
- Larry Niven's "Flash Crowd" (19zz) and later stories
- Bob Shaw's "Who Goes Here?" (19zz)
- Clifford Simak's "Way Station" (Doubleday, 1963)
- Roger Zelazny's "Today We Choose Faces" (Signet, 1973)
Quantum Teleportation by Dafydd ab Hugh (c) 1997 by DaH & Associates Teleportation is the name given by science fiction writers to the feat of making an object or person disintegrate in one place while a perfect replica appears somewhere else. How this is accomplished is usually not explained in detail, but the general idea seems to be that the original object is scanned in such a way as to extract all the information from it, then this information is transmitted to the receiving location and used to construct the replica, not necessarily from the actual material of the original, but perhaps from atoms of the same kinds, arranged in exactly the same pattern as the original. A teleportation machine would be like a fax machine, except that it would work on 3-dimensional objects as well as documents, it would produce an exact copy rather than an approximate facsimile, and it would destroy the original in the process of scanning it. A few science fiction writers consider teleporters that preserve the original, and the plot gets complicated when the original and teleported versions of the same person meet; but the more common kind of teleporter destroys the original, functioning as a super transportation device, not as a perfect replicator of souls and bodies. Two years ago an international group of six scientists, including IBM Fellow Charles H. Bennett, confirmed the intuitions of the majority of science fiction writers by showing that perfect teleportation is indeed possible in principle, but only if the original is destroyed. Meanwhile, other scientists are planning experiments to demonstrate teleportation in microscopic objects, such as single atoms or photons, in the next few years. But science fiction fans will be disappointed to learn that no one expects to be able to teleport people or other macroscopic objects in the foreseeable future, for a variety of engineering reasons, even though it would not violate any fundamental law to do so. Until recently, teleportation was not taken seriously by scientists, because it was thought to violate the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics, which forbids any measuring or scanning process from extracting all the information in an atom or other object. According to the uncertainty principle, the more accurately an object is scanned, the more it is disturbed by the scanning process, until one reaches a point where the object's original state has been completely disrupted, still without having extracted enough information to make a perfect replica. This sounds like a solid argument against teleportation: if one cannot extract enough information from an object to make a perfect copy, it would seem that a perfect copy cannot be made. But the six scientists found a way to make an end-run around this logic, using a celebrated and paradoxical feature of quantum mechanics known as the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen effect. In brief, they found a way to scan out part of the information from an object A, which one wishes to teleport, while causing the remaining, unscanned, part of the information to pass, via the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen effect, into another object C which has never been in contact with A. Later, by applying to C a treatment depending on the scanned-out information, it is possible to maneuver C into exactly the same state as A was in before it was scanned. A itself is no longer in that state, having been thoroughly disrupted by the scanning, so what has been achieved is teleportation, not replication. The unscanned part of the information is conveyed from A to C by an intermediary object B, which interacts first with C and then with A. What? Can it really be correct to say "first with C and then with A"? Surely, in order to convey something from A to C, the delivery vehicle must visit A before C, not the other way around. But there is a subtle, unscannable kind of information that, unlike any material cargo, and even unlike ordinary information, can indeed be delivered in such a backward fashion. This subtle kind of information, also called "Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) correlation" or "entanglement", has been at least partly understood since the 1930s when it was discussed in a famous paper by Albert Einstein, Boris Podolsky, and Nathan Rosen. In the 1960s John Bell showed that a pair of entangled particles, which were once in contact but later move too far apart to interact directly, can exhibit individually random behavior that is too strongly correlated to be explained by classical statistics. Experiments on photons and other particles have repeatedly confirmed these correlations, thereby providing strong evidence for the validity of quantum mechanics, which neatly explains them. Another well-known fact about EPR correlations is that they cannot by themselves deliver a meaningful and controllable message. It was thought that their only usefulness was in proving the validity of quantum mechanics. But now it is known that, through the phenomenon of quantum teleportation, they can deliver exactly that part of the information in an object which is too delicate to be scanned out and delivered by conventional methods. Compare conventional facsimile transmission with quantum teleportation. In conventional facsimile transmission the original is scanned, extracting partial information about it, but remains more or less intact after the scanning process. The scanned information is sent to the receiving station, where it is imprinted on some raw material (e.g. paper) to produce an approximate copy of the original. In quantum teleportation two objects B and C are first brought into contact and then separated. Object B is taken to the sending station, while object C is taken to the receiving station. At the sending station object B is scanned together with the original object A which one wishes to teleport, yielding some information and totally disrupting the state of A and B. The scanned information is sent to the receiving station, where it is used to select one of several treatments to be applied to object C, thereby putting C into an exact replica of the former state of A. To learn more about quantum teleportation, see the following articles: * C.H. Bennett, G. Brassard, C. Crepeau, R. Jozsa, A. Peres, and W. Wootters, "Teleporting an Unknown Quantum State via Dual Classical and EPR Channels", Phys. Rev. Lett. vol. 70, pp 1895-1899 (1993) (the original 6-author research article) * Tony Sudbury, "Instant Teleportation", Nature vol.362, pp 586-587 (1993) (a semipopular account). * Ivars Peterson, Science News, April 10, 1993, p. 229. (another semipopular account). * Samuel Braunstein, A fun talk on teleportation RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS page
magical world unconnected to ours "Beyond the Fields We Know" is a haunting phrase by Lord Dunsany. This is (as Baird Searles, Beth Meacham, and Michael Franklin point out ["A Reader's Guide to Fantasy", New York: Avon, 1982] a fine description of tales in which all the action happens in a magical world unconnected to our own by space or time. "The Lord of the Rings", by J. R. R. Tolkein, is a superb example. Tolkein said that the author of such fiction is engaged in "subcreation" of the other world, with an inner consistency and conviction: "To experience directly a Secondary World, the potion is too strong, and you give to it Primary Belief, however marvellous the events. You are deluded -- whether that is the intention of the elves (always or at any time) is another question. They at any rate are not deluded. This is for them a form of Art, and distinct from Wizardry or Magic, properly so called" [J. R. R. Tolkien, "On Fairy Stories", in "Tree and Leaf", 1964]. David Hartwell [Age of Wonders, New York: Walker, 1984, p.14] summarizes this genre as "Tolkienesque fantasy, in the manner of Lord of the Rings -- carefully constructed worlds as the setting for a heroic quest." Here we mean tales of a world sufficient unto itself, with its own history, geography, cultures, races, and nonhuman beings. There is a greater or lesser degree of magic, sometimes central to the action, sometimes part of the taken-for-granted background, but always as something distinguishing this world from our technological one. When we read such fiction, we feel ourselves drawn into the other world, and taking it as real, so that when we close the book, it is hard to wrench ourselves away from that world and reluctantly return to home. To capture the dream, we read the book again, or perhaps look for others that will produce the same magical emotion. Here are some places you might start your search. 93 Excellent "Beyond the Fields We Know" Books (alphabetically by last name of author):RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
- Lynn Abbey's "Daughter of the Bright Moon"
- Richard Adams' "Shardik"
- Joan Aiken's Alternate England series
- Lloyd Alexander's "The Cat Who Wanted to Be a Man"
- Lloyd Alexander's "The Chronicles of Prydain"
- Poul Anderson's "The Broken Sword"
- Piers Anthony's The Magic of Xanth series
- Piers Anthony's Proton/Phaze trilogy
- L. Frank Baum's The Oz Books
- Peter S. Beagle's "Come, Lady Death"
- Peter S. Beagle's "The Last Unicorn"
- John Bellairs' "The Face in the Frost"
- Terry Brooks' "The Sword of Shanara"
- John Brunner's "The Traveler in Black"
- James Branch Cabell's The Biography of Manuel of Poictesme series
- Lin Carter's The Thongor Series
- Lin Carter's The World's End Series
- Joy Chant's "The Grey Mane of Morning"
- B. J. Chute's "Greenwillow"
- Juanita Coulsen's "The Death God's Citadel"
- Juanita Coulsen's "The Web of Wizardry"
- Avram Davidson's "Island Under the Earth"
- Avram Davidson's "Peregrine: Primus"
- Avram Davidson's "The Phoenix and the Mirror"
- Avram Davidson's "Ursus of Ultima Thule"
- L. Sprague de Camp's "The Clocks of Iraz"
- L. Sprague de Camp's "The Goblin Tower"
- L. Sprague de Camp's "The Tritonian Ring"
- Samuel Delany's "Tales of Neveryon"
- Peter Dickenson's "The Blue Hawk"
- E. R. Eddison's "The Worm Ouroboros"
- Phyllis Eisenstein's "Born to Exile"
- Phyllis Eisenstein's "Sorcerer's Son"
- Gardner F. Fox's The Kothar Series
- Gardner F. Fox's The Kyrik Series
- Jane Gaskell's The Atlan saga
- Jane Gaskell's "King's Daughter"
- Roland Green's The Wandor Series
- Isidore Haiblum's "The Tsaddik of the Seven Wonders"
- Paul Hazel's The Finnbranch series
- Robert E. Howard and others' The Conan series
- Robert E. Howard's "King Kull"
- Dahlov Ipcar's "The Warlock of Night"
- Eric Iverson's "Wereblood"
- Eric Iverson's "Werenight"
- John Jakes' Brak the Barbarian series
- John Jakes' "Mention My Name in Atlantis"
- Tove Jansson's The Moomin books
- Diana Wynne Jones's "Charmed Life"
- Diana Wynne Jones's The Dalemark Sequence
- Diana Wynne Jones's "The Magicians of Caprona"
- Carol Kendall's "The Gammage Cup"
- Carol Kendall's "The Whisper of Glocken"
- Katherine Kurtz's Chronicles of Deryni
- Katherine Kurtz's The Legends of Camber of Culdi
- Henry Kuttner's "The Dark World"
- Tanith Lee's "Death's Master"
- Tanith Lee's "Night's Master"
- Ursula K. Le Guin's The Earthsea Trilogy
- Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser series
- Astrid Lindgren's "Ronja Rvardotter" ["Ronja, the Robber's Daughter"] [1981]
- George MacDonald's "The Princess and the Curdie"
- George MacDonald's "The Princess and the Goblin"
- George MacDonald's "The Wise Woman"
- Patricia McKillip's "The Forgotten Beasts of Eld"
- Patricia McKillip's The Riddlemaster trilogy
- Hope Mirrlees's "Lud-in-the-Mist"
- Michael Moorcock's The Chronicles of Corum
- Michael Moorcock's The Elric series
- Michael Moorcock's "Gloriana"
- C. L. Moore's "The Black God's Shadow"
- William Morris' "The Water of the Wondrous Isles"
- William Morris' "The Well at the World's End"
- William Morris' "The Wood Beyond the World"
- Andre Norton's The Witch World series
- Andrew Offutt's Tiana's trilogy
- Alexei & Cory Panshin's "Earthmagic"
- Mervyn Peake's The Gormengast Trilogy
- Fletcher Pratt's "The Blue Star"
- Fletcher Pratt's "The Well of the Unicorn"
- Joanna Russ' The Alyx stories
- Nancy Springer's The Chronicles of Isle
- J.R.R. Tolkien's The Chronicles of Middle-Earth
- J.R.R. Tolkien's "Farmer Giles of Ham"
- J.R.R. Tolkien's "Leaf by Niggle"
- Karl Edward Wagner's The Kane Series
- Karl Edward Wagner's "Legion from the Shadows"
- Hugh Walker's The Magira series
- Oscar Wilde's "The Happy Prince and Other Stories"
- Roger Zelazny's "The Changing Land"
- Roger Zelazny's "Isle of the Dead"
- Roger Zelazny's "Jack of Shadows"
- xxx's "yyy"
bigger, better, and more astonishing urban visionsThen they fared on without ceasing till they drew near the city and behold, it was as if it were a piece of a mountain or a mass of iron cast in a mold and impenetrable for the height of its walls and bulwarks; while nothing could be more beautiful than its buildings and its ordinance -- The City of Brass (date unknown) translated by Sir Richard Burton In Genesis we are told that the first city was built by Cain... Other cities in the Bible are not uniformy praised. Babylon, for example, is called "Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth" [Revelation 17:15]. One final biblical citation:How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how she has become tributary! -- Jeremiah 1:1 (605 B.C.) Another company owned by the Webmaster of Magic Dragon Multimedia is Emerald City Publishing. The Emerald City is, of course, L. Frank Baum's "Oz", but also Seattle, Washington, where your humble webmaster founded the company in 1979. OZ is the prototype of the modern fantasy city -- but we want to take a closer look at the Science Fiction city right now. The French playwright Louis-Sebastien Mercier wrote "L'An 2440", later translated as "Memoirs of the Year Two Thousand Five Hundred" in 1771, about a utopian future Paris. Ever since, writers have been practicing urban renewal on a vast scale. Jonathan Swift's "Laputa" in "Gulliver's Travels" (1726) floated, as if by Antigravity, true, but it was first and foremost a future city, inhabited by scientists. The future city may be UTOPIA:, better in every way than what we have encountered in the present. It may be a Dystopia, carrying trends to a dark and terrifying horror. Or it may attempt to blend the two into a complex vision of an urban complexity that embraces good and bad alike in a distinct style and setting that makes us view our home in a new light. The case can be made that science fiction began in the 19th Century in France, with Jules Verne. Verne was born in Nantes, France, on 8 February 1828. He died in Amiens, France, on 24 March 1905. In between these dates, he was surely, as Isaac Asimov says, "the first writer to specialize in science fiction and to make a living at it, too." [Asimov on Science Fiction, p.158] Verne plumbed planetary depths -- "Journey to the Center of the Earth" (1864); fired people to the Moon from Florida -- "From the Earth to the Moon" (1865); and had a mad scientist conquer the oceans -- "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1869). Verne had a mad scientist orbit the earth atmospherically in "Robur the Conqueror" and "Master of the World"; create a Utopia -- "The Mysterious Island"; explore conflicts between supercities -- "The Begum's Fortune"; and make cities fly -- "Propellor Island." 19 examples of Future Cities...Some good short stories about future cities may be found in "Cities of Wonder", edited by Damon Knight (uncredited: published by Samuel H. Post), New York: Macfadden-Bartell, 1967:
- "Propellor Island", by H. G. Wells (1895)
- "When the Sleeper Wakes", by H. G. Wells (1899)
- "Metropolis", by Thea von Harbou (1926)
: {film hotlink to be done}- "The Caves of Steel", by Isaac Asimov (1954)
(Garden City NY: Doubleday) Murder mystery starring human detective Elijah Baley and robot sidekick R. Daneel Olivaw, fascinatingly effective speculation on utopian sociology of automated future. The action is mostly in a future New York City. In Asimov's "Foundation" trilogy, the galactic capital is a planet entirely covered by a single city" "Trantor."- "The City and the Stars", by Arthur C. Clarke (1956)
(New York: Gnome Press, 1953) alienated immortal Alvin in billion-year-old city "Diaspar" seeks freedom, wisdom, and the stars (expanded to "The City and the Stars" in 1956)- "Space Merchants", by Frederik Pohl & C. M. Kornbluth (Ballentine, 1953)
New York City- "Some Will Not Die", by Algis Budrys (as "False Night", Lion, 1954; Regency, 1961)
New York City- "Super City", by Richard Wilson, Science Fiction #33 (Feb 1959)
- "Dhalgren", by Samuel R. Delany (Bantam, 1975)
: the city is named "Bellona"- "The Cities in Flight" trilogy, by James Blish (1955-1962)
: cities acquire antigravity by the "spindizzy", and lift off to interstellar space. The city we follow is New York.- "Make Room! Make Room!", by Harry Harrison (Doubleday, 1966)
New York City- "The Year 2000", by Herman Kahn & A. J. Weiner (1968)
nonfiction- "Cities in Flight", by James Blish (1970)
the "hero" is New York City- "Vermillion Sands", by J. G. Ballard (Berkley, 1971)
: city named Vermillion Sands- "The Pastel City", by M. John Harrison (Doubleday, 1972)
: city named Viriconium in this and the related novel "A Storm of Wings"- "334", by Thomas M. Disch (Avon, 1974)
: New York City- "Cinnabar", by Edward Bryant (Macmillan, 1976)
: city named Cinnabar- "Oath of Fealty", by Larry Niven (19??)
: city named Todos Santos- "The World Inside", by Robert Silverberg (1971)
: the city is named Urbmon 116Some science fiction stories with "City" in the title:
- J. G. Ballard's "Billennium", originally in his collection of the same name (1952)
: the characters don't see the overcrowding from population as grimly as we readers do- Stephen Vincent Benet's "By the Waters of Babylon", originally in "Selected Works of Stephen Vincent Benet" (1937)
: classic story of a great city after a great war- James Blish's "Okie", originally in Astounding (1950)
- E. M. Forster's "The Machine Stops", originally in "The Eternal Moment and Other Stories", New York: Harcourt Brace & World (1928)
: classic tale of the entire future world subsumed into one great city, with people sealed away from birth in solitary cells, fed through tubes, distracted by TV, until they lose the ability to adapt to change, let alone disaster...- Robert Heinlein's "It's Great to be Back!", originally in Saturday Evening Post (1947)
: great profile of Luna City, on the moon- C. M. Kornbluth's "The Luckiest Man in Denv", originally in "The Marching Morons" New York: Ballentine (1959)
: conspiracy and conflict between future Denver and Los Angeles- Henry Kuttner's "Jesting Pilot", originally in Astounding (1947)
: "The city screamed. It had been screaming for six hundred years..."- Walter M. Miller's "Dumb Waiter", originally in Astounding (1952)
: how to reprogram the automated city after World War III?- Don A. Stuart's [John Campbell, Jr.] "Forgetfulness", originally in Astounding Stories (1937)
: classic tale of the city millions of years from now, after the age of galactic travel, and what we do and do not remember about technology{to be done} There is the sometimes darker and usually more magical (Fantasy as opposed to Science Fiction) related theme of strange cities or, in some cases, vast buildings or castles which are virtual cities, or imaginary versions of real cities, all lumped under the term: Urban Fantasy:
- "The City", by Sydney J. Bounds, novella, in Other Worlds (May 1951)
- "City at Random", by Philip E. High, in Nebula #19 (Dec 1956)
- "The City Calls", by Kenneth Bulmer, novella, in New Worlds #52 (Oct 1956)
- "A City Near Centaurus", by Bill Doede, in Galaxy (Oct 1962)
- "The City of Brass", by Robert F. Young, novelette, in Amazing (Aug 1965)
- "The City of Force", by Daniel F. Galouye, novelette, in Galaxy (Apr 1959)
- "The City of Ind", by Arthur J. Burks, in Spaceway (Dec 1954)
- "City of the Phoenix", by M. C. Pease, novella, in Astounding (Aug 1951)
- "City of the Tiger", by John Brunner, novelette, in Science Fiction #32 (Dec 1958)
- "The City That Grew in the Sea", by Keith Laumer, novella, in If (Mar 1964)
{list updated 9 July 1998} Many Fantasies are set in a fabulous alternative London (Robert Louis Stevenson, G. K. Chesterson, the art of Gustave Dore), New York (as Superman's "Metropolis" and Batman's "Gotham City"), Baghdad or Cairo, but the City as such is rarely the theme in these cases. The above analysis draws significantly from "The Encyclopedia of Fantasy" by John Clute & John Grant, New York: St.Martins, 1997, pp.975-976. {This genre essay most recently updated: 4 April 1998} RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
- "Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem", by Peter Ackroyd (1994)
: London- "The Great Fire of London", by Peter Ackroyd (1982)
- "La Peau de chagrin", by Honore de Balzac (1831)
: Paris- "Ariel", by Stephen Boyett (1983)
: New York- "Animal Planet", by Scott Bradfield (1995)
: New York, BAMBI'S CHILDREN- various works, by Jonathan Carroll (???)
: Vienna- "The Passion of New Eve", by Angela Carter (1977)
: New York- several novels, by Jerome Charyn
: New York- "Little, Big", by John Crowley (1981)
: New York- "Funny Papers", by Tom de Haven (1985)
: New York- the "Borribles" novels, by Michael de Larrabeiti (19??)
: the secret parts of London- various works, by Charles de Lint (???)
: Toronto- "A Christmas Carol", by Charles Dickens (1843)
: technically not Fantasy, but a vividly recreated London- "Oliver Twist", by Charles Dickens (1839)
: technically not Fantasy, but a vividly recreated London- "On Wings of Song", by Thomas M. Disch (1979)
: New York- "The Waterworks", by E. L. Doctorow (1994)
: New York- "Sherlock Holmes", stories and novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1839)
: technically not Fantasy, but a vividly recreated London- "So, You Want to Be a Wizard", by Dianne Duane (1983)
: New York- "The Count of Monte Cristo", by Alexander Dumas (1846)
: technically not Fantasy, but a vividly recreated Paris (see Victor Hugo and Eugene Sue, below)- "Venice", by Daphne du Maurier (???)
: Venice, also in the film adaptation of "Don't Look Now"- "Deathbird Stories", by Harlan Ellison (1975)
: New York- "Time and Again", by Jack Finney (1970)
: New York, TIME TRAVEL- "Roofworld", by Christopher Fowler (1994)
: the secret parts of London- the "New York" series, by Esther M. Friesner (19??)
: New York- "Rats and Gargoyles", by Mary Gentle (1990)
- the "Hawk & Fisher" novels, by Simon R. Green (19??)
- "Fantastic Chicago", ed. by Martin H. Greenberg (1991)
: Chicago anthology- "The Wizard of 4th Street", by Simon Hawke (1987)
: New York- "Winter's Tale", by Mark Helprin (1993)
: New York- "The Medusa Frequency", by Russell Hoban (1987)
: London's Soho as influenced by Piranesi (see below)- "Falling Angel", by William Hjortsberg (1978)
: New York- "Notre-Dame de Paris", by Victor Hugo (1831)
: Cathedral and Paris romanticized- "The Werewolf's Tale", by Richard Jaccoma (1988)
: New York- "The Castle", by Franz Kafka (????)
: based on Prague- "Down Town: A Fantasy", by Tappan King & Viido Polikarpus (1985)
: New York- "The Game of Thirty", by William Kotzwinkle (1994)
: New York- various works, by Fritz Leiber (???)
: San Francisco- the "Lankhmar" stories, by Fritz Leiber (???)
: imaginary city- "Freddie the Piegeon", by Seymour Leichman (1972)
: New York, BAMBI'S CHILDREN- "The Wizard of the Pigeons", by Megan Lindholm (1986)
: Seattle- "The Phantom of the Opera", by Gaston Leroux (1910)
: Paris- "The Confession", by Harry Matthews (1962)
: New York- "The Last American", by John Ames Mitchell (1889)
: New York- "Mother London", by Michael Moorcock (1988)
: London- "Where the Blue Begins", by Christopher Morley (1922)
: New York, BAMBI'S CHILDREN- "The Golem", by Gustav Meyrink (1988)
: Prague- "Carceri d'Invenzione", by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1749-1750)
: intricate drawings of vast underground dungeons, suggesting a dark infinite shadow city- "Vedute", by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1745-1778)
: drawings which extrapolate from both modern and ancient Rome- the "Ankh-Morpork" stories, by Terry Pratchett (???)
: imaginary city- "V", by Thomas Pynchon (1963)
- "The Cricket in Times Square", by George Selden (1960)
: New York, BAMBI'S CHILDREN- "The Golden", by Lucius Shepard (1990)
: Pirtanesian "Castle Banat"- "Les mysteres de Paris", by Eugene Sue (1844)
- "The Castle of Otranto", by Horace Walpole (1765)
: and many Gothic imitations- "Newer York: Stories of Science Fiction and Fantasy About the World's Greatest City", ed. by Lawrence Watt-Evans (1991)
: anthology- "Stuart Little", by E. B. White (1945)
: New York, BAMBI'S CHILDREN- "There Are Doors", by Gene Wolfe (1988)
: imaginary city
stories of genetic engineering, especially of people
CLONE: NEW: 14 hotlinks to films about clones, genetic engineering, and human duplication
also has lists of novels and stories on this and related topics (such as "intelligent animals" and "mutants") and hotlinks to sites that separate cloning fact from fiction. A tiny example of nonfiction is below:CLONING BAN ADOPTED: Hours after French President Jacques Chirac called for an international ban on human cloning, 19 European nations signed an agreement to prohibit the genetic replication of human beings. The actions came two days after President Clinton repeated his call for a ban on human cloning. (C) Copyright 1998 Investors Business Daily, Inc. Metadata: E/IBD E/BRF E/SN1 E/FRT E/BRF2 RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
239 gritty near-future tales of hackers and cyberspace The word "cyberpunk" was coined by Bruce Bethke, and made wildly popular by William Gibson, who coined the term "cyberspace" and popularized it in "Neuromancer" and its sequel novels. A startling new look at the underbelly of the computerized corporate culture of tomorrow, a distinct and new subgenre with an attitude and an agenda, Cyberpunk was soon copied, distorted, and parodied until it sank back into the ur-Culture. Soon, the best-known Cyberpunks themselves declared that Cyberpunk was dead. Some said that it had never existed, except in as "Novels of a Gibsonian Sensibility." Former journalist Bruce Sterling became the propagandist for Cyberpunk, and it soon became a wider cultural phenomenon than merely science fiction, with an impact on films, television, pop music, clothing style, and the counter-cultural scene of "Rolling Stone" and "Spin" magazine. Some 239 Cyberpunk novels (and we cast our net wide here, based on theme, computer/cyberspace/cyborg centrality, dystopian/utopian ambiguity, style, and social affiliation) include:the above based on (1) an on-line list compiled by James Harrison; (2) the Bibliography by Chris Hables Gray and Steven Mentor in "The Cyborg Handbook", New York/London: Routledge, 1995 Hotlinks to the most cyberpunk-central of these writers include: William Gibson Finnish site about his works Bruce R. Bethke -- who invented the very word "cyberpunk" and authored the award-winning novel "Headcrash" : no known personal home page, but CompuServe e-mail Bruce R. Bethke @ AlphaRalpha e-mail Bruce R. Bethke @ Compuserve Bruce Sterling For a list of Cyberpunk books, with summaries, see: Cyberpunk Book List Four of the best Cyberpunk web sites are: Unofficial Cyberpunk Home Page Mirrorshades on the Well Lysator's Searchable Cyberpunk Authors Archive Zeta Tanuki's Cyberpunk page a very individualistic student at Kapi'olani Community College in Hawaii probes deeply into: "Near Future Films" "Near Future TV/Videos" "Near Future Printed Material" "Other Things of Interest" Another short definition of Cyberpunk is in: "What Is Cyberpunk?" {to be done} RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
- Kathy Acker's "Blood and Guts in High School"
- Brian Aldiss' "Enemy of the System"
- Roger Allen's "The Modular Man" [Bantam, 1992]
Cyborgs and Politics in Washington- Janet Asimov's "Mind Transfer" [Ace, 1988]
Hans Moravec downloading- Richard Bachman's (Stephen King's) "The Running Man"
{film hotlink to be done}- J. G. Ballard's "The Atrocity Exhibition"
{film hotlink to be done}- J. G. Ballard's "Crash"
{film hotlink to be done}- Steve Barnes' "Gorgon Child"
- Steve Barnes' "Street Lethal"
- Greg Bear's "Blood Music" [Ace, 1985]
First nanotechnology novel- Greg Bear's "Eon"
- Greg Bear's "Eternity"
- Greg Bear's "The Forge of God"
: Your Humble Webmaster and his wife both appear in this novel under their own names- Gregory Benford's "Great Sky River"
and its sequels- Alfred Bester's "Computer Connection"
- Alfred Bester's "Golem 100"
- Alfred Bester's "The Demolished Man"
- Alfred Bester's "The Stars My Destination"
- G. Betancourt's "Johnny Zed"
- Bruce Bethke's "Cyberpunk"
- Bruce Bethke's "Elimination Round"
- Bruce Bethke's "Headcrash"
- Ben Bova's "Exiled From Earth"
- Ben Bova's "The Dueling Machine" [Holt Rinehart, 1969]
Virtual War escalates- Ray Bradbury's "Farenhiet 451"
{film hotlink to be done}- David Brin's "Earth"
- John Brunner's "Stand on Zanzibar"
- John Brunner's "The Jagged Orbit"
- John Brunner's "The Sheep Look Up"
- John Brunner's "The Shockwaver Rider" [Ace, 1975]
: computer viruses described in 1975!- John Brunner's "The Stone That Never Came Down"
- Algis Budrys' "Michaelmas"
- Algis Budrys' "Who?" [Ballentine, 1958]
Cyborg identity crisis- Anthony Burgess's "A Clockwork Orange"
- William Burroughs's "Naked Lunch"
- William Burroughs's "Nova Express"
- Jack Butler's "Nightshade"
- Pat Cadigan's "Indigo"
- Pat Cadigan's "Mindplayers"
- Pat Cadigan's "Patterns"
- Pat Cadigan's "Pretty Boy Crossover", in 4th Annual Year's Best SF, ed. G. Dozois [St.Martins, 1987]
- Pat Cadigan's "Synners" [Bantam, 1991]
- Martin Caidin's "Cyborg" [Ballentine, 1972]
became TV's "Six Million Dollar Man"- Martin Caidin's "Manfac" [Baen, 1981]
harder-edged cyborg novel- Orson Scott Card's "Ender's Game" [Tor, 1985]
Simulations escalate to war- Orson Scott Card's "Speaker for the Dead" [Tor, 1986?]
Ender is cyborged- Orson Scott Card's "Xenocide" [Tor, 1987?]
end of trilogy- Anne Carlisle's "Liquid Sky"
{film hotlink to be done}- Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep"
for the style and language- C. J. Cherryh's "Cyteen" [Popular Library, 1988]
clones and space colonies- Michael Crichton's "The Terminal Man" [Avon, 1972]
brain-stimulation murder- Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Park" [Ballantine, 1990]
DNA, Dinos, Chaos- Ronald Anthony Cross's "Prisoners of Paradise"
- Samuel Delany's "Babel-17"
- Samuel Delany's "Nova"
- Don DeLillo's "White Noise"
- Bradley Denton's "Wrack'n'Roll"
- Philip K. Dick's "A Scanner Darkly"
- Philip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" [Doubleday, 1968]
became "Blade Runner" {film hotlink to be done}- Philip K. Dick's "Flow My Tears the Policeman Said"
- Gordon Dickson's "The R-Master"
- William Dietz's "Matrix Man" [Penguin, 1990]
- George Alec Effinger's "A Fire in the Sun"
- George Alec Effinger's "The Exile Kiss"
- George Alec Effinger's "When Gravity Fails"
- Mick Farren's "The Feelies"
- Mick Farren's "The Last Stand of the DNA Cowboys"
- Mick Farren's "The Long Orbit"
- Clifford Faust's "The Death of Honor"
- Clifford Faust's "The Company Man"
- Grant Fjermedal's "The Tomorrow Makers"
: nonfiction- E. M. Forster's "The Machine Stops" [1909!]
hived humans in soulless mechanical civilization- Alan Dean Foster's "Cyber Way"
- Daniel Galouye's "Conterfeit World" [Bantam, 1969]
Simulated man wants body- William Gibson's "Burning Chrome" [Ace, 1987]
- William Gibson's "Count Zero" [London: Gollancz, 1986]
- William Gibson's "Mona Lisa Overdrive" [Bantam, 1988]
- William Gibson's "Neuromancer" [Ace, 1984]
- William Gibson's "Virtual Light" [Bantam, 1994]
- William Gibson's "The Difference Engine"
with Bruce Stirling- Ron Goulart's "Barking Dogs"
- Ron Goulart's "Cowboy Heaven"
- Ron Goulart's "Crackpot"
- Joseph Green's "The Mind Behind the Eye" [Daw, 1961]
Humans parasitically spy on aliens- Isidore Haiblum's "The Mutants are Coming"
- Joe Haldeman's "Buying Time" [Avon, 1989]
medical cyborg plots conquest- Karl Hansen's "War Games" [Playboy, 1981]
android warriors- Harry Harrisons's "Make Room! Make Room!"
became "Soylent Green"- Simon Hawke's "Psychodrome"
- Robert Heinlein's "Waldo, Genius in Orbit" in "Waldo and Magic, Inc." [Avon, 1950]
First telemanipulator fiction- Robert Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" [Signet, 1959]
interstellar exoskeleton soldiers {film hotlink to be done}- Christopher Heinz's "Ash Ock"
- Christopher Heinz's "Leigh Killer"
- William Hjortsberg's "Gray Matters" [Bantam, 1971]
"cerebromorph" brains-without-bodies as solution to overpopulation- L. Ron Hubbard's "Eulogy for Lisa"
- Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World"
- Karie Jacobson's "Simulations: 15 Tales of Virtual Reality" [Citadel Twilight, 1993]
- K. W. Jeter's "Death Arms"
- K. W. Jeter's "Dr. Adder"
- K. W. Jeter's "Farewell Horizontal"
- K. W. Jeter's "Infernal Devices"
- K. W. Jeter's "The Glass Hammer"
- Richard Kadrey's "Metrophage"
- James Kunetka's "Nature's End"
- Marc Laidlaw's "Dad's Nuke"
- Marc Laidlaw's "Nutrimancer"
: parody of the genre- Stanislaw Lem's "Memoirs Found in a Bathtub"
- S. N. Lewitt's "Cybernetic Jungle"
- S. N. Lewitt's "Cyberstealth"
- S. N. Lewitt's "Dancing Vac"
- Mark Leyner's "American Made"
- Mark Leyner's "I Was an Infinitely Hot and Dense Dot"
- Mark Leyner's "My Cousin My Gastroenterologist"
- Charles de Lint's "Svaha"
- Jonathan Littell's "Bad Voltage"
- Tom Maddox's "Halo"
- George R. R. Martin's "The Armageddon Rag"
- Larry McCaffery's "Storming the Reality Studio: A Casebook of Cyberpunk and Postmodernist Fiction"
: critical review of the genre- Anne McCaffrey's "The Ship Who Sang" [Bantam, 1969]
brain-spaceship cyborgs- Ian McDonald's "Out on Blue Six"
- Maureen McHugh's "China Mountain Zhang" [Tor, 1992]
Gay/Cyborg/Chinese future- Vonda McIntyre's "Starfarers" [Bantam, 1987]
gene computers- Vonda McIntyre's "Transition" [Bantam, 1990]
sequel to "Starfarers"- Vonda McIntyre's "???" [Bantam, 1993?]
3rd book of trilogy- John McLoughlin's "The Helix and the Sword"
- Victor Milan's "The Cybernetic Samurai" [Arbor, 1985]
- Victor Milan's "The Cybernetic Shogun"
- Michael Moorcock's "The Cornelius Chronicles], Vols. 1,2,3
- C. L. Moore's "No Woman Born", short story [1941]
early cyborg fiction- Daniel Keys Moran's "Armageddon Blues"
- Daniel Keys Moran's "Emerald Eyes"
- Daniel Keys Moran's "The Long Run"
- Ed Naha's "Robocop 2" [Jove, 1990]
novelization {film hotlink to be done}- Larry Niven's "Becalmed in Hell" short story [Astounding, date??]
- Larry Niven & Stephen Barnes' "Dream Park" [Phantasia Press, 1981]
VR themepark muder- Larry Niven & Stephen Barnes' "The Barsoom Project" [Ace, 1989]
sequel to "Dream Park"- Larry Niven & Stephen Barnes' "California Voodoo Game" [Ballentine, 1992]
3rd of "Dream Park" trilogy- Rebecca Ore's "The Illegal Rebirth of Billy the Kid" [Tor, 1991]
clone/class war- George Orwell's "1984"
- David Osborn's "Heads" [Bantam, 1985]
cyborg thriller- Dennis Paoli's "Robot Jox" [Avon, 1989]
gladiator exoskeleton {film hotlink to be done}- Marge Piercy's "He, She, and It" [Fawcett, 1991]
Feminist Cyberpunk- Frederik Pohl's "Beyond the Blue Event Horizon"
- Frederik Pohl's "Gateway"
- Frederik Pohl's "Heechee Rendezvous"
- Frederik Pohl's "Man Plus" [Bantam, 1976]
AI/Cyborg- Frederik Pohl's "The Annals of the Heechee"
- Frederik Pohl & C. M. Kornbluth's "Wolfbane" [Bantam, 1976; expanded from Galaxy, 1957]
Extraterrestrials abduct humans to use their brains in computer network- M. C. Poyer's "The Stepfather Bank"
- Thomas Pynchon's "Gravity's Rainbow"
- Thomas Pynchon's "The Crying of Lot 49"
- Thomas Pynchon's "Vineland"
- W. T. Quick's "Dreams of Flesh"
- W. T. Quick's "Dreams of God"
- W. T. Quick's "Singularities"
- W. T. Quick's "Systems"
- W. T. Quick's "Dreams of Flesh"
- W. T. Quick's "Yesterday's Pawn"
- Robert Reed's "The Hormone Jungle"
- Kim Stanley Robinson's "The Gold Coast"
- Kim Stanley Robinson's "The Memory of Whiteness"
- Spider Robinson's "Mindkiller"
- Rudy Rucker's "Masters of Space and Time"
- Rudy Rucker's "SoftWare" [Avon, 1982]
Lunar AI robots abduct humans, slice their brains, download into robots, wonder why people don't appreciate this- Rudy Rucker's "Spacetime Donuts"
- Rudy Rucker's "The 57th Franz Kafka"
- Rudy Rucker's "The Secret of Life"
- Rudy Rucker's "WetWare" [Avon, 1988]
sequel to "SoftWare"- Rudy Rucker's "White Light"
- Richard Paul Russo's "Destroying Angel"
- Fred Saberhagen's "The Frankenstein Papers" [Baen, 1986]
ingenious deconstruction of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's "Frankenstein" from the monster's point of view- Thomas N. Scortia & George Zebrowski's "Human-Machines: An Anthology of Stories About Cyborgs" [Vintage, 1975]
essential anthology- William Shatner [& Ron Goulart]'s "TekWar" [Ace, 1991]
and two sequels {TV hotlink to be done}- Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's "Frankenstein"
- Lucius Shepard's "Green Eyes"
- Lucius Shepard's "Life During wartime"
- Joe Henry Sherman's "Corpsman" [Ballentine, 1988]
Interplanetary cyborg astronaut-pilots, in some sense a modernization of "Scanners Live in Vain" by Cordwainer Smith- Lewis Shiner's "Deserted Cities of the Heart"
- Lewis Shiner's "Frontera"
- John Shirley's "A Song Called Youth 1: Eclipse"
- John Shirley's "A Song Called Youth 2: Eclipse Penumbra"
- John Shirley's "A Song Called Youth 1: Eclipse Corona"
- John Shirley's "Heatseeker"
- John Shirley's "Total Eclipse"
- John Shirley's "Transmaniacon"
- Susan Shwartz's "Heritage of Flight" [Tor, 1989]
- Robert Silverberg's "Shadrach in the Furnace"
- Robert Silverberg's "The World Inside"
- John Sladek's "The Muller-Fokker Effect" [Morrow, 1971]
absurd self-reproducing machines- Norman Spinrad's "Agent of Chaos"
- Norman Spinrad's "Little Heroes"
- Norman Spinrad's "Other Americas"
- Norman Spinrad's "Riding the Torch"
- Norman Spinrad's "Streetman"
- Olaf Stapledon's "Last and First Men"
- Olaf Stapledon's "Star Maker"
- Neil Stephenson's "Snowcrash" [Bantam, 1992]
- Neil Stephenson's "Diamond Age" [Bantam, 1995]
nanotechnology/hypermedia- Bruce Stirling's "Crystal Express" [Ace, 1990]
bio-cyborgs (Shapers) versus electro-cyborgs (Mechanists) as humanity splits into two "clades" as start of speciation- Bruce Stirling's "Involution Ocean"
- Bruce Stirling's "Islands in the Net" [Arbor, 1988]
cyberculture meets international crime, and the protagonists have to change the baby's diapers in mid-adventure- Bruce Stirling's "Mirrorshades"
: definitive anthology- Bruce Stirling's "Schismatrix" [Ace, 1985]
bio-cyborgs (Shapers) versus electro-cyborgs (Mechanists) as humanity splits into two "clades" as start of speciation- Bruce Stirling's "The Artificial Kid"
- Bruce Stirling's "The Difference Engine"
(with William Gibson)- Robert Stone's "Dog Soldiers"
- Whitley Streiber's "Nature's End"
- Michael Swanwick's "In the Drift"
- Michael Swanwick's "Stations of the Tide"
- Michael Swanwick's "Vacuum Flowers"
- Craig Thomas's "Firefox" [Bantam, 1977]
technothriller about theft of brain-reading aircraft {film hotlink to be done}- Thomas T. Thomas's "Me"
- Thomas T. Thomas's "Crygender" [Baen, 1992]
cyborg/transexual/murder- James Tiptree Jr.'s "The Girl Who Was Plugged In" [1973; Tor, 1989]
- Michael Swanwick's "In the Drift"
- John Varley's "Blue Champagne"
short story collection- John Varley's "Millennium"
time-travel, post-apocalypse, human/robot sex- John Varley's "The Persistence of Vision"
short story collection- John Varley's "Steel Beach" [Ace, 1992]
Lunar cyborgs- Joan Vinge's "Catspaw"
- Joan Vinge's "Psion"
- Vernor Vinge's "Marooned in Real Time"
- Vernor Vinge's "The Peace War"
- Vernor Vinge's "Threats and Other Promises"
- Vernor Vinge's "True Names and Other Stories" [Bluejay, 1984]
title story is early VR/cyberspace/hacker fiction- Michael D. Weaver's "Mercedes Nights"
- Michael D. Weaver's "My Father Immortal"
- Walter John Williams' "Angel Station" [Tor, 1989]
- Walter John Williams' "Facets"
- Walter John Williams' "Hardwired" [Tor, 1986]
- Walter John Williams' "Solip System"
- Walter John Williams' "Voice of the Whirlwind" [Tor, 1987]
- Jack Williamson's "Manseed" [Del Rey, 1982]
cyborg panspermia- Robert C. Wilson's "Memory Wire"
- Bernard Wolfe's "Limbo" [Ace, 1956]
postapocalypse prosthetics- Dave Wolverton's "On My Way to Paradise"
- Jack Womack's "Ambient"
- Jack Womack's "Terraplane"
- Chelsea Quinn Yarbo's "Hyacinths"
Really, really bad futures (opposite of "Utopia") Science fiction, in its extremes, presents us with a menu of extremely dreadful futures ("Dystopias") and absolutely wonderful futures ("Utopia"). David Hartwell [Age of Wonders, New York: Walker, 1984, p.108] says: "The earliest SF that had any significant impact was the body of nineteenth century uropian writings.... Then quite suddenly, H. G. Wells in England, Kurt Lasswitz in Germany, and a host of minor writers in the U.S. and elsewhere began to write of futures altered by scientific and technological innovations. And not all these visions were optimistic. Whereas the utopian visions were undoubtedly influential, it was the anti-utopian visions of E. M. Forster, Aldous Huxley, Yevgeniy Zamyatin, Orwell, Jack London, M. P. Shiel, and, of course, H. G. Wells that really made us conscious of the future by basically making us scared of it in a new way." [Webmaster's emphasis] Some notable DYSTOPIAS in fiction, in chronological order:Important critical studies and bibliographies of Dystopia include:
- H. G. Wells' "The Time Machine" (1895)
- Yevgeny Zamiatin's "We" (1929)
- Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" (1932)
(London: Chatto & Windus) classic dystopia with emphasis on, for example, genetic engineering, brainwashing, censorship, destruction of the family. Science Fiction about Genetic Engineering Reproduction is done in the laboratory, with people systematically conditioned for various strata of life. Sex and all the senses are the bases of media exploitation. Literature, art, and philosophy are suppressed, production and consumption are glorified, and the god is Ford (or Freud). Workers are kept content through the drug "soma", and a "savage" is kept on an Indian reservation as a museum exhibit. Bernard Marx, of the Psychological Bureau (one of the ruling Alphas) feels isolated, his Alpha Plus friend Helmholtz Watson is creatively restless, large-breasted Lenina Crowne disgusts Bernard and bores Helmholtz, so they bring the savage John onstage, protest against soma, and are summoned by Mustapha Mond, the Resident World Controller for Western Europe. The controller is an ex-radical himself, who now loves science most. Bernard is drugged, Helmholtz exiled, and John (ambivalent over Lenina) commits suicide. Harsh, ironic, fantastic, and unforgettable.- Murray Constantine's [Katharine Burdekin] "Swastika Night" [London: Victor Gollancz, 1937; Old Westbury NY: The Feminist Press, 1985] anti-nazi dystopia
- George Orwell's "1984" (1948)
- David Karp's "One" [New York: Vanguard, 1953]
which was a bestseller a.k.a "Escape to Nowhere" [Lion, 1955; Universal]- Ira Levin's "This Perfect Day" (1970)
- Edward W. Ludwig's "The Mask of John Culon" (1970)
- Brian Aldiss' "Enemies of the System" (1978)
- Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" (1985)
- Ian McDonald's "Out on Blue Six" (1989)
- Russell Hoban's "Fremder" (1996)
- Terry Bisson's "Pirates of the Universe" (1996)
- xxx's "yyyy" (zzzz)
J. B. S. Haldane, who warns in his 1928 reprint in "Possible Worlds" of his even older essay "Man's Destiny": "Unless [Mankind] can control his own evolution as he is learning to control that of domesticated plants and animals, man and all his works will go down into oblivion and darkness." RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
- "Science Fiction and the New Dark Age", by Howard L. Berger [Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green University Popular Press, 1976]
: examines the anti-utopian genre in a dozen thematic sub-categories- "The Future as Nightmare: H. G. Wells and the Anti-Utopians", by Mark R. Hillegas [New York: Oxford University Press, 1967; Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1974]
- "From Utopia to Nightmare" by Chad Walsh [New York and Evanston: Harper & Row, 1962; Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 1972]
: traces the replacement of Utopian fiction by Dystopian or "inverted utopia" fiction.- "Voices Prophecying War 1763-1984", by I. F. Clarke, [London: Oxford University Press, 1966]
: first, and still definitive study and index to future war/imaginary war/military technology fiction, which sometimes takes on a distinctly dystopian flavor
environmental science and biology Your Humble Webmaster did Ph.D. research in biology (Artificial Life and Nanotechnology) in the mid-1970s, and taught Ecology at the experimental college of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. His newest page in The Ultimate Science Fiction Web Guide may be found at: Ecology and Science Fiction RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
telepathy, psi, other paths to the mindRemembrance and reflection, how allied; What thin partitions sense from thought divide. --Alexander Pope Where to start? Well, there were telepathic aliens in "Fifteen Months in the Moon", by G. H. Ryan (1880). Published in 1885, there was a super-perceptive girl -- when she was hypnotized -- in "The Bohemian" by Fitz-James O'Brien, but he wrote it some time before 1862. 20 Good book-length examples since then include:13 short fictions and one "factual article" about E.S.P. may be found in "14 Great Tales of ESP", edited by Idella Purnell Stone, with an Introduction by John W. Campbell [London: Hodder Fawcett, 1969] [magazines and dates added by Magic Dragon Multimedia]:
- Jim Aikin's [James Douglas Aikin] "The Wall at the Edge of the World" [Ace, 1993] telepathy and utopia
- "The Demolished Man" by Alfred Bester (1952)
- "Jack of Eagles", by James Blish [Greenberg, 1952; Avon, 1958, as "ESP-er"
- "Psionic Menace" by John Brunner [Ace, 1963]
- "Telepathist" by John Brunner (19??)
- Algis Budrys' "Rogue Moon" (Fawcett Gold Medal, 1960)
: the protagonist with a death wish is again and again transmitted to the Moon to explore a deadly alien maze, and is in telepathic contact with his earth-based "original" version- "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" by Chester Aaron [Lippincott, Sep 1985; Bantam Spectra, 1986] juvenile, telepathic twins vs. international terrorists
- "Pstalemate", by Lester del Rey, New York: G.P. Putam's (1971)
- "Time for the Stars" by Robert Heinlein [Scribners, 1956]
telepathy between twins, one of whom stays on Earth, one of whom rockets to the stars and ages more slowly. Telepathy is shown to be inheritable.- "The Dead Zone" by Stephen King (1979)
: precognition affects political candidate- "Mutant" by Henry Kuttner [Gnome, 1953, as Lewis Padgett; Ballentine Books; Garland, 1976]
: telepathy- "The ESP Worlds", by J. T. M'Intosh, New Worlds #16-18, (Nov 1952)
- "The Inner Wheel" by Keith Roberts [Doubleday, 1970]
: telepathy- "And Chaos Died" by Joanna Russ [Ace, 1970]
: telepathy- "Three to Conquer" by Eric Frank Russell [Avalon, 1956; Ace]
: telepathy- "Dying Inside" by Robert Silverberg (1972)
- "The Espers" by Steven M. Souza [Lenox Hill, 1972]
- "More than Human" by Theodore Sturgeon (1953)
- "Wild Talent" by Wilson Tucker [Rinehart, 1954; Avon; Bantam, 1955, as "Man from Tomorrow"]
: telepathy- "Slan" by A. E. Van Vogt (1940)
- "The Chrysalids" by John Wyndham [19??]
: telepathyand some other fine short stories about E.S.P. are:
- Isaac Asimov's "Belief" [Astounding, Oct 1953]
: Physics versus levitation- Reginald Bretnor's "The Man On Top" [F&SF, Sep 1960]
: Mountain climbing, or is it?- Fredric Brown's "Preposterous"
: what is balderdash, and what is not?- Walter Bupp's "Modus Vivendi" [Astounding, Sep 1961]
unethical telepaths and crime- Mark Clifton & Alex Apostolides' "What Thin Partitions" [Astounding, Sep 1953]
: industrial psychokinesis- Randall Garrett's "The Foreign Hand Tie" [Astounding, Dec 1961]
: espionage via telepathy between identical twins- Robert A. Heinlein's "Project Nightmare" [Amazing, Apr/May 1953]
: clairvoyance and A-bombs- Zenna Henderson's "Ararat" [F&SF, Oct 1952]
: the first of "The People" stories, about psi-gifted aliens who live on Earth- Murray Leinster's "The Leader" [Astounding, Feb 1960]
: long-distance mass-hypnotism- Mack Reynolds' "I'm A Stranger Here Myself" [Thrilling Wonder Stories, Apr 1951]
: kinship in a foreign city- Eric Frank Russell's "And Still It Moves"
: "factual article"- James H. Schmitz's "These Are The Arts" [F&SF, Sep 1962]
: telepathic masters, we're slaves- Jay Williams' "False Image" [Astounding, Oct 1958]
: noise disorts telepathy?- Robert F. Young's "The Garden in the Forest" [Astounding, Feb 1953]
: psi perception of symbolsScience fiction magazines delight in printing nonfiction articles on the subject, such as:
- Manly Bannister's "Psi for Psurvival" [Saturn, July 1957]
- Walter Bupp's "Psi for Sale" [Astounding, Sep 1965]
- Philip K. Dick's "Psi-Man Heal My Child!" [Imaginative Tales, Nov 1955]
- Kenneth Bulmer's "Psi No More" [Science Fiction #14, June 1955]
- Philip E. High's "The Psi Squad" [New Worlds #114, Jan 1962]
- Darrell T. Langhart's (Randall Garrett) "Psichopath" [Astounding, Oct 1960]
- John Victor Peterson & Edward S. Staub's "The Psilent Partner" [Fantastic Universe, Mar 1954]
- John A. Sentry's (A. J. Budrys) "Psioid Charley" [Astounding, May 1956]
- Murray Leinster's "The Psionic Mousetrap" [Amazing, Mar 1955]
- Vance Simonds's "Telempathy" [Amazing, Jun 1963]
- Leigh Brackett's "Teleportress of Alpha C" [Planet Stories, Winter 1954-55]
What do we mean by E.S.P.? We mean ways other than sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch by which knowledge of the outside world (or the interior world of other beings) is apprehended and becomes directly known. This category overlaps that vague one of "psychic phenomena." Some say that everyone has a touch of E.S.P. and that, for example, anyone can be taught to dowse for undergound water or treasure. Some say that E.S.P. was once common to humanity, but has almost died out. "The Inheritors" by William Golding, for instance, has kindly telepathic empathetic Neanderthals gradually displaced by the quarrelsome Cro Magnons -- us -- who have to substitute language for the genetically missing gift of mind-to-mind contact. E.S.P. has also been called "parapsychology" and has been abbreviated by the Greek letter "Psi." As a result, E.S.P. is sometimes simply called "Psi" and some science fiction authors use the term "psionics." Besides telepathy (mind-reading) and telempathy (emotion-reading), experts talk about psychokinesis (PK for short) or "mind over matter" -- moving objects by mental powers alone. Precognition is the hypothetical ability to sense future evenbts before they occur. "Remote Viewing" or Clairvoyance or Scrying is the talent for seeing things not actually before your eyes, and similarly Clairaudience is the ability to hear impossibly faint or far away sounds. Fictional characters sometimes have the ability to knw where they are, or where their goal is, without compass or map. Psychometry is the ability to sense what has touched some physical object being touched by the ESP-sensitive person. Bilocation is the putative ability to be in two places at the same time. Pyrokinesis is the capability to start fires by mental action alone. Apportation is the subset of teleportation consisting of mentally bringing an object to the empowered person. I have experimented in my fiction with new forms of ESP, such as Precognitive Smell, but only as a joke, as ESP-type magical talents have so proliferated in recent attempting-to-be-original Fantasy. There have been many studies, and no firm conclusion can be made from their data. Some nonfiction references include:
- H. M. Mack, "Are You Telepathic", Science Fiction Digest, #2, Fall 1954
Some books which debunk, refute, or question claims of ESP include:
- R. Broughton's "Parapsychology: The Controversial Science", New York: Ballentine (1991)
- Ciba Foundation's "ESP--Extrasensory Perception", Boston: Little Brown (1956)
- H. L. Edge, R. L. Morris, J. H. Rush, & J. palmer, "Foundations of Parapsychology: Exploring the Boundaries of Human Capability", London: Routledge & Kegan Paul (1986)
- H. J. Eysenck & C. Sargent's "Explaining the Unexplained: Mysteies of the Paranormal", London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson (1982)
- H. J. Irwin's "An Introduction to Parapsychology", London: McFarland (1989)
- S. Krippner's [editor] "Advances in Parapsychological Research (Volumes 1-6)", New York: Plenum Press (1977, 1978, 1982); London: McFarland (1984, 1987, 1991)
- J. Gaither Pratt's "Parapsychology: An Insider's View of E.S.P.", New York: Doubleday (1964)
- J. B. Rhine, J. G. Pratt, C. C. Thomas's "Parapsychology: Frontier Science of the Mind" Springfield, Illinois (1964?)
- G. R. Schmeidler & R. A. McConnell's "ESP and Personality Patterns" Yale University Press (1958)
- G. R. Schmeidler's "Parapsychology and Psychology", London: McFarland (1988)
- B. Shapin & L. Coly's [editors] "Psi and States of Awareness", New York: Parapsychology Foundation (1978)
- B. B. Wolman's (editor): "Handbook of Parapsychology", New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold
Some recommended Journals on ESP are:
- J. E. Alcock's "Parapsychology: Science or Magic? A Psychological Perspective", Oxford: Pergamon (1981)
- {to be done}
- xxxx
See the Authors' page in the Ultimate Science Fiction Web Guide for more on these E.S.P. authors:
- Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, published quarterly by the American Society for Psychical Research
- European Journal of Parapsychology, published annually by the Koestler Chair of Parasychology, University of Edinburgh
- Journal of Parapsychology, published quarterly by Parapsychology Press
- Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, published quarterly by the Society for Psychical Resarch
- The Skeptical Inquirer, published quarterly by SCICOP
Here's a wonderful quotation, over 300 years old, setting forth the goal of neuroscience:
- M. Bernstein
- H. Carrington
- E. J. Dingwall
- E. J. Garrett
- R. Heywood
- R. Lindner
- A. Pukarich
- J. B. Rhine
- S. G. Soal
- xxx
"Since the brain is a machine [Descartes, 1664] we need not hope to discover its artifice by methods other than those that are used to find for other machines. There remains to be done, therefore, only what would be done for all other machines. I mean the dismantling of all its components, piece by piece, and consideration of what they can do separately and as a whole." -- Steno, 1669.
See Science, 11 July 2003, p.170
Telepathy and Extraterrestrials. While there is no clear evidence that people can ever "read" each others' minds, we are socially familiar with the notion of telepathy, and many cultures have such a notion. There are South American natives who believe that the drug Yage allows people to read minds in religious ceremonies, and J.B. Rhine and others at Duke University have performed experiments which tantalized some scientists for decades. It may be that telepathy would give such a Darwinian advantage to any creature that evolves it that the very lack of such creatures on Earth means that telepathy is impossible. But we can't be sure. After all, in one of the few science fiction novels written by a Nobel Prize winner, William Golding's The Inheritors {11}, telepathic Neanderthals are displaced by non-telepathic Homo Sapiens who, without the mental advantage of telepathy, are forced to develop language and technology. The suggestion here is that telepathy is actually an evolutionary DISadvantage. If the ET is telepathic, there are several possibilities. Maybe we can "hear" its thoughts, and it can't hear ours. This gives our Science Team an advantage to exploit. Maybe it can "hear" our thoughts, but cannot project messages back into our minds. If so, it has the responsibility to let us know, which puts us back to square one. Maybe we can sense its emotions, or it can sense ours. This is of limited value, since we may not have the same emotions, and even human emotional communications (i.e. music) produce at best ambiguous results. Kurt Vonnegut {12} (p.198) has fictional author Kilgore Trout write "Earth was the only place in the known universe where language was used... Everybody else used mental telepathy.... They [when humans taught them language] could get so much more done with language.... Mental telepathy, with everyone constantly telling everybody everything, produced a sort of generalized indifference to all information. But language, with its slow, narrow meanings, made it possible to think of one thing at a time -- to start thinking in terms of projects." If clear signals can go from ET to human and back by telepathy, we need a very disciplined human thinker to communicate. I suggest an expert in meditation, with a sense of humor and a delight in technology, such as the Dalai Lama. Whatever you do, keep everyone else out of telepathy range, or else the ET may tap into unspoken violence, prejudice, or the chaotic human unconsciousness. The single best ESP site on the World Wide Web is the highly recommended: Koestler Parapsychology Unit at the University of Edinburgh. This site includes:and more. {This genre essay most recently updated: 4 April 1998} RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
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impossibly fast travel, beyond the Einstein barrier [update of 22 March 2000] Since Albert Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity, and until the 1990s, it was the scientific consensus that matter could never travel faster than "C" -- the speed of light in a vacuum. That did not stop Science Fiction from evolving the theme of FTL (Faster-Than-Light). FTL would allow spacecraft to get to interesting places within a human lifetime. In the past decade, various loopholes in Einstein's speed limit are being taken more seriously. Scientists have mounted searches for "Tachyons" -- hypothetical particles which can only travel faster than light. Various theories relate FTL to ANTIGRAVITY. Sometimes, in these stories, FTL is achieved by BEAM ME UP: matter transmission, techno-teleportation. Books About FTL (Faster-Than-Light) Travel:Short Fiction About FTL (Faster-Than-Light) Travel:
- Moon of Arcturus, Richard Tooker [1935]
some unexplained atomic propulsion method allows the "Meteor III" spaceship, from the energy of "disrupting carbon atoms", to accelerate to the speed of light. The 18-man crew reaches Arcturus in 26 years, but with no "time dilation" as demanded by Einstein's and Lorentz's equations.- Grey Lensman, E.E. Smith [1939]
spacecraft tap into "cosmic energy" to power the "Bergenholm inertialess drive", allowing speeds up to 60 parsecs per hour (roughly 2,000,000 times the speed of light) in interstellar space, and up to 100,000 parsecs per hour (roughly 3 billion times the speed of light) in the intergalactic spaces where there is less dust to slow the ships down.- Second Stage Lensman, E.E. Smith [1940?]
the Medonian race used an "inertia-neutralizer" to turn their home planet into an FTL spaceship, and travel to "Lundmark's Nebula", also called "The Second Galaxy."- Slan, A.E. van Vogt [Astounding, Oct 1940; Arkham House, 1946; revised text Simon & Schuster, 1951; Tor/Orb, 1998]
Some sort of "atomic drive" is mentioned as depending on antigravity, but doesn't figure strongly in the plot.- Methusalah's Children, Robert A. Heinlein [1941; Gnome, 1958; Science Fiction Book Club #05800, Jan 1993]
"spacedrive that uses light presure under conditions of no inertia to travel just under the speed of light."- Cities in Flight, James Blish [1958; Baen, 1991]
series of novels written 1950-57, they key technology is the "spindizzy." Supposedly invented in the early 21st Century, the "Dillon-Wagoner gravitron polarity generator" (spindizzy) changes the magnetic moment off all atoms within its field, thus changing the gravitational constant, according to the bogus "Blackett-Dirac equation." For some unexplained reason, reducing the gravity of a city-sized spaceship allows it to break the speed of light, and use a tiny amount of power to do so. Earth's cities are converted to spaceships, and colonize the galaxy.- Way Station, Clifford Simak [1964]
de facto FTL by matter transmission in a galaxy-spanning network of "transfer booths" created by a mysterious alien supercivilization- To Outlive Eternity, Poul Anderson [1967]
perhaps the first careful treatment of Special Relativity as it relates to interstellar, intergalactic, and beyond-the-collapse-of-the-univrse travel.- Ringworld, Larry Niven [1970]
the unseen alien "Puppet Masters" have achieved de facto FTL by teleportation devices known as "stepping disks" and "transfer booths"- Life Probe, Michael McCollum [1983]; and Procyon's Promise [1985]
ancient alien civilization ("The Makers") have, after millions of fruitless years, abandoned their search for FTL according to their own tehories. They send out fleets of robotic "slow boats" powered by fusion-drive "I-mass" Hawking Singularities, slower than light, in hopes of finding a civilization that has achieved FTL. One of these reaches our Solar System, and we join the search, finding an empty FTL spaceship orbiting Procyon. It seems that the aliens finally grasped FTL and fled their home planet.- Songs of Distant Earth, Arthur C. Clarke [Ballantine/Del Rey, Oct 1986]
FTL is impossible, in this entertaining "Hard Science Fiction" novel, but 36th Century spaceship "Magellan" flies at 20% light-speed by tapping into the energy of empty space (Planck-scale quantum fluctuation zero-energy) by means of even more esoteric "fluctuations in the geometrodynamic structure of 11 dimensional superspace." At 20% C, the ship is endangered by smashing into stray interstellar atoms, so the ship is shielded in front with 100,000 tons of ice. see "Planet of Duplicates", William Lawrence Hamilton [1945]- Faster than Light, ed. Jack M. Dann & George Zebrowski [Harper & Row, 1976] ISBN 0-06-010952-1
Anthology of FTL fiction and nonfiction; specific stories are in the list below of short fiction.- Faster than Light: Super-luminal Loopholes in Physics, Dr. Nick Herbert [Plume Books, 1988]
nonfiction- Future Magic: How Today's Science Fiction Will Become Tomorrow's Reality, Dr.Robert Forward [Avon Books, 1988]
nonfiction, strongly recommended- Moving Mars, Greg Bear
rewrite the parameters that describe an object in the "operating system" of the universe and, among other things, you can change your spacial coordinates and teleport to the destinationThe above lists draw heavily from the online essay "Faster Than Light" by Sten Odenwald: "Faster Than Light" "There was a young lady named Bright whose speed was much faster than light she set out one day in a Relative way and returned on the previous night." -- A. H. Reginald Buller [Punch, 19 Dec 1912] Nonfiction and References on FTL:
- "The Moth", Ross Rocklynne (Pseudonym of Ross Louis Rocklin, 1913-1988) [1939]
"Reverse contraction" shrinks a spaceship by reducing the size of electron orbits, because "if you decrease the length of a ship to zero, it automatically assumes the speed of light." To quantum leap to any speed instananeously (with no acceleration), "you just shorten its length commensurate with the speed you want."- "Homo Sol", Isaac Asimov [Astounding, Sep 1940; The Omnibus of Science Fiction, ed. Groff Conklin, Chatham River, 1986]
when humans invent FTL and send a spaceship to Alpha Centauri to settle the 5th planet, our civilization is invited to join the galactic federation. The advanced races are fascinated that we've outdone their technology, with an improvement of "hyperatomic" drive. Humans modify various peaceful alien technologies into deadly weapons.- "The Door", Oliver Saari [Astoiunding, Nov 1941]
an alien gateway is disovered in a ruined city in the Sahara. The protagonist steps through, and is instantly on the ground of a planet in a binary star system. The emphasis is on the discover, not the mechanism or implications.- "Gleeps", P. Schuyler Miller [1943]
"warpships" have FTL for travel between stars, and possibly between universes.- "Redevelopment", Wesley Long [1944]
spaceship makes FTL trip to and from Sirius in 6 months flat, by means of "alphons" (some sort of particles) plus "gravitic generators", the combination being knows as the "superdrive."- "Star Base X", Robert Moore Williams [1944]
alien "Ahrneds" refuse to divulge the secret of FTL to humans, because our warlike nature would endanger the civilized galaxy.- "Nomad", Wesley Long [1944]
aliens already have FTL, but we don't- "First Contact", Murray Leinster [Astounding, Nov 1941; 1945; First Contact: The Essential Murray Leinster, NESFA Press, 1998]
the spaceship flies at "speeds incredible multiples of the speed of light", and is on a mission to get close-up photographs of a supernova, until it accidently encounters an alien spaceship.- "Adaptor" and "Ethical Equations", Murray Leinster [Astounding, June 1945; First Contact: The Essential Murray Leinster, NESFA Press, 1998]
the "space constant adaptor" allows near-light-speed travel.- "Paradoxical Escape", Isaac Asimov [Astounding, Aug 1945]
everything we know about physics, astronomy, and "space warp theory" is input to a mechanical computer. The "Brain" invents FTL, but it would be fatal to humans. Other computers (robots) had also discovered this, but Asimov's First Law of Robotics prohibited them from to telling this to humans, as that would harm them. They burned out, rather than pass on the dangerous secret.- "Planet of Duplicates", William Lawrence Hamilton [1945]
FTL is not quite possible, but interstellar flight is powered by tapping into the "exhalations of matter and energy from all the stars in the Milky Way" see Clarke's The Sonmgs of Distant Earth [1986]- "Special Delivery, George O. Smith [1945]
de facto FTL by matter transmission, carefully described as destructively scanning matter atom-by-atom, beaming the resulting energy and information to a second matter transmitter, and using raw materials in a "matter bank" to achieve atom-by-aton re-creation of the original- "The Mixed Men", A.E. van Vogt [1945]
de facto FTL by matter transmission, where Earth the center of an empire of three billion worlds, with "ultrawave" radio that is FTL (instantaneous transmission). People can travel either by electronic image transmission plus reconstruction from organic material the the destination, or by converting one's body into a flow of electrons sent through space and somehow reconstructed at the destination.- The Canal Builders", Robert Abernathy [1945]
de facto FTL by matter transmission, but an iconoclastic Earthman ignores this technology and flies to Mars by old-fashioned spaceship. It takes him two weeks to get there. He finds the ruins of an ancient city where a modern human city should be. He has discovered that "interspace" teleportation is also time travel. The rocket took him to Mars in "now plus two weeks", while matter transmission takes most people to Mars "now minus 2000 years" -- the ruins were built by humans two millennia ago...- "Pattern for Conquest", George O. Smith [1946]
the "superdrive" gets spaceships to nearly the speed of light, without explanation. This story also boasts the "tractor" and "pressor" beams which can "tear the guts out" of enemy ships, based on the "space constant adaptor" (see Murray Leinster's "Adaptor" and "Ethical Equations")- "The Vanishing Spaceman", Alexander Blade [1947]
de facto FTL by matter transmission- "Meddler's Moon", George O. Smith [1947]
the "Hedgerly Effect" relates gravity to magnetism, enabling electromagnetic control of gravity fields. By making the mass of a spaceship extremely small, it takes very little power to accelerate to near-light speeds -- but not quite to FTL.- "The World Beyond", Guy Archette [1947]
"Everything is made up of atoms, and there are spaces within the atom fully as vast as those between the planets of the solar system. The spaces... may be occupied by the components of a hundred other atoms, each possessing a different vibration rate, and each vibration rate constitues another world."- "Starship from Venus", Rog Phillips [1948]
Alien spacship from Venus lands on Earth, where we reverse-engineer it. Apparently, protons and electrons have "opposite intertia", so that shooting electrons from the nose of the spaceship and, simultaneously, shooting protons out its tail, the spaceship (for unclear reasons) moves forward at 1/3 the speed of light.- "Rendezvous in Space", Guy Archett [1949]
aliens fly their spaceship to outside the orbit of Saturn, but refuse to divulge the secret of FTL to humans, because our warlike nature would endanger the civilized galaxy.- "The Eyes are Watching", Walt Sheldon [1950]
an experimental hydrogen-drive FTL spaceship is sent beyond the speed of light, as nobody knows what might happen...- "I'm a Stranger Here Myself", John Bridger [1950]
FTL technology is based on "multi-phase travel", a trick we've learned from advanced aliens who know how to turn matter into anti-matter ("contra-terrene matter"). Somehow, this makes the spaceship suddenly able to exceed the speed of light.- "Nor Iron Bars", James Blish [Infinity, Nov 1957]
the "Haertel Overdrive" gave the spaceship "Flyway II" negative mass, upon which the ship and crew left ordinary space and appeared inside an atom, allowing them to land on and explore an electron. The crew also experienced telepathy. Indeed, imaginary rest mass is associated with the FTL of tachyons.- "Lambda I", Colin Kapp [New Worlds, Dec 1962]
in "Tau-space", achieved by changing the vibrations of a craft (plus crew and cargo), the craft can pass through solid matter, and travel straight through the center of the earth. On arrival, it must be "kicked" back into the proper vibrational state. Intense emotional/psychic experiences can cause problems, including the irreversable "omega" vibrations.- "Mission to Universe", Gordon Dickson [1965]
the technology of "Phase Shifting" expoits a quantum mechanical loophole in Relativity, providing shortcuts to the destination, a kind of spacewarp that results in de facto FTL- "Door to Anywhere", Poul Anderson [1966]
"Jumpgate" FTL technology is based on a version of Hoyle's Steady State cosmology, allowing short-cuts through space, de facto FTL- "The Sins of our Fathers", Stanley Schmidt [1976]
so-called "paratachyonic drive" can accelerate a spaceship, with little energy expenditure, to FTL, yet the same "Rao-Chang Drive" makes it prohibitively difficult to travel slightly slower than, or slightly faster than, the speed of light. It was discovered accidently, and nobody understands how it works. The Physics community prefers to ignore the mystery, rather than overhaul their theoretical paradigm.- "Rogue Ship", A.E. van Vogt [19??]
the spaceship "Hope of Man" is accelerated to nearly the speed of light, to take advantage of time dilation. The craft ejected fuel at nearly light speed, which accelerated the ship, so the ship gained mass according to Einstein, and theis (by admittedly "strange physics") allowed "...a thimble of mass could give almost infinite reaction power." Something went wrong, however, and the spaceship took decades to reach its destination. There is also the spurious claim that, at light speed, mass becomes infinite (true) but the volume of a particle becomes zero (false) so that matter is no longer bound to the laws of inertia.- "Introduction: Dreaming Again", nonfiction by Jack M. Dann & George Zebrowski [in: Faster than Light, ed. Jack M. Dann & George Zebrowski, Harper & Row, 1976]
- "Epigraph" [from "The Science in Science Fiction"], James Blish, excerpted from [Vector, Summer 1975]; [in: Faster than Light, ed. Jack M. Dann & George Zebrowski, Harper & Row, 1976]
- "The Ultimate Speed Limit", Isaac Asimov [Saturday Review of Literature, 8 July 1972]; [in: Faster than Light, ed. Jack M. Dann & George Zebrowski, Harper & Row, 1976] non-fiction article
- "Possible, That's All!", Arthur C. Clarke [Fantasy & Science Fiction, Oct 1968]; [in: Faster than Light, ed. Jack M. Dann & George Zebrowski, Harper & Row, 1976] non-fiction article
- "The Limiting Velocity of Orthodoxy", Keith Laumer [Galaxy, Dec 1970]; [in: Faster than Light, ed. Jack M. Dann & George Zebrowski, Harper & Row, 1976] non-fiction article
- "But What If We Tried It?", Ben Bova [first printing?]; [in: Faster than Light, ed. Jack M. Dann & George Zebrowski, Harper & Row, 1976] non-fiction article
- "Sun Up", A.A. Jackson IV & Howard Waldrop [first printing?]; [in: Faster than Light, ed. Jack M. Dann & George Zebrowski, Harper & Row, 1976] short story
- "Dialogue", Poul Anderson [first printing?]; [in: Faster than Light, ed. Jack M. Dann & George Zebrowski, Harper & Row, 1976] novella
- "Phoenix Without Ashes", Harlan Ellison, illustrated by Tim Kirk; [in: Faster than Light, ed. Jack M. Dann & George Zebrowski, Harper & Row, 1976]
- "The Event Horizon", Ian Watson [first printing?]; [in: Faster than Light, ed. Jack M. Dann & George Zebrowski, Harper & Row, 1976] novella
- "Nor the Many-Colored Fires of a Star Ring", George R. R. Martin [first printing?]; [in: Faster than Light, ed. Jack M. Dann & George Zebrowski, Harper & Row, 1976] novella
- "Dead in Irons", Chelsea Quinn Yarbro [first printing?]; [in: Faster than Light, ed. Jack M. Dann & George Zebrowski, Harper & Row, 1976] novella
- "Seascape", Gregory Benford [first printing?]; [in: Faster than Light, ed. Jack M. Dann & George Zebrowski, Harper & Row, 1976] novella
- "Fast Friend", George R. R. Martin [first printing?]; [in: Faster than Light, ed. Jack M. Dann & George Zebrowski, Harper & Row, 1976] novella
- "Hyperspace", Dick Allen [Edge, Fall 1973]; [in: Faster than Light, ed. Jack M. Dann & George Zebrowski, Harper & Row, 1976] poem
- "Afterword: Our Many Roads to the Stars", Poul Anderson [Galaxy, Sep 1975]; [in: Faster than Light, ed. Jack M. Dann & George Zebrowski, Harper & Row, 1976] non-fiction article
- xxx
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- Star Drives in Science Fiction: A Catalog by Dr. Geoffrey A. Landis
7 pages of classification of types of FTL in fiction- "Warp Drives: Fact and Fiction by Ken Jones, Jr.
related very well to Star Trek- Science Fiction Writers Resource: FTL Useful link list includes the following 9 links:
- NASA Goes FTL - Part 1: Wormhole Physics, from John Cramer
- NASA Goes FTL - Part 2: Cracks in nature's Armour, from John Cramer
- The Alcubierre Drive, from John Cramer
- Why FTL Implies Time Travel - dueling with tachyon pistols, by Wayne Throop
- John Cramer's Articles from Analog (including FTL, quantum gravity, etc.)
- Relativity and FTL FAQ
- Catalog of Star Drives in Science Fiction
- Superluminal Motion: Fact or Fiction?
- "Faster Than Light" forum, conducted by Dr. Geoffrey A. Landis
science fiction and fantasy of, by, or for women When Science Fiction was young, there were so few women authors being published that many of them adopted male -- or at least neutral -- pseudonyms. Catherine Lucille Moore, for examnple, wrote as "C. L. Moore" Women with Male or Neutral Pseudonyms. Those days, thankfully, are long gone. Many of today's greatest writers of science fiction and fantasy are women -- Octavia Butler, C. J. Cherryh, Tanith Lee, Ursula K. Le Guin, Elizabeth Lynn, Andre Norton, Joanna Russ, Pamela Sargent, Josephine Saxton, Kate Wilhelm.... The genre has been revitalized, and boasts a significant Feminist subgenre. Susan Wood and Jessica Amanda Salmonson compiled the following list of AMAZON HEROIC FANTASY:Susan Wood and Jessica Amanda Salmonson compiled the following list of non-fiction resources on the theme of "AMAZONS" and science fiction:
- Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Shattered Chain" [Daw: 1975]
- Vera Chapman's "The King's Damosel" [1976; Avon: 1978]
- Suzy McKee Charnas's "Motherlines" [Berkeley: 1978]
- C. J. Cherryh's "Gate of Ivrel" [Daw: 1976]
- C. J. Cherryh's "Well of Shiuan" [Daw: 1978]
- Jo Clayton's the "Diadem" series [Daw]
- Ansen Dibell's "Pursuit of the Screamer" [Daw: 1978]
- Diane Duane's "The Door Into Fire" [Dell: 1979]
- John Russell Fearn's "Conquest of the Amazon" [1949; Futura: 1976]
- Janrae Frank's "The Ruined Tower" chapbook illustrated by Mary Bohdanowicz [Atalanta Press: 1979]
- Sally Gearheart's "The Wanderground" [Persephone: 1978]
- Robert E. Howard's "The Sword Woman" [Zebra: 1979]
- Tanith Lee's "The Birthgrave" [Daw: 1975]
- Tanith Lee's "Night's Master" [Daw: 1978]
- Richard Lupoff's "Sword of the Demon" [Harper & Row: 1977]
- Elizabeth Lynn's "The Northern Girl" [Berkeley: 1979]
- Elizabeth Lynn's "The Dancers of Arun" [Berkeley: 1980?]
- C. L. Moore's "Black God'd Shadow", the collected Jirel of Joiry stories from the 1930s, illustrated in this edition by Alicia Austin [Donald A. Grant: 1977]
- T. J. Morgan's "Dark Tide" chapbook illustrated by Theresa Troise-Heidel [Atalanta Press: 1979]
- Andre Norton's the "Witch World" series
- Doris Piserchia's "Star Rider" [Bantam: 1974]
- Doris Piserchia's "Earthchild" [Daw: 1977]
- Doris Piserchia's "Spaceling" [Daw: 1979]
- Joanna Russ' "Alyx" [Gregg Press: 1977]
- Joanna Russ' "Kittitiny, a Tale of Magic" [Daughters: 1978]
- Pamela Sargent's [ed] "The New Women of Wonder", especially the stories by Emswiller, Reed, and Russ [Vintage: 1978]
- John Varley's "Titan" [Berkeley: 1979]
and its two sequels- Joan Vinge's "Snow Queen" [Dell: 1979]
- Stanley G. Weinbaum's "The Red Peri" [Fantasy Press: 1952]
- Monique Wittig's "Les Guerillieres" [1969; Avon: 1973]
Women with Male or Neutral Pseudonyms. Maxim Jakubowski & Malcolm Edwards ["The SF Book of Lists", New York: Berkley Books, 1983, pp.228-229] give a list of 31 women Science Fiction authors who use male psuedonyms or neutral initials. Selected and adapted from that listing, Here are some of those "Women in Disguise":
- Elise Boulding: "The Underside of History: A View of Women through TIME" [Westview Press, 1976]
- Helen Diner: "Mothers and Amazons" [New York: Doubleday 1930; Anchor, 1973]
- Jane Cannary Hickok: "Calamity Jane's Letters to her Daughter" [Shameless Hussy Press, 1976]
- Nancy Myron & Charlotte Bunch: "Women Remembered" [Diana Press, 1974]
- Julia O'Faolain & Lauro Martines [eds]: "Not In God's Image: Women in History from the Greeks to the Victorians" [New York: Harper & Row, 1973]
- Sarah Pomeray: "Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity" [Los Angeles: Shocken, 1975]
- Rayna R. Reiter: "Towards an Anthropology of Women" [Monthly Review Press, 1975]
- Michelle Zimbalist Rosaldo & Louise Lamphere: "Women, Culture, and Society" [Stanford University Press, 1974]
- Joanna Russ: "What Can a Heroine Do" and "The Image of Women in Science Fiction", in Susan Koppelman [ed]: "Images of Women in Fiction: Feminist Perspectives" [Ohio University Press, 1972
- Joanna Russ: "Amor Vincit Feminam: The Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction" [Indiana University Press: Science Fiction Studies, 1978]
- Jessica Amanda Salmonson: "The Golden Age of Sexism" Atalanta Press: Windhaven #6, 1979]
- Charles Seltman: "Women in Antiquity" [London: Thames and Hudson, 1956]
- Donald Sobol: "The Amazons of Greek Mythology" [A. S. Barnes, 1972]
- Merlin Stone: "When God Was a Woman" [New York: Dial Press, 1978]
And see also: Nan Bowman Albinski: * Women's Utopias in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Fiction [Routledge, 1988] Two important web sites about Feminist Science Fiction are: Feminist Science Fiction Guide to Feminist Science Fiction Resources Other interesting feminist science fiction titles:
- "Paul Ash" = Pauline Ashwell
- "C. M. Carmichael" = Christine M. Carmichael, Ph.D.
- "Jayge Carr" = Margery Krueger
- "Jack Danvers" = Camille Caselyr
- "C. J. Cherryh" = Caroline Janice Cherry
- "D. C. Fontana" = Dorothy C. Fontana
major screenwriter (Star Trek)- "J. O. Jeppson" = Janet O. Jeppson = Janet Jeppson Asimov
- "A. M. Lightner" = Alice Hopf
- "C. L. Moore" = Catherine Lucille Moore
- "Andre Norton" = "Andrew North" = Alice Mary Norton
- "Kit Reed" = Lillian Craig Reed
- "James Tiptree, Jr." = Alice Sheldon
- "S. J. Van Scyoc" = Sydney Joyce Van Scyoc
- "M. K. Wren" = Martha Kaye Renfroe
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- Marge Piercy's "He, She, and It" [Fawcett, 1991]
Feminist Cyberpunk- Sharon Yntema's "More than 100 Woman Science Fiction Writers: An Annotated Bibliography" [The Crossing Press, 1988] ISBN 0-89594-449-9, $12.95, trade paperback
based on real science & engineering The definition of "Hard Science Fiction" is important. The analogy is between the "Hard Sciences" such as Astronomy, Physics, and Chemistry, ruled by mathematics and repeatable laboratory experiment on the one hand, and "Soft Sciences" -- fuzzy subjective fields such as Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology where no two humans are identical the way two electrons are, and yet we still try to apply empirical methods. It is partly a matter of attitude. The Bible tells us: "Who seeks hard things, to him is the way hard." Indeed, the disciplined author who attempts to capture the rigor of Hard Science in fiction, in terms of plausible setting and mechanism, and in the skeptical yet pragmaticly quantitative attitude of the scientist, the writing is itself quite difficult to achieve. Many writers and critics point to one specific novel as being the very model of this genre:Clement's "Mission of Gravity"
"Mission of Gravity" [Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement, Garden City NJ: Doubleday, 1954] has one of the most vividly rendered alien planets with ETs ever written. Set on the planet Mesklin, where gravity is some 300 times as intense as Earth at the poles, and yet only 3 times Earth-strength at the equator (due to centrifugal force on the very-rapidly spinning planet), the methane-chemistry ETs (Mesklinites) explore weird parts of their world while being in constant radio communication with human beings in orbit whom they have already met face-to-face aboard the human spaceship. This is one of the first great "Hard Science Fiction" novels, dealing with meticulously accurate astronomy, chemistry, and physics, and also clearly presents us with intriguing aliens. Author Hal Clement (pseudonym for the high school chemistry teacher Harry Stubbs) even defines "Hard science fiction" for us in a related essay ["Hard Sciences and Tough Technologies", Hal Clement, in The Craft of Science Fiction, ed. Reginald Bretnor, New York: Harper & Row, 1976, p.51]: "Hard" science fiction is a recognizable field within a field; it is enjoyed largely by people who take their own scientific knowledge seriously; writing it therefore demands on the part of the author a fair amount of scientific knowledge and ability (partially replaceable by good research facilities and informed friends whose brains can be picked); and the worst mistake a hard science fiction writer can make, aside from failing to tell an entertaining story, is to write something that makes him look ignorant. He can disagree with accepted science, but he'd better have an impressive-sounding excuse. Other strong novels in this field include:"The Ascent of Wonder: The Evolution of Hard SF", edited by David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer (with an Introduction by Gregory Benford) [New York: Tor Books, 1994] is, to date, the definitive 1000-page anthology of "Hard Science Fiction" stories. Some might quibble about what was improperly let in (J. G. Ballard?) or who was unfairly left out. But the fine essays (by Gregory Benford, David G. Hartwell, and Kathryn Cramer), the introductory mini-essays at the start of each story, and the stories themselves are, for the most part, at the core of this sub-genre. The stories in this anthology, in alphabetical order by last name of author [magazines and dates added by Magic Dragon Multimedia], are:
- "A Planet Named Cleopatra", by Poul Anderson [1974]
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- Poul Anderson's "Kyrie"
- Isaac Asimov's "The Last Question" [Science Fiction Quarterly, Nov 1956]
- Isaac Asimov's "The Life and Times of Multivac"
- Isaac Asimov's "Waterclap"
- J. G. Ballard's "Cage of Sand" [New Worlds, June 1962]
- J. G. Ballard's "Prima Belladonna" [Science Fantasy, Dec 1956]
- Greg Bear's "Tangents"
- Gregory Benford's "Exposures"
- Gregory Benford's "Relativistic Effects"
- Alfred Bester's "The Pi Man" [F&SF, Oct 1959]
- James Blish's "Beep" [Galaxy, Feb 1954]
- James Blish's "Surface Tension" [Galaxy, Aug 1952]
- Miles J. Breuer's "The Hungry Guinea Pig" [Amazing, Oct 1961]
- David Brin's "What Continues, What Fails..."
- Edward Bryant's "giANTS"
- John W. Campbell's "Atomic Power"
- Arthur C. Clarke's "The Longest Science Fiction Story Ever Told"
- Arthur C. Clarke's "The Star" [Infinity, Nov 1955]
- Arthur C. Clarke's "Transit of Earth"
- Hal Clement's "Proof"
- Philip K. Dick's "The Indefatigable Frog" [Fantasy Story, July 1953]
- Gordon Dickson's "Dolphin's Way" [Astounding, June 1964]
- Michael F. Flynn's "Mammy Morgan Played the Organ, Her Daddy Beat the Drum"
- John M. Ford's "Chromatic Aberration"
- John M. Ford's "Heat of Fusion"
- Robert Forward's "The Singing Diamond"
- Raymond Z. Gallun's "Davy Jones' Ambassador"
- Randall Garrett's "Time Fuze" [If, Mar 1954]
- William Gibson's "Johnny Mnemonic"
- Tom Godwin's "The Cold Equations" [Astounding, Aug 1954]
- Richard Grant's "Drode's Equation"
- Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter"
- Robert A. Heinlein's "It's Great to Be Back" [Saturday Evening Post, 1947]
- James P. Hogan's "Making Light"
- Dean Ing's "Down & Out on Ellfive Prime"
- Raymond F. Jones' "The Person from Porlock"
- Donald M. Kingsbury's "To Bring in the Steel"
- Rudyard Kipling's "With the Night Mail"
- C. M. Kornbluth's "Gomez" [New Worlds, Feb 1955]
- Henry Kuttner & C. L. Moore's "Mimsy Were the Borogoves"
- Philip Latham's "The Xi Effect"
- Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Author of the Acacia Seeds"
- Ursula K. Le Guin's "Nine Lives"
- Katherine Maclean's "The Snowball Effect" [Galaxy, Feb 1952]
- Anne McCaffrey's "Weyr Search"
- Larry Niven's "The Hole Man"
- Edgar Allen Poe's "A Descent into the Maelstrom"
- Frederik Pohl's "Day Million"
- Rudy Rucker's "Message Found in a Copy of Flatland"
- Hilbert Schenck's "The Morphology of the Kirkham Wreck"
- Hilbert Schenck's "Send me a Kiss By Wire"
- Bob Shaw's "The Light of Other Days"
- Clifford Simak's "Desertion"
- John T. Sladek's "Stop Evolution in Its Tracks!"
- Cordwainer Smith's "No, No, Not Rogov!" [If, Feb 1959]
- Bruce Sterling's "The Beautiful and the Divine"
- Theodore Sturgeon's "Occam's Scalpel"
- Theodore L. Thomas's "The Weather Man" [Astounding, June 1962]
- James Tiptree, Jr.'s "The Psychologist Who Wouldn't Do Awful Things to Rats"
- George Turner's "In a Petri Dish Upstairs"
- Jules Verne's "In the Year 2889"
- Vernor Vinge's "Bookworm, Run!"
- Ian Watson's "The Very Slow Time Machine"
- H. G. Wells' "The Land Ironclads"
- Kate Wilhelm's "The Planners"
- Gene Wolfe's "All the Hues of Hell"
- Gene Wolfe's "Procreation"
- xxx's "yyy"
also known as "Swords & Sorcery" "The Once and Future King", by T. H. White, is one of the best-known examples of contemporary stories based on the great legends of heroes, heroines, Kings and Queens. Some critics sneer at these stories, as did David Hartwell [Age of Wonders, New York: Walker, 1984, pp.14-15]: "Heroic fantasy: barely repressed sex fantasy in which a muscular, sword-bearing male beats monsters, magicians, racial inferiors, and effete snobs by brute force, then services every willing woman in sight -- and they are all willing." Yet many readers love Heroic Fantasy, and legitimately claim it as one of the oldest and most noble of literary genres. Let's look closer...Arm Strong, Head Weak Modern "Swords & Sorcery" fiction began with pulp magazine publication of Robert E. Howard's "Conan" stories, which derive from the muscular heroes older than written literature. Gilgamesh, of the Sumerian tale (2700 B.C.), is the oldest such story; and Gilgamesh was intelligent, as was Odysseus in the Greek myths. Usually, however, brawn outranks brains, so Ajax and Hercules (Greek), Sampson (Hebrew), Rustum (Persian), and Cuchulain (Irish) follow Anna Russell's summary of Siegfried (Wagner's "Ring" cycle): "very brave, very strong, very handsome, and very VERY stupid." Magic is sometimes in the background, sometimes in the foreground. Gilgamesh seeks immortality through magical means. Villains often have sorcerous abilities, to give the beefy hero some competition. Sometimes the magician is a good guy -- Merlin helps King Arthur. Sometimes the magician is the hero himself, as is the case with Vainamoinen in the legends of Finland.I Wonder as I Wander The hero travels from one exotic locale to another, as this subgenre of Fantasy also derives from antique Travel Tales, from an era when any recounting of terrain beyond the village border was tinged with or colored with exaggeration and superstitious awe. The hero is irresistably attractive to the opposite sex, and has ample opportunity to pass his genes on to the next generation, but he suffers a serious fear of commitment, develops itchy feet, and hits the road for high adventure once again. More recently, the Woman has had her chance to be the mighty warrior, and the success of television's "Xena: Warrior Princess" proves that the mighty but non-monogamous fighter can come in either gender and still please a huge audience. For more on this, jump to Amazons/Feminist Heroic Fantasy.Horse Sense Heroic Fantasy also draws from the Chivalric Romances. Tales of knights in armor, always strong in arm, often less intelligent than minimum Mensa requirements, connect to the era in which the cavalry was the ultimate weapon: between 378 A.D. (Goths decimate Roman legions at Adrianople) and roughly 1500 A.D. (the end coming with Flemish defeating French cavalry at Courtrai in 1302; William Wallace with his schiltrons defeating the English cavalry at Stirling in 1297; and Robert the Bruce setting Scotland free in 1314; English longbows wiping out French horsemen at Crecy 1346, Poitier 1356, Agincourt 1420; Swiss pikes slaughtering Burgundian horsemen 1477, and the gunpowder proving more powerful than armor). "Chivalric" derives from "Chevalier" (French), which means the same as "Cabellarius" (Latin), "Cabellero" (Spanish), "Cavaliere" (Italian): horseman (assumed to be of the aristocracy) with courtly manners. The best-known Chivalric Romances are the British legends of King Arthur and the Round Table. We get this from Geoffrey of Monmouth's "History of British Kings" (1136), which first mentions Uther Pendragon, his son Arthur, and the wizard Merlin. Joy Chant's "The High Kings" retells Geoffrey of Monmouth very nicely. The French poet Cretien de Troyes (1170) stirred in the theology (Grail quest) and the sex (Lancelot and Guinevere), and the mixture proved potent. Sir Thomas Mallory edited the tales, gave them a literary gloss, and his "Morte d'Arthur" [The Death of Arthur] became the definitive version (1485). We've recast Mallory's Arthur many times in recent literature: Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "Idylls of the King" (1859); Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court" (1889); T. H. White's "The Once and Future King" (1958), which was the basis of the Broadway musical and then film of "Camelot"; and Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Mists of Avalon" (1982). Here are some examples, alphabetically by author's last name:RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
- Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Mists of Avalon"
- Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Shattered Chain" [Daw: 1975]
- Joy Chant's "The High Kings"
- Vera Chapman's "Blaedud the Birdman"
- Vera Chapman's The Three Damosels trilogy
beginning with:- Vera Chapman's "The King's Damosel" [1976; Avon: 1978]
- Suzy McKee Charnas's "Motherlines" [Berkeley: 1978]
- C. J. Cherryh's "Gate of Ivrel" [Daw: 1976]
- C. J. Cherryh's "Well of Shiuan" [Daw: 1978]
- Jo Clayton's the "Diadem" series [Daw]
- Graham Diamond's "Captain Sinbad"
- Ansen Dibell's "Pursuit of the Screamer" [Daw: 1978]
- Diane Duane's "The Door Into Fire" [Dell: 1979]
- John Russell Fearn's "Conquest of the Amazon" [1949; Futura: 1976]
- Janrae Frank's "The Ruined Tower" chapbook illustrated by Mary Bohdanowicz [Atalanta Press: 1979]
- Sally Gearheart's "The Wanderground" [Persephone: 1978]
- Robert E. Howard's Conan stories
- Robert E. Howard's "The Sword Woman" [Zebra: 1979]
- Dahlov Ipcar's "The Queen of Swords"
- Tanith Lee's "The Birthgrave" [Daw: 1975]
- Tanith Lee's "Night's Master" [Daw: 1978]
- C. S. Lewis' "Till We Have Faces"
- Richard Lupoff's "Sword of the Demon" [Harper & Row: 1977]
- Elizabeth Lynn's "The Northern Girl" [Berkeley: 1979]
- Elizabeth Lynn's "The Dancers of Arun" [Berkeley: 1980?]
- Naomi Mitchison's "To the Chapel Perilous"
- C. L. Moore's "Black God'd Shadow", the collected Jirel of Joiry stories from the 1930s, illustrated in this edition by Alicia Austin [Donald A. Grant: 1977]
- T. J. Morgan's "Dark Tide" chapbook illustrated by Theresa Troise-Heidel [Atalanta Press: 1979]
- Robert Nathan's "The Fair"
- Elizabeth Norman's "Silver, Jewels, and Jade"
- Andre Norton's the "Witch World" series
- Andre Norton's "Huon of the Horn"
- Doris Piserchia's "Star Rider" [Bantam: 1974]
- Doris Piserchia's "Earthchild" [Daw: 1977]
- Doris Piserchia's "Spaceling" [Daw: 1979]
- Richard Purtill's "The Golden Gryphon Feather"
- Richard Purtill's "The Stolen Goddess"
- Seabury Quinn's "Roads" [Arkham, 1948]
- Joanna Russ' "Alyx" [Gregg Press: 1977]
- Joanna Russ' "Kittitiny, a Tale of Magic" [Daughters: 1978]
- Pamela Sargent's [ed] "The New Women of Wonder", especially the stories by Emswiller, Reed, and Russ [Vintage: 1978]
- Mary Stewart's The Life of Merlin series
- Thomas Burnett Swann's "The Day of the Minotaur" [Ace, 1966]
- Thomas Burnett Swann's "Green Phoenix" [Daw, 1972]
- Thomas Burnett Swann's "How the Mighty Are Fallen" [Daw, 1974]
- Thomas Burnett Swann's "Lady of the Bees" [Ace, 1976]
- Thomas Burnett Swann's "Moondust" [Ace, 1968]
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "Idylls of the King"
- Mark Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee at King Arthur's Court"
- John Varley's "Titan" [Berkeley: 1979]
and its two sequels- Joan Vinge's "Snow Queen" [Dell: 1979]
- Evangeline Walton's The Mabinogi series
- Stanley G. Weinbaum's "The Red Peri" [Fantasy Press: 1952]
- T. H. White's "The Book of Merlyn" [Texas Press, 1977]
- T. H. White's "The Once and Future King" [Putnam, 1958; Dell; Berkley]
- T. H. White's "The Sword in the Stone" [Putnam, 1939; Dell]
- Monique Wittig's "Les Guerillieres" [1969; Avon: 1973]
- xxx's "yyy"
that old black magic, the really scary stuff What is "Horror" fiction? It is, on the face of it, fiction designed to produce a particular emotion -- horror -- in the reader. But it is surely more than that. H. P. Lovecraft, in "Supernatural Horror in Literature", agreed with our opening sentence, and expanded upon it neatly: "The one test of the really weird is simply this--whether or not there be excited in the reader a profound sense of dread, and of contact with unknown spheres and powers." Elsewhere in the same book he repeats the emphasis on producing a specific emotion: "Atmosphere is the all-important thing, for the final criterion of authenticity is not the dovetailing of a plot but the creation of a given sensation." What is the nature of that sensation? Sigmund Freud, in his essay of 1919, defined "The uncanny" as "that class of terrifying which leads back to something long known to us, once very familiar." Dashiell Hammett, in "Creeps by Night", said: "To taste the full flavor of these stories you must bring an orderly mind to them, you must have a reasonable amount of confidence, if not in what used to be called the laws of nature, at least in the currently suspected habits of nature... To the truly superstitious the 'weird' has only its Scottish meaning: 'Something which actually takes place.'" So you, reading these words right now, should pat yourself on the back. You are unusual, a rare type of human being. The experts agree. H. P. Lovecraft, in "Supernatural Horror in Literature", adds: "The appeal of the spectrally macabre is generally narrow because it demands from the reader a certain degree of imagination and a capacity for detachment from everyday life. Relatively few are free enough from the spell of daily routine to respond." Is it only fear, or dread, or horror, that such fiction should evoke? Some demand more. For instance, Elizabeth Bowen, in "The Second Ghost Book", wrote: "Fear has its own aesthetic--as Le Fanu, Henry James, Montagu James and Walter de la Mare have repeatedly shown--and also its own propreirty. A story dealing in fear ought, ideally, to be kept at a certain pitch. And that austere other world, the world of the ghost, should inspire, when it impacts on our own, not so much revulsion or shock as a sort of awe." A similar linkage was analyzed in Edmund Burke's 1756 essay "A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful": "Whatever is fitted in any sort to excite the ideas of pain, and danger, that is to say, whatever is in any sort terrible, or is conversant with terrible objects, or operates in a manner analogous to terror, is a source of the sublime; that is, it is productive of the strongest emotion which the mind is capable of feeling.... When danger or pain press too nearly, they are incapable of giving any delight, and [yet] with certain modifications, they may be, and they are delightful, as we every day experience." David Hartwell [Age of Wonders, New York: Walker, 1984, p.14] distinguishes between "classic fantasy (ghost stories, legends, tales)" from "supernatural horror." He subdivides Supernatural Horror into "two categories: classic -- from Le Fanu, Blackwood, and Machen to Stephen King and Rosemary's baby; and Lovecraftian, the school of H. P. Lovecraft and his followers." He overlooked the newer, grosser "Splatter Punk" movement, which holds that child abuse, genocide, international terrorism, nuclear holocaust, starvation, and serial killers are as grim as anything merely supernatural. The HORROR WRITERS OF AMERICA recently took a vote on what it considers the 40 greatest all-time horror books (both novels and short story collection), in order of rank (most votes = #1):Here are some other particularly good novels about our everyday world being threatened by the supernatural, thus creating a sense of horror in the reader. This may be the most ancient form of fantasy, encompassing all ghost stories, classic monster tales, and works such as "Dracula" and novels by today's master of the genre, Stephen King. More great black magic and horror:
40 Greatest Horror Books
- "The Haunting of Hill House", by Shirley Jackson [Viking, 1959; Popular]
- "The Exorcist", by William Peter Blatty
- "Something Wicked This Way Comes", by Ray Bradbury [Simon & Schuster, 1962; Bantam]
- "Frankenstein", by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
- "Dracula", by Bram Stoker
- "I Am Legend", by Richard Matheson
- "Pet Sematary", by Stephen King
- "Lovers Living, Lovers Dead", by Richard Lortz
- "Raven", by Charles L. Grant
- "The Hungry Moon", by Ramsey Campbell
- "Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood", by Algernon Blackwood
- "Ghoul", by Michael Slade
- "Conjure Wife", by Fritz Leiber
- "Sacrifice", by Andrew Vachss
- "Lost Souls", by Poppy Bright
- "Rosemary's Baby", by Ira Levin
- "The Between", by Tananarive Due
- "Skin", by Kathe Koja
- "The Hill of Dreams", by Arthur Machen
- "The Dunwich Horror and Others", by H. P. Lovecraft
- "The Lottery and Other Stories", by Shirley Jackson
- "Metamorphosis and Other Stories", by Franz Kafka
- "Dead in the Water", by Nancy Holder
- "Dr. Adder", by K. W. Jeter
- "Dark Dance", by Tanith Lee
- "Some of Your Blood", by Theodore Sturgeon
- "The Ghost Stories of M. R. James", by M. R. James
- "Phantom", by Thomas Tessier
- "Turn of the Screw", by Henry James
- "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", by Robert Louis Stephenson
- "The Shining", by Stephen King
- "Vampire Junction", by S. P. Somtow
- "Tales of Horror and the Supernatural", by Arthur Machen
- "Relic", by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Childs
- "At the Mountains of Madness", by H. P. Lovecraft
- "Sineater", by Elizabeth Massie
- "Book of the Dead", edited by John Skipp & Craig Spector
- "Darklands", by Dennis Etchison
- "The Stand", by Stephen King
- "Songs of a Dead Dreamer", by Thomas Ligotti
HORROR REFERENCE BOOKS: There is a wonderful index to 2,200 Ghost Stories taken from 190 books of fiction: "Ghost Story Index" by F. Siemon, 1967. Walter Kendrick, full name Walter M. Kendrick (1947-): * The Thrill of Fear: 250 Years of Scary Entertainment [Grove Weidenfeld, Nov 1991] ISBN 0-8021-1162-9 $19.95, 292pp, hardcover nonfiction historical survey of Horror books, films, and pop culture paraphrenalia; useful bibliography For younger readers, see especially: Cosette Kies, full name Cosette Nell Kies (1936-): Locus/Contento lists: * The Occult in the Western World: An Annotated Bibliography [Shoestring Press/Library Professional Publications, Aug 1986] ISBN 0-208-02113-2 [Jan, $29.50, 233pp, hardcover Nonfiction/Bibliography * Presenting Young Adult Horror Fiction ["United States Authors" series, Macmillan Twayne, Jan 1992] ISBN 0-8057-8217-6, $19.95, 201pp, hardcover Nonfiction/Criticism, annotated listing of Horror that teenagers might read, including bestselling adult authors * Supernatural Fiction for Teens: 2nd Edition [Libraries Unlimited, [June 1992] ISBN 0-87287-940-2, no price listed, 267pp, trade paperback Nonfiction/Reference/Annotated bibilography "more than 1300 good paperbacks to read for wonderment, fear, and fun" Order from: Libraries Unlimited P.O. Box 6633 Englewood CO 80155-6633 Perhaps the definitive anthology of short Horror fiction, with analytic essays, is "The Dark Descent: The Evolution of Horror", edited by David G. Hartwell, New York: Tor, 1987. It contains 56 great stories, and fine biographical introduction. A nicely extensive website on Horror literature, film, and film posters is: The Cabinet of Dr.Casey For several carefully selected handfulls of hotlinks to horror TV, film, actors, directors, and writers, check out: The Dark Side of the Web More... {to be done} RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
- Robert Bloch's "Strange Eons"
- Ray Bradbury's "Dark Carnival"
- Ray Bradbury's "The October Country"
- Ramsey Campbell's "The Doll Who Ate His Mother"
- Ramsey Campbell's "To Wake the Dead" also known as "The Parasite"
- John Dickson Carr's "The Burning Court"
- Robert W. Chamber's "The King in Yellow"
- Robert W. Chamber's "The Maker of Moons"
- Robert W. Chamber's "The Slayer of Souls"
- Basil Copper's "The Great White Space"
- Aleister Crowley's "Moonchild"
- William Hope Hodgson's "The Ghost Pirates"
- William Hope Hodgson's "The Hose on the Borderland"
- M. R. James' "Ghost Stories of an Antiquary"
- Stephen King's "Carrie"
- Stephen King's "Salem's Lot"
- Tanith Lee's "Kill the Dead"
- H. P. Lovecraft's "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward"
- H. P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth"
- Arthur Machen's "The Three Imposters"
- Abraham Merritt's "Burn, Witch, Burn"
- Abraham Merritt's "Creep, Shadow"
- Abraham Merritt's "Seven Footprints to Satan"
- H. Warner Munn's "Tales of the Werewolf Clan"
- Seabury Quinn's The Jules deGrandin series
- Bram Stoker's "Dracula's Guest"
(the sequel)- Bram Stoker's "Lair of the White Worm"
- Peter Straub's "Ghost Story"
- xxx's "yyy"
Those who live forever, or try to"All diseases may by sure means be prevented or cured, not excepting even that of old age, and our lives lengthened at pleasure beyond even the antediluvian standard." -- Benjamin Franklin, letter to Joseph Priestley, 8 February 1780 The quest for immortality is as old as literature, and then some. The Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh (circa 2700 B.C.) was based upon the all-powerful king seeking the secret of eternal life in strange lands, finding it, and losing it again. In Homer's Odyssey we see Odysseus being offered immortality by his immortal enchantress lover Calypso -- and reluctantly rejecting it to again seek his way home to his mortal wife Penelope. Once, Your Humble Webmaster had a dream in which such a choice was offered. A mighty voice asked "what does it mean if the gates of heaven are open to you, and you refuse to walk through?" I found myself, in the dream, answering "it means that I have free will, but bad taste." When I awoke, I spent hours wondering what that was all about. In the 3rd century B.C., the first emperor of a unified China died, reportedly of the side-effects of an alleged immortality elixer. In Science Fiction as such, we have Jonathan Swift's "Struldbrugs" in "Gulliver's Travels" (1726), who live forever, but become more and more physically and morally loathsome. Genetically distinct from mortals, they are marked early in life by a red dot over the left eye. The early Gothic novel "St. Leon" (1791) by William Godwin, dealt with an elixer of immortality. You might know of William Godwin's daughter, Mary Shelley, who not only wrote "Frankenstein" but also the immortality story "The Mortal Immortal" (1834). There is the ancient legend of the Wandering Jew, condemned to walk the Earth until the Second Coming for his failure to aid the rabbi Yeshua ben Yusef, better known as Jesus. This tale was resurrected in early 19th century Gothic novels, such as Charles Maturin's "Melmoth the Wanderer" (1820). Some very good books about Immortality are:Some notable stories about immortality include:
- H. Rider Haggard's "She" [Lovell, 1887; Dell, 1949; Lancer; Pyramid]
- George Bernard Shaw's "Back to Methuselah" (1921)
Play in 5 parts treating creative evolution. Part I has Lilith tear herself in two: Adam and Eve. Part II has the biologist Conrad Barnabas explain why people should live 300 years. Part III has England governed by Chinese and African women in 2170 A.D., and communicate by visual switchboard. Part IV in in 3000 A.D., with people classified as primaries, secondaries, or tertiaries according to how many centuries they've lived. Part V is set in 32,920 A.D., and in an epilogue, Adam, Eve, Cain and Lilith judge this future.- Simone de Beauvoir's "Tous le hommes son mortels" [1946; as "All Men are Mortal", tr. L. Friedman, US: 1955]
13th Century drinker of elixer of immortality begins to seriously regret his decision...- A. E. Van Vogt's "The Weapon Shops of Isher" [Greenburg, 1951; Ace]
- Arthur C. Clarke's "The City and the Stars" [Harcourt Brace, 1956; Signet] a.k.a. Against the Fall of Night [Gnome, 1953; Permanent]
- Wilson Tucker's "The Time Masters" [Rinehart, 1953; Signet; revised edition Science Fiction Book Club; Lancer]
- Jack Vance's "To Live Forever" [Ballentine Books hardcover, 1956]
- Robert Silverberg's "The Thirteenth Immortal" [Ace, 1957]
- Robert Heinlein's "Methuselah's Children" [Gnome, 1958; Signet]
- Frederik Pohl's "Drunkard's Walk" [Ballentine, 1960]
- James E. Gunn's "The Immortals" (1962)
- Avram Davidson & Ward Moore's "Joyleg" (1962)
- Clifford D. Simak's "Way Station" [Doubleday, 1963; Science Fiction Book Club; Mcfadden-Bartell paperback
- R. C. W. Ettinger's "The Prospect of Immortality" (1964)
nonfiction- Roger Zelazny's "This Immortal" [Ace, 1966]
- James Blish's "Cities in Flight" series, collected as 4 novels in one volume [Avon, 1969]
- Norman Spinrad's "Bug Jack Barron" [Walker, 1969; Avon]
ethical implications of immortality derived from torture-murder of innocents- Bob Shaw's "One Million Tomorrows" [Ace, 1970]
- Michael Moorcock's "An Alien Heat" [Harper & Row, 1972; Science Fiction Book Club; Avon]
and at least four other novels in the "Dancers at the End of Time" series:- Michael Moorcock's "The Hollow Lands" [Harper & Row, 1974; Science Fiction Book Club; Avon]
- Michael Moorcock's "The End of All Songs" [Harper & Row, 1976; Science Fiction Book Club; Avon]
- Michael Moorcock's "Legends from the End of Time" [Harper & Row, 1976; Daw]
3 stories- Michael Moorcock's "A Messiah at the End of Time" [Daw, 1978]
- Robert Heinlein's "Time Enough for Love" [Putnam, 1973; Science Fiction Book Club; Berkley]
sequel to "Methuselah's Children" (1958)- Raymond Z. Gallun's "The Eden Cycle" [Ballentine Books, 1974]
- xxx's yyyy (19xx)
There is a philosophical movement:Transhumanism, which often refers to transcendental science fiction novels such as David Zindell's "The Broken God." Scientists today debate several theories of immortality. Some point out that the most primitive single-cell creatures are immortal, that they reproduce by division, but never actually die. Death began with the invention of sexual reproduction. Tough choice! In the same way, cancer cells are immortal. The cancerous cells of a woman who might have been named "Helen Lane" have been kept alive, and increased thousands of times over, under the name "HeLa cells." Cancer cells, unlike healthy cells in your body, have "the immortalizing gene" switched on. If we could switch on "the immortalizing gene" without causing cancer, might you live forever? Professor Hayflick showed that normal plant and animal cells could reproduce only so many times before losing that ability. Why? Is it the accumulation of many small mutations? If so, anti-mutagens might prolong life. Is it the accumulation of toxic materials in cells? If so, we might find a way to eliminate those materials. Or is there a "death clock" programmed into cells that kills them off at a programmed time? That hypothesis looks particularly promising right now. So perhaps cells can be programmed for immortality. Perhaps we can break through the Hayflick Limit. Related to the quest for Immortality is a technical hedge against mortality: suspended animation. If a creature, most interestingly a human being, could be held in stasis, supension, refrigeration, hibernation, or some such condition for a long time, and then revived, that creature or person would hav experienced no subjective increase in age, but would live until a later date in the future than otherwise. We see this concept first as extended sleep in The French playwright Louis-Sebastien Mercier's "L'An 2440", later translated as "Memoirs of the Year Two Thousand Five Hundred", 1771. Most familar to the English-speaking world is Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" (1819). A dozen major suspended animation fictions, in alphabetical order by author:
- Gordon R. Dickson's novella "The Immortal" [F&SF, Aug 1965]
- Poul Anderson's "The Immortal Game" [F&SF, Feb 1954]
- Bret Hooper's "Immortality, C.O.D." (poem) [Science Fiction, May 1960]
- J. T. M'Intosh's novella "Immortality for Some" [Astounding, Mar 1960]
- Daniel F. Galouye's "Immortality, Inc. [Imagination, Sep 1954]
- T. P. Caravan's "The Immortality of Professor Bickerstaffe", short short [Other Worlds, Feb 1956]
- David Duncan's novella "The Immortals" [Galaxy, Oct 1960]
- William F. Temple's novelette "Immortal's Playthings" [Other Worlds (retitled "Field of Battle"), Feb 1953]
The concept of preserving the human life by cooling appears in science fiction in W. Clark Russell's "The Frozen Pirate" (1887), and is now a reality, with the technology of Cryonics. 8 major suspended animation fictions, in alphabetical order by author:
- Edmund Cooper's "The Uncertain Midnight" (19??)
- Erle Cox's "Out of the Silence" (19??)
- Robert Heinlein's "The Door Into Summer" (Doubleday, 19?57)
- Washington Irving's "Rip Van Winkle" (1819)
- Laurence Manning's "The Man Who Awoke" (Ballentine, 1975)
- Louis-Sebastien Mercier's "L'An 2440" (1771)
- Michael Moorcock's "The Warlord of the Air" (Ace, 1971)
- William Morris' "News from Nowhere" (19??)
- Francis G. Rayer's "Tomorrow Never Comes" (19??)
- W. Clark Russell's "The Frozen Pirate" (1887)
- Stanley G. Weinbaum's "The Black Flame" (Fantasy Books, 1948)
- H. G. Wells' "When the Sleeper Wakes" (Harper, 1899)
In a sense, there are three paths to Immortality: (1) Physical Immortality of the Body (the focus of this essay); (2) Genetic Immortality (through ones' descendants); (3) Intellectual Immortality (leaving a permanent mark in history with a story, poem, symphony, equation, theory, discovery, or construction). Parents routinely achieve #2, science fiction authors and scientists alike are seeking #3, but #1 is the still the stuff of science fiction. Physical/Biological Immortality is examined from various perspectives, with hotlinks, in: Principia Cybernetica Web Life Extension Immortality, Inc. a new clearinghouse for hotlinks and data on life extension "How to Live Longer and Like It" lecture by Professor Erdman B. Palmore, Duke University Gerontology Resources Places where People Allegedly Live Longer Of course, what normally prevents immortality is AGING, but htere are quite a few different theories of what actually causes aging: Hotlinked List of Theories of Aging Intellectual/Creative Immortality is discussed in: Creative Immortality Science Fiction and some scientific speculators have proposed a fourth path to immortality, namely: (4) Cybernetic Immortality and a fifth path, through the new engineering discipline of nanotechnology: (5) List of Links about Nanotechnology and a sixth path, through Cryonic (very cold) suspension, preservation, and eventual warming up and resucscitation: (6) Cryonics A short conventional definition of immortality is available at: Lani Paulsen on Immortality A short essay and collection of Biblical quotes are at: "Do Human Beings Have Immortal Souls" A collection of quotations about Immortality from Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and other eligions is at: Immortality in Various Religions Plato and Socrates had a few things to say on this subject: Plato on Immortality And now for some breaking news:
- Nikolai Amosoff's "Notes from the Future" (Simon & Schuster, 1970)
- Anders Bodelsen's "Freezing Down" (Harper & Row, 1971)
- Terry Carr's story "Ozymandias" (19??)
- Frederik Pohl's "The Age of the Pussyfoot" (Trident, 1969)
- Mack Reynolds' "Looking Backward from the Year 2000" (Ace, 1973)
- W. Clark Russell's "The Frozen Pirate" (1887)
- Clifford Simak's "Why call them Back from Heaven?" (Doubleday, 1967)
- E. C. Tubb's "The Winds of Gath" (Ace, 1967)
and sequels in the "Dumarest" series- James White's "The Dream Millennium" (19??)
Geron-Supported Studies Find Age-Blocking Enzyme Date: 1/14/98 University of Texas scientists, supported by Geron Corp., say they may have found the "cellular fountain of youth." It's an enzyme that stops human cells from aging and dying. They said it won't make people younger or keep them alive forever, but could keep them healthier longer. Scientists at the University of Colorado, Boulder, isolated the protein. Menlo Park,Calif.-based Geron holds the rights to some of the findings. (C) Copyright 1998 Investors Business Daily,Inc. Metadata: E/IBD E/SN1 E/FRT E/NDIG RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
Mostly about people who can't be seen Perhaps the first true modern Invisibility story was "The Invisible Gentleman", by James Dalton [1833] -- but it was clearly Fantasy, there being several twists to ensure that the hero gains nothing from his condition (according to "The Encyclopedia of Fantasy", John Clute & John Grant, St.Martin's, 1997, p.503). "The Horla" by Guy de Maupassant (1887) is a recognized literary classic, which happens to be about an invisible monster. Sam Moskowitz has researched the origins of this sub-genre of Science Fiction as such, and identifies these early works:27 later stories and novels about invisibility include:
- "What Was It?", by Fitz-James O'Brien (1859)
: protagonist has near brush with death from a naturally evolved invisible creature- "The Crystal Man", by Edward Page Mitchell (1881)
: thought to be the first fiction about a man being made invisible; reprinted more widely in 1903- "Stella", by C. Howard Hinton (1895)
- "The Invisible Man", by H. G. Wells (1897)
H. G. Wells explains two approaches to invisibility, namely absolute blackness (only useful against dark backgrounds or at night) or absolute transparency. The problem with the latter is that the food in your gut would be visible, you must go naked, and if your retinas are invisible, you are blind. Other approaches to invisibility include somehow bending light around you, so that obervers on one side see what's on the other side of you, perhaps by fiber optics or many tiny video screens coupled to videocameras. Being able to move very quickly is also a virtual form of invisibility, as H. G. Wells points out in "The New Accelerator." In comic books, both The Flash and Superman can achieve that result. "Stealth" technology is about invisibility to radar and infrared sensors. {to be done} Eighteen Movies/TV Series About Invisibility
- "The Ring of Gyges", by Charles Wentworth Lisle (1886)
- "The Eavesdropper" (1888), by James Payn (1830-1898)
- "The Wizard's Mantle", by "Dryasdust" [M. Y. Halidom] (1902)
- "The Shadow and the Flash", by Jack London (1903)
- "The Gollan", by A. E. Coppard (1929)
- "The Murderer Invisible", by Philip Wylie (1931)
: mad scientist- "Sinister Barrier", by Eric Frank Russell (1939)
: aliens- "Invisible", by Eric Frank Russell, Fantastic Story Quarterly (Winter 1951)
- The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien (1954-1955)
bad news for he who uses The One Ring- "The Invisible Wall", by Richard Brookbank, F&SF (August 1954)
- "The Invisible Enemy", by Arnold Castle, Imagination (Oct 1954)
- "The Invisible Enemy", by Jerry Sohl, novella, Imaginative Tales (Sep 1955)
- "The Vanishing American", by Charles Beaumont (1955)
- "The Invisible Horror", by Leigh Marlowe, Fantastic (Dec 1957)
- "The Man Who Vanished", by Robert M. Coates (1957)
- "The Invisible Man Murder Case", by Henry Slesar, Novella, Fantastic (May 1958)
- "The Country of the Kind", by Damon Knight (1956)
: protagonist is not technically invisible, yet people can't see him- "Are You Listening?", by Harlan Ellison (1958)
- "For Love", by Algis Budrys (1962)
: attempts scientific explanation- "To See the Invisible Man", by Robert Silverberg (1975)
: protagonist is not technically invisible, yet people can't see him- "The Invisible Man", by Edward W. Ludwig, Gamma (1964)
- "The Saliva Tree", by Brian Aldiss (1965)
: aliens- "The Visible Man", by Gardner Dozois (1975)
: protagonist is not technically invisible, yet people can't see him- "A Wreath of Stars", by Bob Shaw (1976)
: anti-neutrino world overlapping ours but invisible without special glasses- The Wondrous Physician (1979), by Jorge de Sena (1919-1978)
: novel- The Glamour, by Christopher Priest (1984)
: novel- Being Invisible, by Thomas Berger (1988)
: novelRoget's Thesaurus helps us with a list of synonyms for "Invisibility":
- "The Invisible Man", from the H.G. Wells story, directed by James Whale, starring Claude Rains (1933)
: special effects by John P. Fulton, Screenplay by R. C. Sherriff- "The Invisible Man Returns" (1940)
- "The Invisible Ghost" (1941)
- "The Invisible Woman" (1941)
- "The Invisible Agent" (1942)
- "The Invisible Man's Revenge" (1944)
- "Slaves of the Invisible Monster" (1950)
- "Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man" (1951)
- "The Invisible Boy" (1957)
- "H. G. Wells' Invisible Man", British TV Series (1958-1959)
- "The Invisible Creature" (1959)
- "The Invisible Terror" (19yy)
- "The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini" (1966)
- "The Invisible Man", TV Pilot (1975), Universal/NBC TV Series (1975-1976)
: Produced by Stephen Bochco- "The Invisible Woman", TV Pilot (1983)
: Alexa Hamilton sitcom- "The Invisible Man", British TV Series (1984)
- "The Invisible Kid" (1988)
- "Memoirs of an Invisible Man" (1992)
Which in turn is related to the concepts of:
- invisibleness
- nonappearance
- imperceptability
- indistinctness
- mystery
- delitescence
To be invisible is similar to:
- concealment
- latency
The adjective "invisible" has the synonyms:
- to be hidden
- to lurk
- to escape notice
But we need to go beyond the words, and Onto the Web to find out more... {to be done} mere AltaVista search on "invisibility" mostly gives you stuff about the card gamne "Magic" and various purported spells of invisibility frm Role Playing games. Also, various sites discuss the sense of social invisibility for people who are (variously) homosexual or disabled. RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
- invisible
- imperceptible
- undiscernible
- indiscernible
- unapparent
- non-apparent
- out of sight
- not in sight
- perte de vue
- behind the scenes
- behind the curtain
- viewless
- sightless
- inconspicuous
- unconspicuous
- unseen
neoprimitive place/people discovered Thomas D. Clareson ["Toward a History of Science Fiction"] suggests that the British writers, obsessed with the side-effects of Empire, specialized in the so-called "Lost Lands" and "Lost Race" subgenres. These reflect curiosity about archaeology, exploration, geology, and paleontology. Such tales may reflect a desire for the neo-primitive, as an escape from the pressures of modern industrial society. H. Rider Haggard was the first major author in this area, and perhaps introduced the notion to literature. Edgar Rice Burroughs used it again and again, with great success. These stories typically presume that, although most of the Earth has been explored, there still remain some isolated remnants of an earlier culture such as Atlantis, Lemuria, or Mu. As exploration diminished the plausibility of such pockets of the past, lost worlds retreated to Africa, Australia, South America, central Asia, Pacific islands, the Arctic, the Antarctic, and finally more and more often under the sea or beneath the Earth's surface. Before this, "travel tales" such as "The Travels of Sir John Mandeville" (1366), Thomas More's "Utopia" (1516), and Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels" (1726) appealed to a public well-aware that much of the globe was "terra incognita." "A Meditation on Lost Race Literature with Special Reference to the Works of H. Rider Haggard" a wonderful essay, with dustjacket graphics, by the expert Jessica Amanda Salmonson Major works on these Lost Lands/Lost Races themes include:This has also been a repeated theme in science fiction of Australia, typically that the lost land and/or lost race is deep in the continent's interior (the Nullarbor). Roget's Thesaurus (1982 edition) lists these imaginary lands:
- Samuel Butler's "Erehwon" (1872; 1880)
title is "Nowhere" spelled backwards Protagonist George Higgs in a New Zealand sheep farm, is led by a native to "Erewhon", a country strangely similar to Hollywood in its emphasis on keeping everyone pretty and happy. Immoral acts (to us) are treated as if mere illnesses, while to catch cold is treason. He who earns 20,000 Pounds per year is hailed as a genius, and spared the need to pay taxes. Higgs observes the College of Unreason, the School of Inconsistency, and the School of Evasion, where he laerns that "consistency is a vice which degrades human nature, and levels man with the brute." He escapes home to England via balloon, with a Erewhonian girl with whom he's fallen in love.- "Atlantis, the Antediluvian World", by Ignatius Donnelly (1885)
: nominally nonfiction, sparked the market for fiction on the theme- "King Solomon's Mines", by H. Rider Haggard (1885)
: Africa- "She", by H. Rider Haggard [Lovell, 1887; Dell, 1949; Lancer; Pyramid]
- "Allan Quatermain", by H. Rider Haggard (1887)
- "The Treasure of the Ice", by Eugene Shade Bisbee (1892)
: Athenian Greeks on ice- "The Lost City", by Joseph Badger (1898)
: pre-Columbian remnants of Aztecs, Incas, or Mayas in Washington State's Olympic mountains- "The Great White Way", by Albert Bigelow Paine (1901)
- "Prince Izon", by James Paul Kelly (1810)
: pre-Columbian remnants of Aztecs, Incas, or Mayas in the Grand Canyon- "The Lost World", by Arthur Conan Doyle [Doran, 1912; Permanent; Pyramid; Berkley]
: plateau in South American jungle- "Wings of Danger", by Arthur A. Nelson (1915)
- "Polaris of the Snows", by Charles B. Stilson (1915-16)
, and sequels- "The Land that Time Forgot", by Edgar Rice Burroughs [1918; McClurg, 1924; Science Fiction Book Club; Ace, 1963]
: Antarctica- "At the Earth's Core", by Edgar Rice Burroughs [McClurg, 1922; Ace; Science Fiction Book Club]
: First of the "Pellucidar" series about a lost world/lost races in the center of a hollow Earth. Sequels:- "Pellucidar", by Edgar Rice Burroughs [McClurg, 1923; Ace]
- "Tanar of Pellucidar", by Edgar Rice Burroughs [Metro, 1930; Ace]
- "Tarzan at the Earth's Core", by Edgar Rice Burroughs [Metro, 1930; Ace]
- "Back to the Stone Age", by Edgar Rice Burroughs [ERB, 1937; Ace]
- "Land of Terror", by Edgar Rice Burroughs [ERB, 1944; Ace]
- "Savage Pellucidar", by Edgar Rice Burroughs [Canaveral, 1963; Ace]
- "The Hidden People", by Leo Miller (1920)
: South America- "Marching Sands", by Harold Lamb (1920)
: Mongolia- "The Seeds of Enchantment", by Gilbert Frankau (1921)
: Indochina- "The House of the Falcon", by Harold Lamb (1921)
: India/Afghanistan- "Z R Wins", by Fitzhugh Green (1924)
: Vikings- "The Starkenden Quest", by Gilbert Collins (1925)
: Indochina- "The Light from Sealonia", by Arthur W. Barker (1927)
- "The Greatest Adventure", by John Taine (E. T. Bell) (1929)
- "The City of Desire", by Juanita Savage (1930)
: pre-Columbian remnants of Aztecs, Incas, or Mayas in Mexico- "The Face in the Abyss", by Abraham Merritt [Liveright, 1931; Avon]
: Atlantis survivors in the Andes- "Dwellers in the Mirage", by Abraham Merritt [Liveright, 1932; Avon; Grandon, 1950]
: Asiatic lost race in Alaska valley- "Lost Horizon", by James Hilton (1933)
: classic tale of Shangri-La in Tibet {film hotlink to be done}- "King Cobra", by Mark Channing (1935)
: India/Afghanistan- "The Desert Road to Shani-Lun", by Rita M. Hanson (1939)
: Mongolia- "The Man Who Missed the War", by Dennis Wheatley (1945)
- "Providence Island", by Jacquetta Hawkes (1959)
- "Valley of the Flame", by Henry Kuttner [Ace, 1964]
: Amazon jungle- "The Secret People", by John Benyon [Harris] [Lancer, 1964; Fawcett Gold Medal]
: lost race underground beneath the Sahara- "The Web of the Magi", by Richard Cowper (1980??)
: Asia Minor- "Land Under England", by Joseph O'Neill (19??)
: underground dictatorship- "xxxx", by yyy (19zz)
But we can compile a longer list of Imaginary Lands from Science Fiction, fantasy, and other literature:
- El Dorado
- Happy Valley
- The Isles of the Blest
- Cockaigne
- Ruritania
- Shangra-La
- Atlantis
- Lyonesse
- Middle Earth
- San Serriffe
(April Fool's day joke in "The Guardian", 1977)See BEYOND THE FIELDS WE KNOW: magical world unconnected to ours Some definitive theme bibliography references are:
- Richard Adams' "The Beklan Empire"
in Shardik [MacMillan, 1974; Avon]- Lloyd Alexander's "Prydain"
- Frank Baum's "Oz"
- Terry Brooks' "The Four Lands"
from "The Sword of Shannara" [Random House, 1977]- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Amtor"
: Venus- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "The Land of the Ant Men" (1924)
: Africa- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Barsoom"
: Mars- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Caspak"
: South Pacific island of Caprona- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "The Lost Empire"
: Tarzan meets Rome- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "The Moon"
: is hollow, like Pellucidar, in The Moon Maid- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "The Wild Island of Nadara"
: in The Cave Girl- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Omar and Thenar"
: Africa, long at war- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Opar" (1918)
: the City of Gold, subsequently used by Philip Jose Farmer- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Pal"
: in the Congo- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Pellucidar" (1923)
: inside the hollow Earth- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Poloda"
: in the Omos System of "Beyond the Farthest Star"- James Branch Cabell's "Poictesme"
see Major Books of 1910-1920: The Silver Age 1920-1930: The Golden Age- Stephen Donaldson's "The Land"
in "Lord Foul's Bane" [Science Fiction Book Club, 1977] and sequels- William Faulkner's "Yoknapatawpha County"
: not quite Fantasy...- Robert E. Howard's "Cimmeria"
see "Heroic Fantasy"- Ursula K. Le Guin's "Earthsea"
beginning in "A Wizard of Earthsea" [Parnassus, 1968; Ace; Bantam] and running through 4 novels- Fritz Leiber's "Lankhmar" in the land of "Newhon"
- C. S. Lewis' "Narnia"
in the series of 9 novels- G. Donald Fraser's "The Duchy of Strackenz"
in the "Flashman" books- Michael Moorcock's "Melnibone' and the Young Kingdoms"
- John Myers Myers' "The Commonwealth"
in "Silverlock" [Dutton, 1949; Ace]- Fletcher Pratt's "Dalarna"
in "The Well of the Unicorn" [Slone, 1948; Lancer; Ballentine Books; Lancer; Garland, 1976]- Clark Ashton Smith's "Hyperborea"
- Clark Ashton Smith's "Zoothique"
- Jonathan Swift's "Brobdingnag"
in "Gulliver's Travels"- Jonathan Swift's "Laputa"
in "Gulliver's Travels"- Jonathan Swift's "Lilliput"
in "Gulliver's Travels"- Jonathan Swift's "the land of the Houyhnhnms"
in "Gulliver's Travels"- J. R. R. Tolkien's "Middle Earth"
- Austin Tappan Wright's "Islandia"
[Farrar & Rinehart, 1942; Signet; Plume]- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Amtor"
: Venus- xxx's "yyy"
- "Atlantean Chronicles", by Henry M. Eichner (Alhambra, California: Fantasy Publishing Co: 1971)
: most comprehensive listing of Atlantis theme in fiction, plus informal theorizings- "The Imaginary Voyage in Prose Fiction: A History of Its Criticism and a Guide for Its Study, with an Annotated Checklist of 215 Imaginary Voyages from 1700 to 1800", by Philip Babcock Gove (New York: Columbia U. Press, 1941; Arno Press, 1975)
- "xxxx", by yyy (19zz)
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Fantasy and Science Fiction about Mathematics
The three leading Mathematicians in contemporary American Science Fiction are:Other mathematicians who have written Science Fiction include:
- Professor Vernor Vinge
: recently retired from teaching Mathematics in a major San Diego, California, university so as to write full-time;- Professor Rudy Rucker
: Ph.D. in Mathematical Logic; taught at San Jose State University, in the heart of Silicon Valley;- Professor Jonathan Vos Post
: also known as Your Humble Webmaster, in the 2nd semester as part-time professor of mathematics at Woodbury University, in Burbank, California; with a B.S. in Mathematical Logic from Caltech, and 4 Mathematics papers written in the first 4 weeks of 2004 and submitted to journals and international conferences.But there is plenty of Fantasy and Science Fiction about Mathematics, including:
- William F. Orr
;- J. L. Synge
;- others
: {to be done}There are also Fantastic or Science Fictional MOVIES about Mathematics, most notably:
- "Socrates and the Slave", by Plato [date?]
: Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica;- "The Tachypomp", by Edward Page Mitchell [18xx]
: Originally published in a New York newspaper; arguably the first story ever about computer-enhanced human intelligence; idiot has what we would call a computer implanted in his skull, making him a genius; likely influenced the classic "Flowers for Algernon" and the botched film "Lawnmower Man"; Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica;- "The Plattner Story", by H.G. Wells [1896]
: 4-D rotation makes 3-D object mirror-reversed;- "Peter Learns Arithmetic", by H.G. Wells [18xx]
: Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica;- "Young Archimedes", by Aldous Huxley [1924]
: Peasant prodigy discovered by couple vacationing in Italy; explicitly shows boy rediscovery of a theorem of Pythagoras; warning: tragic ending. Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica;- "The Captured Cross-Section", by Miles J. Breuer, M.D. [1929]
: A multidimesnional geometry fiction, where the Mathematcian hero has to save his mathematcian finacee; starts with some Linear Algebra, and quickly moves to a 4-D creature manifesting in our 3-D world; Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica; has a sort of sequel by Greg Bear {to be done};- "The Death of Archimedes", by Karel Capek [19xx]
: Historically, we think that Archimedes was killed by an ignorant Roman soldier. In this tale, the soldier knew very well who Archimedes was, and the murder stems from the great Mathematician refusing to work for the Roman Army, after some fascinating discussion about the use of Mathematics in military science. Karl Capek wrote the famous Science Fiction play "R.U.R." which introduced the word "robot", and the SF novel "War with the Newts." Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica;- "Jurgen Proves it by Mathematics", by James Branch Cabell [19xx]
: Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica;- "A. Botts and the Mobius Strip", by William Hazlett Upson [19xx]
: Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica;- "God and the Machine", by Nigel Balchin [19xx]
: Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica;- "Misfit", by by Robert A. Heinlein [1939]
: math prodigy Libby;- "And He Built a Crooked House--", by Robert A. Heinlein [1940]
: tesseract-projected-into-3D house folds into 4-D in California quake, with occupant inside; considered one of the most cited Mathematics story in modern fiction;- "Inflexible Logic", by Russell Maloney [1940]
: Old theory that enough monkeys typing on enough typewriters would eventually type all the books in the British Museum. In this story, six chimpanzees are put at six typewriters, and start typing flawlessly. The Mathematician has to decide whether or not to intervene, to save the Laws of probability. Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica;- "No-sided Professor", by Martin Gardner [1946]
: First published in Esquire. A Mobius strip is a strip of paper with a half-twist, that has only one side. Is there a way to keep going and get no sides? And what if you could fold a person that way? Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica; reprinted in Mathenauts; has a sequel "The Island of Five Colors";- "Wall of Darkness", by Arthur C. Clarke [1949]
: topological weirdness;- "The Incomplete Enchanter", by L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt [1942]
: in this novel, which had sequelae, a mathematical logic equation when read aloud as if a magical spell, is the key to travel to alternative universes, mostly ones inside what are fictions from our world;- "Pythagoras and the Psychoanalyst", by Arthur Koestler [19xx]
: Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica;- "Mother and the Decimal Point", by Richard Llewellyn [19xx]
: Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica;- "Superiority", by Arthur C. Clarke [19xx]
: Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica;- "Expedition", by Fredric Brown [19xx]
: Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica;- "The Universal Library", by Kur Lasswitz [19xx]
: Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica; probably influenced Jorge Luis Borges' "The Library of Babylon";- "Postscript to The Universal Library", by Willy Ley [19xx]
: Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica;- "John Jones's Dollar", by Harry Stephen Keeler [19xx]
: The power of Compound Interest; clearly influenced "Door into Summer" by Robert Heinlein, and "Age of the Pussyfoot" by Frederick Pohl. Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica;- "A Subway Named Mobius", by A. J. Deutch [1950]
: Boston's transit authority (MBTA) build a new train line, and the network becomes some complicated that train vanishes, disappearing into multidimensional network topology, or something like that. The math is not correct, but the story is fun. Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica; allegedly adapted to a movie;- "The Mathematical Voodoo", by H. Nearing, Jr. [1951]
: a collection of short stories (not a novel as claimed on the cover) originally printed in the Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction [Curtis Books, paperback, number 123-07051-075, cover price 75 cents, 224 pages; contains these stories among others: "The Mathematical Voodoo", "The Hyperspeherical Basketball", "The Factitious Pentangle", "The Malignant Organ." Cleanth Penn Ransom is the math Professor protagonist, although his name is obviously a composite of three famous poet/critics. Title story reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica;- "The island of Five Colors", by Martin Gardner [1952]
: sequel to "The No-sided Professor." Characters try to solve the Four Color Theorem in Topology (which has been solved recently by a computer-assisted proof that few people can follow). It gives a good summary of the Theorem, and then launches into a story about an imaginary African island divided into five simply-connected districts each of which borders the other four as well as the ocean. Professor Slapenarski is about to explain all, before he is kidnapped via a Klein Bottle by some sort of giant bug. Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica;- "The Last Magician", by Bruce Elliott [1952]
: Magician with Klein Bottle baffles extraterrestrials. Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica;- "FYI", by James Blish [1953]
: transfinite arithmetic;- "The Devil and Simon Flagg", by Arthur Porges [19xx]
: A deal-with-the-devil story with a unique twist: the Devil is challenged to prove Fermat's Last Theorem. By the story's end, he and the human are collaborating with enthusiasm, to the digust of the man's wife. Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica; a short and somewhat different version was published under the title "The Devil a Mathematician Would Be";- "Fantasia Mathematica", edited by Clifton Fadiman [1956]
: essential anthology;- "Occam's Razor", by David Duncan [1959]
: explains Calculus of Variations;- "The Mathematical Magpie", edited by Clifton Fadiman [1962]
: essential anthology;- "Euclid Alone", by William F. Orr [1975; in Orbit 16 anthology]
: author is also a mathematician;- "Sorority House", by Frederick Pohl (19zz)
;- various stories, by Norman Kagan [19zz]
;- "Solid Geometry", by Ian McEwan [1976]
: sort of a sequel to "No-sided Professor" [1946]- "Cosmos", by Carl Sagan [19xx]
: the novel (but not this film) has a particularly absurd subplot near the end, where the digits of "pi" are calculated to an immensely large distance, and a 2-D image of a circle appears, as if as the signature of God. This is absurd for several reasons, including: God has no reason to prefer Base 10; and Pi is Pi in any universe, regardless of the physics;- "Mathenauts", by Rudy Rucker [19zz]
: anthology;- various other books, by Rudy Rucker [19zz]
;- "Kandelman's Krim", by J. L. Synge [19zz]
;- "Luminous", by Greg Egan [19zz]
- "Division by Zero", by Ted Chiang [19zz]
;- others
: {to be done}And there are movies that have fragments of Mathematics:
- "A Subway Named Mobius", by A. J. Deutch [1950]
: Reprinted in Fantasia Mathematica; allegedly adapted for film;- Goodwill Hunting [1997]
: Directed by Gus Van Sant; screenplay by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck; starring Robin Williams as Sean Maguire, a janitor at MIT who has a natural gift for Mathematics;- Pi [1998]
: Kabbalists and Wall Street goons chase a mathematician who has been going insane while earching for a pattern in the digits of Pi; the actual Greek lower case letter for "pi" is the official title of the film;- A Beautiful Mind [2001]
: Directed by Ron Howard; adapted to screenplay by Akiva Goldman from the book by Sylvia Nasar; starring Russell Crowe as John Forbes Nash, the brilliant Game Theorist who redirected Economics with his discoveries at Princeton, and then was captive of hallucinatory schizophrenia for decades;- Hypercube [2003]
: sequel to "Cube", where 4-D geometry and a kind of time travel complicate things for a motley assortment of people trapped in a Military Industrial Complex deadly super-secret project;- others
: {to be done}For illustrations of some of the above, see: Mathematics in Film For some examples of Mathematical concepts in stories not promarily about math, see: Mathematics in Literature For a "geneology" of my teachers' teachers' teachers, including many of the most famous Mathematcians in History, see: My Teachers' Teachers' Teachers For a web page about the Mathematics of "The Four Nines Problem", see: The Four Nines Problem I am not automatically assuming that all Computer Scientists are Mathematicians, although some are. Your Humble Webmaster is also in the Faculty Pool of the Computer Science Department of California State University, Los Angeles, but not teaching there this semester (state budget crisis). But there is a plethora of quasimathematical content in Computer-oriented Science Fiction: see the section on Cyberpunk in this web page. For some hotlinks to more on mathematics in Art and Literature, see: {to be done} RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
- Return of the Pink Panther
: in the Lugash National Museum, we see the Star of Lakshmi, also known as the Star Polygon {8/2} which the Hindus use to symbolize Ashtalakshmi (the 8 forms of wealth); this figure is also widely used in traditional Mexican art;- Last Year in Marienbad [1961]
: as Margherita Barile points out, Alain Resnais' film has two players in the Game of Nim, alternately taking counters from one of 4 heaps of 1, 3, 5, and 7 counters at the start, with the player winning who moves last;- The Avengers [date?]
: Uma Thurman descends a Penrose Stairway, and ends where she began. A Penrose Stairway famously appears in M. C. Escher's prints "Ascending and Descending" and "House of Stairs";- The Man Without a Face [1993]
: Mel Gibson (as Justin McLeod) demonstrates the Perpendicular Bisector Theorem to Nick Stahl (as Chuck Norstadt);- It's My Turn [1980]
: as Margherita Barile points out, The Snake Lemma is explained in the first scene of this film by Claudia Weill, starring Michael Douglas and Jill Clayburgh;- others
: {to be done}
science fiction about social and political concerns Besides the sometimes outrageous projections of ideal societies (Utopias) and societies gone grotesquely wrong (Dystopias), many science fiction authors have tried to give credible portrayals of the political processes as the affect human beings through the workings of society. 30 explicitly or implicitly POLITICAL science fiction novels or series:* = quotation from "John Brunner's 10 SF Novels Every Politician Should Read" (c) 1982 Brunner Fact & Fiction Ltd. [placed in alphabetical order by Webmaster to fit format] RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
- Poul Anderson's "Technic History" series
, centered on the characters Nicholas Van Rijn and Dominic Flandry, with careful attention to the realities of past history and a detailed projection of future history- Piers Anthony's "Chthon"
, for its technologically advanced but socially regressive society which has returned to slavery- Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" series
, explicityly modelled on Gibbon's "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" in its initial trilogy- James Blish's "Cities in Flight" series
, focus on the effects of major technological change, commercial empire, and market crash; has an explicit chronology through the year 4004 A.D.- * John Brunner's "The Shockwave Rider"
in all diffidence because Alvin Toffler and others regard it as a reasonable projection of a computerised society- * Giles Cooper's "The Other Man"
for its protagonist, a British officer dutifully serving the al-conquering Nazis- Gordon R. Dickson's "Childe" cycle
, many novels in series, starting from our past and projecting far into the future, with emphasis on human and social change in political context- * Frederick Forsyth's "The Devil's Alternative"
for the only credible scenario I know that suggests why Russia might want to invade the West- Charles Harness' "The Paradox Men"
, for its technologically advanced but socially regressive society which has returned to slavery- * Harry Harrison's "Make Room! Make Room!"
for showing us what it would be like if we had to live as millions do in overcrowded poverty-stricken nations- Robert Heinlein's "Future History" series
, beginning with "The Past Through Tomorrow", famous for its fold-out chart of future political developments- Robert Heinlein's "Citizen of the Galaxy"
, for its technologically advanced but socially regressive society which has returned to slavery, its elderly hero who believes that the fight against slavery is the greatest goal, and its look at the power of great wealth- "The Dead Zone" by Stephen King (1979)
: precognition affects political candidate- * Hans Hellmut Kirst's "No One Will Escape" [Keiner Kommt Davon]
for its picture of Europe declining into nuclear war- Ursula K. Le Guin's "TThe Word for World is Forest"
, for its technologically advanced but socially regressive society which has returned to slavery- * Robert Muller's "After All, This is England"
for its hideously convincing depiction of how fascism might come to us in the guise of patriotism- Larry Niven's "Known Space" series
, with intricate politics between different factions on Earth, and eventually in the galaxy- John Norman's "Gor" series
, for its technologically advanced but socially regressive society which has returned to slavery- * George Orwell's "1984"
for its portrayal of totally efficient tyranny- H. Beam Piper's "Federation"
, detailed future history, cut short by his untimely death- Robert Silverberg's "Downward to Earth"
, for its technologically advanced but socially regressive society which has returned to slavery- Cordwainer Smith's "Instrumentality of Mankind" series
, a rather baroque future history, beginning about 10,000 years from now, with emphasis on galactic economics, the struggle against slavery by the animal-people, and "The Rediscovery of Man"- Norman Spinrad's "The Iron Dream"
, written in an alternate world where Hitler's Beer hall putsch had failed, he came to New York City, and wrote pulp science fiction, including this novel itself- Norman Spinrad's "The Men in the Jungle"
, for its technologically advanced but socially regressive society which has returned to slavery- Olaf Stapledon's "Last and First Men"
, although the near-term future is ludicrous, the vast sweep of future history- * George R. Stewart's "Earth Abides"
for reminding us about how fragile our society is- * Peter van Greenaway's "The Man Who Held the Queen to Ransom and Sent Parliament Packing"
for the hope it offers us that someone might break through the deadlock we are trapped in- A. E. Van Vogt's "Empire of the Atom"
, for its technologically advanced but socially regressive society which has returned to slavery- * H. G. Wells' "The Time Machine"
for the way it enables us to view our petty modern concerns sub specie aeternitatis- Gene Wolfe's "The Fifth Head of Cerberus"
, for its technologically advanced (cloning) but socially regressive society which has returned to slavery- xxx's "yyyy"
science fiction authors who also write erotica Sex! Now that I have your attention, let me explain that many science fiction authors have written either soft-core erotica or hard-core pornography as a fast way to earn money, in order to write the science fiction that they work on with more craft and pride:The anthology "Eros in Orbit", edited by Joseph Elder, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1973; Trident, 1973; Pocket Books, No.77720, $0.95, May 1974, was arguably the first collection devoted to Sex in Science Fiction. Joseph Elder refers to the film "Is There Sex After Death", and SF-izes it into "Does Sex Have a Future?" Given that the "pleasures of the flesh" have been available since Genesis, and will continue until Armageddon, these stories question whether sex will be better, worse, or simply different in the future. The 1960s were not only a period of stylistic experimentation in science fiction (Science Fiction of the 1960s) but a period of "sexual revolution" and social change, which included the Birth Control Pill, feminist bra-burnings, nudity in legitimate theatre ("Hair"), topless waitresses, Masters & Johnson's experiements on and publications about orgasm, communal marriage, and Gay Liberation. The pornography industry flourished, and the borders between it and other genres blurred. Some science fiction authors had been pioneers in handling issues of sexuality, notably Philip Jose Farmer and Marion Zimmer Bradley. The pulp magazine tradition, however, had shied away from this subject, except for lurid cover art of BEMs (Bug-Eyed Monsters) clutching women who were typically garbed in low-cut gowns, cut-away spacesuits, or other designs portraying them as not only sex objects but interplanetary sex objects. This is evolutionarily absurd, as explained at length in How to Talk to an Extraterrestrial. Harlan Ellison's groundbreaking anthology "Dangerous Visions" broke numerous taboos, including sexual ones, and opened the door to sophisticated treatment of sexuality inside the genre of science fiction. "Eros in Orbit", edited by Joseph Elder, includes the following stories:
- Brian Aldiss' "The Hand-Reared Boy"
- Chester Anderson's "The Pink Palace"
(soft)- Chester Anderson & Laurence Janifer's [as Andrew Blake] "Faithful for Eight Hours"
(soft)- J. G. Ballard's "Crash"
(hard/techno), now a motion picture- Raymond E. Banks' "The Moon Rapers" [Hustler Paperbacks, 1979]
(hard)- Marion Zimmer Bradley [as Lee Chapman, Morgan Ives, John Dexter, and Miriam Gardner]: "I Am a Lesbian", "Knives of Desire", "No Adam or Eve", "Spare Her Heaven"
(soft/romance/gothic)- Samuel R. Delany's "The Tides of Lust"
(hard/gay)- Harlan Ellison's [as Paul Merchant] "Sex Gang" (1959)
- Philip Jose Farmer's "Blown" and "The Image of the Beast"
(hard/S&M)- Philip Jose Farmer's "A Feast Unknown"
(hard/Tarzan/Doc Savage)- Philip Jose Farmer's "Love Song"
(hard/gothic/incest)- Philip Jose Farmer's [as William Norfolk] "As You Desire"
(soft)- Jane Gallion's "Biker" and "Stoned" and 2 Essex House novels
(hard/S&M/drugs)- David S. Garnett, various men's magazine stories
- Richard E. Geis [sometimes as Peggy Swenson]: "Arena Women", "The Corporation Strikes Back", "The Endles Orgy", "Raw Meat", "The Sex Machine","Star Whores"
(hard/science fiction)- Richard E. Geis [sometimes as Peggy Swenson]: "Bedroom Backlist", "Bongo Bum","Eye at the Window", "Girlsville", "In Bed We Lie", "Male Mistress","Ravished","Sex Turned On"
(hard/non-science-fiction)- Langdon Jones' [as Michael Wesbury] "Children of the Night"
(hard)- Barry Malzberg's Olympia Press novels: "Confessions of Westchester County", In My Parents' Bedroom", "Screen"
(hard/literary)- Barry Malzberg's "Masochist", "Oracle of the Thousand Hands", "The Spread"
(hard/non-literary)- Barry Malzberg's [as Gerrold Watkins] "The Art of the Fugue", "A Bed of Money", "Giving it Away", "A Satyr's Romance", "Southern Comfort"
(hard/non-literary)- David Mason [various psuedonyms]
- David Meltzer's "The Agency" series: "The Agency", "The Agent", "How Many Blocks in Our Pile?"
(hard/science fiction/political/conspiracy)- David Meltzer's "Brain-Plant" series: "Glue Factory", "Healer", "Lovely", "Out"
(hard/science fiction/future city-world)- David Meltzer's "The Martyr", "Orf""
(hard/non-science-fiction)- Michael Moorcock's "The Brothel in Rosenstrasse
- John Norman's "Gor" series
(soft/S&M)- Andrew J. Offutt's "The Great 24 Hour Thing"
(hard)- Andrew J. Offutt's [as John Cleve] "Spaceways" series
(hard/space opera)- Andrew J. Offutt's [as John Cleve] "Barbarana", "The Devoured", "Fruit of the Loins", "Jodinareh", "The Juice of Love", "Manlib!", "Pleasure Us!", "The Sexorcist" (a.k.a. "Unholy Revelry")
(hard)- Andrew J. Offutt's [as Jeff Douglas] "The Balling Machine"
(hard)- Andrew J. Offutt's [as Baxter Giles] "The Pleasure Principle" (a.k.a. "Pleasure Us!")
(hard)- Andrew J. Offutt's [as John Cleve] "The Accursed Tower", "The Passionate Princess", various sequels
(hard/Crusades)- Andrew J. Offutt's [as J. X. Williams] "Her", "The Sex Pill"
(hard)- Charles Platt's "The Gas"
(hard/science fiction)- Charles Platt's "The Image Job", "The Pleasure and the Pain"
Hard)- Charles Platt's [as Blakely St.James] "A Song for Christina"
(soft)- Christopher Priest [novel sold to Essex House, but not published?]
- Mack Reynolds [as Maxine Reynolds and Todd Harding], 10+ novels
- Robert Silverberg's [as Don Eliot]: "Hod Rod Sinners", "Passion Thieves", "Sexteen", "Sin for Solace", "Wanton Web" (1959-1965)
- George H. Smith [also as Jan Hudson and Jerry Jason]
- Hank Stine's "Season of the Witch" [Essex House]
(hard/science fiction, criminal man's brain transplanted to woman's body)- Theodore Sturgeon's "Some of Your Blood"
(soft/horror)- Theodore Sturgeon's "Godbody"
(soft/science fiction)- Bob Vardeman's [as Edward George] "Pleasure Planet"
- Ian Watson's (with Judy Watson) "The Woman Machine", in France as "Orgasmachine"
(hard/feminist revolution)- Robert Anton Wilson's "The Sex Magicians"
45 other interesting science fictions about sex include, in alphabetical order by author's last name (and "robot" means, really, robot or android):
- "2.46593" by Edward Bryant
: The title refers to the 2.46593 times per week that the average American has sexual intercourse, according to Kinsey. The story is about the cynical ad campaign for a sex-toy doll named "Baby Tender Love", and refers offhandedly to: "prosthetics, alloplastic vaginas, electronically enhanced dildoids, aids, inducements, augmentations...coprolalliac, sectional intercourse, homosensuality, psychelingus"- "Lovemaker" by Gordon Eklund
: about mental recordings of sexual and sadomasochistic performances, tied in with the killing of androids- "Clone Sister" by Pamela Sargent
: treats the emotional dynamics of a set of five female clones of the same star drive inventor, Paul Swenson, using the "Takamura" technique. This story correctly predicted the outlawing of human cloning by a horrified public and legislature. Cloning is also used to preserve African wildlife. Paul is jealous when one of his clones, Kira, has an affair with a colleague. Everyone searches for self-meaning and an understanding of their place in the world.- "Whistler" by Ron Goulart
: is about a Technokraft sex-research robot from "the Orgasm Wing" of the "Famous Doctors Sex Research Foundation", which is "guaranteed to produce a climax in eighty-seven percent of the cases.... I also have a technicolor camera built into my male member... when I fondle the subject I can get an instant electrocardiogram reading... I can play stereophonic music out of my ears." The protagonist's fiancee has an affair with the robot.- "In the Group" by Robert Silverberg:
I'm particularly impressed by this story, which examines a future in which group marriages with technological mental-hookups allowing each person in the group to experience the sexual encounters of each other person. The protagonist simply wants a monogamous relationship, and this is seen as severe mental illness, atavistic, obscene, and almost illegal in the context of this future society. The Group makes a well-intentioned but horrible attempt at therapy by a series of virtual copulations with the object of the protagonist's romantic yearnings, which drive him to violently smash the hookup machine and be expelled from the Group. The hookups involved holographic projections and sensors for "brain-wave amplification, endocrine feeds, neural set, epithelial appercept, erogenous uptake."- "Flowering Narcissus" by Thomas M. Scortia
: Protagonist is sent 115 years into the future, where he finds that he is the only human being left after viral warfare between China and Russia leaves only androids alive. He is a biker, and a severe homophobe. He has sex with a woman that the androids say was created for him, and discovers, to his revulsion, that she is a clone of himself, and that he is a clone of the original of himself who did not survive the time travel.- "Kiddy-Lib" by John Stopa
: The protagonist is the actor Teddi Bear, "Captain of the Good Ship Magic Dragon" for a popular children's TV show in the future. He has been genetically altered to the shape of a giant teddy bear, and gets caught in a social revolution about the role of children, the nature of censorship, children being chemically castrated and fighting for return of their erotic rights.- "Don Slow and His Electric Girl Getter" by Thomas Brand
: this is a parody of the Tom Swift books ("Don Slow" versus "Tom Swift") wherein the protagonist desires "Sandra Smith... the best-looking, best paid [prostitute] in Space City... Her techniques, her mastery of prolonged erotic torments... calisthenics, bondage, trapeze acts, or simple ordinary everyday banging." He tries to shoot her with a sexual stimulus ray, but instead hits a bunch of wooly mammoths brought back by time machine. He kidnaps Sandra in his RobotCar, shows her his erotic robotic gadgets which he explains as "part of an extended experiment of mine where I am developing a mathematical relationship between certain simple pleasures and the flux of pure movement in both constant and accelerated states." So Sandra falls in love with the sexually augmented Robotcar.- "Ups and Downs" by Barry Malzberg
: astronaut Jules Fishman is on the way to Mars on a long boring flight, made endurable by the presence of a sexually accomodating woman -- or is she only a programmed psychiatric delusion to make his trip possible?- "Starcrossed" by George Zebrowski
: fragments of human brains embedded in the computer system of a cybernetic starship recover some awareness of their memories and have a doomed mental relationship with each other, filled with poignent memories of sex.David Hartwell [Age of Wonders, New York: Walker, 1984, p.72] says "Perhaps the most complex and thorough presentation of varied sex roles in the SF of the 1970s occurs in Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgren (1975), one of the most popular SF books of the decade and perhaps the most controversial, since the world in the novel is not specifically juxtaposed to our present reality and contains events that are unexplained and surreal (Is it really SF? -- the arguments rage on). Delany's novel is the most comprehensive sexual odyssey ever in the SF field and some of its power derives from the fact that the world of the book both is and is not present-day reality and that the sexual life of the characters is observed in clinical and objective graphic detail, cool and clear. For the SF field, Dhalgren is as revolutionary as Heinlein's novel [Stranger in a Strange Land, 1961] -- with the advent of Delany's masterpiece (the New York Times, in its review of Dhalgren, called Delany the most interesting SF writer in the English language today), the twelve-year-old can escape from the sexual frustration of adolescence into a world of impossible sexual hospitality and freedom -- and of course it is science fiction and not real, so you don't have to worry about the real world and Mommy looking over your shoulder. Ha! The reading of SF is once again an act of revolution and rebellion! The great escape is still alive and well." Forrest J. Ackerman's "Nine Favorite Science Fiction Movie Nude Scenes" in "The SF Book of Lists", p.258, ed. Malcolm Edwards & Maxim Jakubowski, New York: Berkeley (1982):
- "Hot Pursuit" by Nadia Adamant [London: Headline, Nov 1993]
: sex and cryonics- "The Tin You Love to Touch" by Robert Bloch [Other Worlds, Jun/July 1951]
: human/robot sex- the "Darkover" series by Marion Zimmer Bradley
: homosexuality- "Well Of Souls" by Jack Chalker
: variety of human/alien sex when humans are reincarnated as aliens- "Aye, and Gomorrah" Samuel R. Delany
: invents a new type of perversion, between twisted but physically normal humans and astronauts who have been castrated to avoid the effects of cosmic rays- "Dhalgren" Samuel R. Delany (1975)
: homosexuality, rape- "Triton" Samuel R. Delany
: homosexuality, rape- "A Pound of Cure" by Lester del Rey [New Worls, Sep 1954]
: human/robot sex- "Helen O'Loy" by Lester del Rey
: human/robot sex- "Flesh" by Phillip Jose Farmer
- "The Lovers" by Phillip Jose Farmer [Startling Stories, Aug 1952]
: man involved with alien who looks like a human female but is not- "Strange Relations" by Phillip Jose Farmer
: story collection- "Image of the Beast" by Phillip Jose Farmer
- "Barbarella" by Jean-Claude Forest
: human/robot sex and other things- "Robots Don't Bleed" by J. W. Groves
: human/robot sex- "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert A. Heinlein
: communal sex- "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
: a planet of humans who switch gender, and a unisexual visitor is seen as a pervert- "The Mechanical Bride" by Fritz Leiber
: human/robot sex- "The Stepford Wives" by Ira Levin
: suburban conspiracy of murder and human/robot sex- "Made in the U.S.A." by J. T. McIntosh [Galaxy, Apr 1953]
: human/robot sex- "Xanthe and the Robots" by Sheila McCloud
: human/robot sex- "Memoirs of a Spacewoman" by Naomi Mitchison
: one of the first novels to delicately hint at human/alien sexual relations- "Shambleau" by Catherine L. Moore
: sexy but scary alien- "Fair Eleanor is Dead" by Raylin Moore
: homosexuality- "Phillip Jose Farmer Conquers the Universe" by Francis Mottier
: the protagonist is raped by loathesome aliens- the "Known Space" series by Larry Niven
: especially in "The Ringworld Throne" (1997) we have "Rishathra", meaning sexual relations with other hominds not of one's own species, to create social cohesion- the "Gor" by John Norman
: sado-masochism and bondage is given a philosophical defense- the "Spaceways" by John Cleve (Andrew J. Offutt)
: lots of sex among many planets, but all between nearly human beings- "Thoughtworld" by Terry Pratchett
: human/alien sex- "Ship Me Tomorrow" by William Rotsler
: human/robot sex- "The Female Man" by Joana Russ
: FEMINIST: science fiction and fantasy of, by, or for women also, homosexuality is essential to the plot- "Gordon's Women" by Josephine Saxton
: human/robot sex- "Can You Feel Anything When I Do This?" by Robert Sheckley
: human/robot sex- "Tower of Glass" by Robert Silverberg
: human/robot sex- "The Masks of Time" by Robert Silverberg
: homosexuality- "The World Inside" by Robert Silverberg
: in an overpopulated future with no privacy, it would be perverse NOT to sleep with a different mate every night- "Involution Ocean" by Bruce Sterling
: man loves female alien, but sex would cause pain or death- "If All Men Were Brothers, Would You Let One Marry Your Sister" by Theodore Sturgeon
: incest- "The World Well Lost" by Theodore Sturgeon
: homosexuality- "Venus Plus X" by Theodore Sturgeon
: homosexuality- "And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side" by James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice Sheldon)
: human/alien sex is never shown in detail, but the very lack of detail is atmospheric- "The Ophiuchi Hotline" by John Varley
: homosexuality, sex-change, clone/clone sex- "Andover and the Android" by Kate Wilhelm
: human/robot sex- "Consider Her Ways" by John Wyndham
- "September Had Thirty Days" by Robert F. Young
: human/robot sex- "xx" by yyy
For a treatment of sexuality in the film/video format, see: X-Rated Sci-Fi/Fantasy Videos. RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
- Jenny Agutter, in loose, revealing, almost transparent and then wet gowns in Logan's Run, an otherwise rotten film.
- Julie Christie, one of my major feminine obsessions (ah! Don't Look Now, Dr Zhivago, Darling, ah again!) is spied upon by the sinister computer in Demon Seed as she takes a shower.
- Jessica Lange in the clutches of King Kong, in the de Laurentis version. Not strictly nude, although I gather from reports on the shooting of the movie that her top kept slipping off under the pressure of the mechanical hand of the giant ape. I leave my imagination to do the rest and conjure up a delightful breast and nipple. Also a nice wet scene.
- Brooke Adams in kaufman's version of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, walking in a naked daze among the selves and shelves of pods.
- Sigourney Weaver's stripping down to her underwear under the watchful eye of the monster in Alien. Again, not strictly a nude scene, but full of potent eroticism.
- Sara Kestelman in Zardoz, freckles and all.
- The running girl in the fantasy sequence of A Clockwork Orange. The slow motion, her anonymity and the full frontal effect all combine to make this another strong scene.
- Valerie Perrine on Tralfamadore in Slaughterhouse-Five. Playing Billy Pilgrim's dream-girl Montana Wildhack, Valerie Perrine showed much more in the Playboy pictorial of the shooting and almost everywhere else since, but there's a delightful hint of puppy fat and such a mischivous twinkle in her eye!
- Judy Bowker, almost virginal in the horrendous Clash of the Titans but offers us a brief back view of her compact body before indulging bra-less in the spray, which, although not on a par with Jacqueline Bisset's famous wet tee-short scene in The Deep, nevertheless provides some guilty pleasure.
battles between planets and stars Brian W. Aldiss, in his anthology "Space Opera" [Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1974] identifies various key indicators of "Space Opera" as (if I may interpolate from his delightful introduction): (1) Style and Mood staunchly traditional (2) Hitherto unknown places to explore (3) Continuity between Past and Future (4) Tremendous sphere of space/time (5) A pinch of reality inflated with melodrama (6) A seasoning of screwy ideas (7) Heady escapist stuff (8) Charging on with little regard for logic or literacy (9) Often throwing off great images, excitements, aspirations (10) The Earth should be in peril (11) There must be a quest (12) There must be a man to match the mighty hour (13) That man must confront aliens and exotic creatures (14) Space must flow past the ports like wine from a pitcher (15) Blood must run down the palace steps (16) Ships must launch out into the louring dark (17) There must be a woman fairer than the skies (18) There must be a villain darker than a Black Hole (19) All must come right in the end (20) The future in space, seen mistily through the eyes of yesterday Well, not all these indicators are valid even for each of the stories he's assembled, but his list is indicative. Isaac Asimov, Leigh Brackett, Ray Bradbury, Edgar Rice Burroughs, John W. Campbell, Arthur C. Clarke, Edmond Hamilton, Robert A. Heinlein, Robert Sheckley, E. E. "Doc" Smith, Olaf Stapledon, Jack Vance, H. G. Wells... many fine writers have penned timeless Space Opera. Before we go to it, let me disagree with Aldiss' mournful "Nowadays--rather like grand opera--it is considered to be in decline." Well, not any more. The subgenre has been invigorated by Iain Banks, David Brin, Gregory Benford, Kurt Vonnegut, and Vernor Vinge among others. Aldiss makes the metaphoric comparison between: (A) Science Fiction: for real: "a big muscular horny creature, with a mass of bristling antennae and proprioceptors on its skull", and (B) Space Opera: for fun: "science fiction's little sister... a gentle creature with red lips and a dash of stardust in her hair" His anthology includes these Space Opera short fictions [magazines and dates added by Magic Dragon Multimedia]:Notable longer Space Operas include:
- Isaac Asimov's "The Last Question" [Science Fiction Quarterly, Nov 1956]
- Leigh Brackett's "The Sword of Rhiannon"
- Ray Bradbury's "All Summer in a Day" [F&SF, Mar 1954]
- Philip K. Dick's "Colony" [Galaxy, June 1953]
- Daniel Galouye's "Tonight the Sky Will Fall" [Imagination, May 52; revised Authentic #35, July 1953]
- Randall Garrett's "Time Fuze" [If, Mar 1954]
- George Griffiths' "Honeymoon in Space"
- Edmond Hamilton's "The Star of Life"
- Thomas M. Scortia's "Sea Change" [Astounding, June 1956]
- Robert Sheckley's "Zirn Left Unguarded"
- Jeff Sutton's "After Ixmal" [Amazing, Oct 1962]
- Jack Vance's "The Mitr" [Vortex #1, 1953]
- A. E. Van Vogt's "The Storm"
{to be done} The case can be made that E. E. "Doc" Smith was the paradigmatic Space Opera author. His "Skylark" [Buffalo, 1946; Hadley; Pyramid; Garland, 1975] was an instant hit when serialized in the 1920s, and so the editors of Amazing twisted his arm to write a sequel, "Skylark Three", which had: "a stupendous panorama of alien lifeforms, mile-long spaceships travelling faster than light, devastating ray-weapons, and frightful battles in the void ending in inevitable triumphs for the visiting Earthmen." [Gillings, "The Best of E. E. "Doc" Smith", London: Weidenfield & Nicholson, 1975, p.11] David Hartwell [Age of Wonders, New York: Walker, 1984, p.22] expresses the ambivalence that many science fiction fans feel about Space Opera: "It is a source of both amusement and frustration to SF people that public consciousness of science fiction has almost never penetrated beyond the first decade of the field's development. Sure, Star Wars is wonderful, but in precisely the same way and at the same level of consciousness and sophistication that SF from the late Twenties and early Thirties was: fast, almost plotless stories of zipping through the ether in spaceships, meeting aliens, using futuristic devices, and fighting the bad guys (and winning)." 18 Space Opera hotlinks include: The Adventures of Rick Raygun and the Mind Monsters of Ferlon: an on-line space opera by Robert Jennings Our Space Opera Goes Rolling Along: a filk song by Jeff Duntemann, which does capture (humorously) the atmosphere of the genre Will there be a "Perry Rhodan"space opera? Creating "Perception: A Space Opera in One Act" an online short-story "presented by" The Unidentified Flying Opera Company (Leslie Choy) Scanned Book Cover of "Space Opera" by Jack Vance [Daw, 1979] Information on 4 editions of "Space Opera" by Jack Vance Information on the anthology "Space Opera", edited by Anne McCaffrey & Elizabeth Anne Scarborough Out of This World: Space Travel and Space Opera: an essay on 6 Canadian space operas The Good Reading Guide -- Edgar Rice Burroughs: opinions on Burroughs' space opera book series Brian Aldiss: Alpha Ralpha Boulevard's bibliography of Brian Aldiss lists his anthology "Space Opera" and most of his other works The Good Reading Guide: Jo Clayton: various opinions on a writer some feel writes literate Space Opera Robert Sheckley: Fantascienza's bio/biblio database on a writer who has writen Space Opera, among MANY other genres "Resurrected Glory, Galactic Chivalry, and the Birth of Epic Space Opera": an essay on Japanimation and other matters, by Charles Chen [at Cornell U.] Apollo 14: a Space Opera: composer Dave C. Meckler's work in progress for performance at Space Center Houston Queen's Library: "Space Opera" as a subject index for listing of short story anthologies Final Frontiers Interview: Iain Banks: The writer who most transformed the 1990's Space Opera genre, actually starting with his first publication in 1987 of "The Culture" as the universe in which his sophisticated space opera novels take place, and culminating (so far) in the novel "Excession" "Big Planet": An Interactive Space Opera: by Bruce Irving & Rick Elliott, sdomewhat sophomoric humor in this internally-hotlinked hypertext of dialogue Out of This World: Fantastic Voyages RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
- Robert W. Cole's "The Struggle for Empire" (1900)
: probably the first novel ever to describe interstellar conflict, i.e. the growing conflict and possible military implications between the "Anglo-Saxon Federation" and the solar system it colonized and the race of intelligent beings from the planet "Kailoo" circling the star Sirius. The action is set in the year 2236. This is a sort of sequel to "Gulliver Joi" by Elbert Perce (1852) which has a rocket-powered flight to a planet also named "Kailoo."- Edmond Hamilton's "Crashing Suns" [1929; reprinted in a collection of the same name, Ace, 1965]
- Edmond Hamilton's "Outside the Universe" [1930; Ace, 1964
- Jack Williamson's "The Legion of Space" [1934; Fantasy, 1947; Galaxy novel #2; Pyramid; Garland]
- Clifford Simak's "Cosmic Engineers" [1939; Gnome, 1950; Paperback Library]
- E. E. Smith's "Skylark Three" [Fantasy, 1948; Pyramid]
- Alfred Bester's "The Stars My Destination" [1956]
- Robert Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" [Putnam, 1966]
- Larry Niven's "Ringworld" [Ballentine Books, 1970]
- Larry Niven et al.'s "The Mote in God's Eye" (1974)
- XXXX's "YYYY" (19ZZ)
rockets to asteroids, moons, planets, stars So much of science fiction features rockets and travels into the cosmos that I have divided a handful of major works into several categories, sorted by where in Space the action is centered. Generation Starships, taking centuries or more to reach their destination:Earth-Orbiting Space Stations: {to be done}
- Brian Aldiss' "Nonstop" a.k.a. "Starship" [Criterion, 1959; Signet; Avon]
- Edward Bryant & Harlan Ellison "Phoenix Without Ashes" [Fawcett Gold Medal, 1975] based on Harlan's concept and teleplay for the TV series "The Star Lost"
- Molly Gloss' "The Dazzle of Day" [Tor/Tom Doherty, 1997]
reviewed by Gerald Jonas in the New York Times, 22 June 1997; the deteriorating "Dusty Miller" is on a 175-year voyage initiated by Quakers. Descendants create a "gentle utopia" based on governance by consensus, with thriftiness, cooperation, and ecological awareness as virtues. But they are not sure that this can be transferred if they settle on the destination planet. Should they land or not?- Harry Harrison's "Captive Universe" [Putnam, 1969; Berkley]
- Robert Heinlein's "Universe" [Dell, 1951] a.k.a. "Orphans of the Sky" [Putnam, 1964; Science Fiction Book Club; Signet; Berkley]
- Murray Leinster's "Proxima Centauri" [???]
- Harry Martinson's "Aniara" [Knopf, 1963; Avon] and the famous Opera adaptation
- Clifford Simak's "Target Generation" [???]
- E. C. Tubb's "The Space-Born" [Ace, 1956; Avon]
- Don Wilcox's "The Voyage that Lasted 600 Years" [???]
Luna, our Moon:
- James Gunn's "Station in Space" [19zz]
- Edward Everett Hale's "The Brick Moon and Other Stories" [19zz]
- Patrick Moore's "Wheel in Space" [19zz]
juvenileFor an independently compiled and much more thorough list (although it includes fiction which has as little as one scene set on the Moon), see The Moon In Science Fiction The Sun:
- Ben Bova's "Millennium" [Random House, 1976; Science Fiction Book Club; Ballentine Books]
and sequels- Algis Budrys' "Rogue Moon" [Fawcett Gold Medal, 1960; Gregg, 1977; Avon]
- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "The Moon Maid" [McClurg, 1926; Ace]
- John W. Campbell's "The Moon is Hell" [Fantasy, 1950; Ace]
- Arthur C. Clarke's "The Exploration of the Moon" [???]
nonfiction- Arthur C. Clarke's "Earthlight" [Ballentine Books hardcover, 1955]
- Arthur C. Clarke's "A Fall of Moondust" [Harcourt Brace World, 1961; Dell; Signet]
- O. W. Gail's "By Rocket to the Moon" [19zz]
juvenile- F. Godwin's "The Man in the Moone" [???]
- Robert Heinlein's "The Man Who Sold the Moon" [Shasta, 1950; Signet]
- Robert Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" [Putnam, 1966; Berkley]
- Robert Heinlein's "Rocketship Galileo" [Scribner, 1947; Ace; Ballentine] and adapted into the film "Destination Moon" {hotlink to be done}
- C. B. Hicks' "First Boy on the Moon" [19zz]
juvenile- Willy Ley's "Ranger to the Moon" [19zz]
nonfiction- Patrick Moore's "Destination Luna" [19zz]
juvenile- Fletcher Pratt & J. Coggins's "By Spaceship to the Moon" [19zz]
nonfiction- Cornelius Ryan's [editor] "Conquest of the Moon" [19zz]
nonfiction- E. C. Tubb's "Moon Base" [Ace, 1964]
- Jules Verne's "From the Earth to the Moon" [18zz]
- Jules Verne's "All Around the Moon" [18zz]
- Werner Von Braun's "First Men to the Moon" [19zz]
nonfiction- H. G. Wells' "First Men in the Moon" [Britain, 1901; Dell; Ballentine; Berkley]
- Jack Williamson's "The Moon Era" [19??]
- xxx's "yyy" [19zz]
- David Brin's "Sundiver" [19??]
- Sidney Whiting's "Helionde" [1855]
: protagonist dreams that he is dissolved into vapor and transmitted to an inhabited SunVenus:
- Isaac Asimov's (as Paul French) "Lucky Starr and the Big Sun of Mercury" [New York: Doubleday, 1956; under his own name as The Big Sun of Mercury, London: New English Library, 1974]
- Lester del Rey as E. Van Lhin's "Battle on Mercury" [19zz]
juvenile- C. C. MacApp's novella "The Mercurymen" [Galaxy, December 1965]
- J. M. McFadden's story "Mercury" [If, December 1965]
- R. S. Richardson's story "Mercury is NOT Hopeless" [Thrilling Wonder Stories, Spring 1954]
- Robert Silverberg's "Sunrise on Mercury & Other Science Fiction Stories" [Nelson, 1975] 8 juvenile stories
- R. R. Winterbotham's "The Thought-Men of Mercury" [Planet Stories, Fall 1942] ed. W. Scott Peacock, $0.20
- Brian Aldiss & Harry Harrison's "All About Venus" [19zz]
- Brian Aldiss & Harry Harrison's "Farewell Fantastic Venus" [19zz]
anthology- Poul Anderson's story "The Big Rain" [19zz]
- Poul Anderson's story "Sister Planet" [19zz]
- Isaac Asimov's (as Paul French) "Lucky Starr and the Oceans of Venus" [New York: Doubleday, 1954; as The Oceans of Venus under his own name, London: New English Library, 1973]
- Ray Bradbury's story "The Long Rain" [19zz]
- R. L. Fanthorpe as M. Johns' "The Venus Venture" [???]
- F. Willard Grey's novella "Come to Venus -- and Die!" [Amazing, May 1952]
- Robert Heinlein's story "Logic of Empire" [19zz]
- Robert Heinlein's "Between Planets" [1951]
: also set on Earth and Mars- Henry Kuttner's "Fury" [Grosset & Dunlap, 1950; Lancer] a.k.a. Destination Infinity [Avon, 1958; Garland, 1976]
: the undersea city happens to be on Venus, which we know today to be about 800 degrees too hot for an ocean *sigh*- P. Latham [R. S. Richardson]'s "Five Against Venus" [19zz]
juvenile- C. S. Lewis's "Perelandra" [19zz]
- S. Makepeace-Lott's "Escape to Venus" [19zz]
- J. Nicholson's "Spaceship to Venus" [19zz]
juvenile- Larry Niven's story "Becalmed in Hell" [19zz]
- M. E. Patchett's "The Venus Project" [???]
juvenile- M. E. Patchett's "Lost on Venus" [???]
juvenile- Frederik Pohl's story "The Merchants of Venus" [19zz]
- W. F. Temple's "Battle on Venus" [19zz]
- H. Walter's [W. L. Hughes] "Expedition Venus" [19zz]
- Stanley G. Weinbaum's story "Paradise Planet" [19zz]
- P. Wilding's "Spaceflight -- Venus" [19zz]
- Roger Zelazny's story "The Doors of His Face, the Lamps of His Mouth" [19zz]
- xxx's "yyy" [19zz]
some of the above can also be found (and reviewed) at Mars novels More impressively, there are 270 short fiction and poetry about Mars compiled by the diligent Gene Alloway in this web site: Mars Bibliography II: Short Fiction There are over 250 Mars novels listed at: Bibliography I: Mars Novels {I gratefully acknowledge this as my most extensive, but far from only source for the above} Asteroids:
- James B. Alexander' s "The Lunarian Professor and His Remarkable Revelations Concerning the Earth, the Moon, and Mars; Together with an Account of the Cruise of the Sally Ann" [1909]
- Kevin J. Anderson's "Climbing Olympus" [Warner,1994]
excellent: vivid point of view from normal and genetically engineered Mars colonists- Kevin J. Anderson's "War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches" [Bantam/Spectra, 1996]
: fine anthology, from H.G. Wells' invasion scenario, but from differing points of view- Poul Anderson's "The War of Two Worlds" [Ace, 1959]
- Piers Anthony's "Hard Sell" [publisher?, 1993]
- Edwin Lester Arnold's "Gulliver of Mars" [Ace, 1964]
- Isaac Asimov's "David Starr, Space Ranger" [Doubleday, 1952]
- Isaac Asimov's "The Martian Way and Other Stories" [Doubleday, 1955]
- Francis Henry Atkins's (under pseudonym Fenton Ash) "A Trip to Mars" London: W. & R. Chambers, Ltd., 1909] 318 pp., 6 illus. by W. H. C. Groom
- George Babcock's "Yezad: A Romance of the Unknown" [Cooperative Publishing Co., 1922]
- K. V. Bailey, "Mars is a District of Sheffield", Foundation No.68, Autumn 1996, article springs from Andrew Darlington's poem of the same title, explores Mars as a "metaphoric mirror" for writers of the imagination
- Stephen Baxter's "Voyage" [London: Harper/Collins, 1996; New York: Harper Prism, 1997]
- Greg Bear's "Moving Mars" [Tor, 1993] hardcover, 448pp. [Tor, 1994] paperback
: realistic look at life in colonies under the martian surface, with intense politics forcing an uncomfortable trip on the surface in a nanotechnology suit...- Carl Ludwig Biemiller's "The Magic Ball from Mars" [1953]
I read this as a boy... this juvenile includes telepathy and psychokinesis, and has haunting emotional depth (to a boy, anyway)- Earl & Otto Binder's (under pseudonym John Coleridge) "Martian Martyrs" [1942]
- Terry Bisson's "Voyage to the Red Planet [William Morrow & Co., 1993]
: a parody of 1930s-1960s Mars novels, funny and ingenious- James Blish's "Welcome to Mars!" [London: Faber & Faber, 1967; New York: Putnam's, 1968]
- Thomas Blot's "The Man from Mars: His Morals, Politics, and Religion" [1891]
- Margaret Wander Bonanno's (under pseudonym Rick North) "Citizens of Mars" [1991]
: from "Young Astronauts" series- Margaret Wander Bonanno's (under pseudonym Rick North) "Destination Mars [1991]
: from "Young Astronauts" series- Ben Bova's "Mars" [Bantam, 1993] hardcover; [1994] paperback
really hard SF Native American protagonist, microscopic life discovered?- Leigh Brackett's "Eric John Stark: Outlaw of Mars" [Del Rey, 1982]
- Leigh Brackett's "People of the Talisman" [Ace, 1964
- Leigh Brackett's "Shadow Over Mars" [Pemberton, 1951
- Leigh Brackett's "The Coming of the Terrans" [Ace, 1967]
: Ace paperback G-669, 157 pp. anthology, 5 previously published short stories: "The Beast Jewel of Mars" (1948), "Mars Minus Bisha" (1954), "The Last Days of Shandakor" (1952), "Purple Priestess of the Mad Moon" (1964), "The Road to Sinharat" (1963)- Leigh Brackett's "The Nemesis From Terra" [Ace, 1964
- Leigh Brackett's "The Secret of Sinharat" [Ace, 1964
- Leigh Brackett's "The Sword Of Rhiannon" [Ace, 1953]
: Ace paperback F-422, 128 pp.- Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles" [ Doubleday,1950]
: many, many subsequent editions (and Your Humble Webmaster's co-authored condensation into "The Martian Chronicles Quatrains"- Franklyn M. Branley's "Lodestar: Rocket Ship to Mars" [Crowell, 1951]
juvenile- Reginald Bretnor's "Spear of Mars" [Ace, 1980]
: Ace paperback #25971- Fredric Brown's "Martians Go Home!" [1955]
: many subsequent editions- George Sheldon Brown's "Destination Mars" [Edwin Self, 1951]
- John Brunner's "Born Under Mars" [Ace,1967]
: Ace paperback #G-664- John Brunner's (under pseudonym Keith Woodcott) "The Martian Sphinx" [Ace, 1965]
: Ace paperback #F-320- Algis Budrys' "The Amsirs and the Iron Thorn" [Fawcett, 1967]
: genetically-engineered neobarbarians on Mars- Kenneth Bulmer's (under pseudonym Philip Kent) "Home is the Martian" [1954]
- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "A Fighting Man of Mars" [Metropolitan, 1931]
: many subsequent editions- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "A Princess of Mars" [Chicago: McClurg, 1917]
: many subsequent editions- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Llana of Gathol" [Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., 1948
- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Swords of Mars" [Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., 1936]
: several subsequent editions- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Synthetic Men of Mars" [Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., 1963]
- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "The Warlord of Mars" [McClurg, 1919]
: many subsequent editions- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "John Carter of Mars" [Canaveral Press, 1964]
several subsequent editions- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Thuvia, Maid of Mars" [Chicago: McClurg, 1920]
several subsequent editions- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "The Chessmen of Mars" [Chicago: McClurg, 1922]
: many subsequent editions- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "The Gods of Mars" [McClurg, 1918]
: many subsequent editions- Edgar Rice Burroughs' "The Master Mind of Mars" [McClurg, 1928]
: many subsequent editions- Jack Butler's "Nightshade" [Atlantic Monthly Press, 1989
- A. Calmadenker's (pseudonym) "The Mania of the Nations on the Planet Mars and its Terriffic Consequences" [Denker Publishers, Inc.:1915]
: Martian "history" parallel's ours 20 years before similar events on Earth. "Published in the Year 55 E.D. on Mars (1915 A.D. on Earth)"- Lin Carter's "Down to a Sunless Sea" [Daw Books, 1984]
- Lin Carter's "The City Outside the World" [Berkley, 1977]
- Lin Carter's "The Man Who Loved Mars" [London: White Lion, 1973]
- Lin Carter's "The Valley Where Time Stood Still" [Doubleday, 1974]
- A. Bertram Chandler's "The Alternate Martians" [1965]
- A. Bertram Chandler's "The Bitter Pill" [Wren:1974]
- Arthur C. Clarke's "The Sands of Mars" [London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1951]
- Weldon Cobb's "At War with Mars" [1897]
: the hero is Thomas Edison. a.k.a. "The Boys Who Won"- Weldon Cobb's "To Mars with Tesla" [1901]
- Charles Cole's "Visitors from Mars: A Narrative" [self-published: C. Cole, 1901]
- D. G. Compton's "Farewell, Earth's Bliss" [London: Hodder and Stroughton:1966]
- James Cowan's "Daybreak: A Romance of an Old World" [G. H. Richmond & Co., 1896
: Christianity evolves differently on Mars; see: Christian Science Fiction- Robert Cromie's "A Plunge into Space" [Frederick Warne & Co., 1891]
- John Keir Cross' "SOS from Mars" [London: 1954; as "The Red Journey Back", Coward-McCann, 1954]
- John Keir Cross' "The Angry Planet" [Coward-McCann, 1953]
- William C. Deitz's "Mars Prime" [New York: Roc, 1992]
- B. Dawson's "Dan Dare on Mars" [19zz]
juvenile- Lester del Rey's "Marooned on Mars" [Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, 1962; Paperback Library, 1967]
: Paperback #52-415, juvenile- Lester del Rey's (under pseudonym Eric Van Lihn) "Police Your Planet" [Avalon Books, 1956]
- Philip K. Dick's "Martian Time-Slip" [Ballantine, 1964; London: Gollancz, 1990]
: Expansion of "All We Marsmen" [Galaxy Publishing: Worlds of Tomorrow, Aug, Oct, Dec 1963]- Philip K. Dick's "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch" [Doubleday, 1965]
- Gordon R. Dickson's "The Far Call" [Dial Press, 1973
- Thomas M. Disch's "The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars" [Doubleday, 1988]
: Juvenile, sequel to "The Brave Little Toaster"- Ellsworth Douglas's "Pharaoh's Broker: Being the Very Remarkable Experiences in Another World of Isidor Werner Written by Himself" [London: C.Pearson, 1899]
- Ian Douglas's "Semper Mars: Book One of the Heritage Trilogy" [Avon, 1998]
: United States Marine Corps establish interplanetary jurisdiction- Henry Wallace Dowding's "The Man from Mars, or Service, for Service's Sake" [1910]
- Gardner Dozois' (ed.) "Isaac Asimov's Mars" [Ace, 1991]
anthology: Allen Steele's "Live from the Mars Hotel"; Brian Aldiss' "The Difficulties involved in Photography of Nix Olympica"; Lawrence Watt-Evans' "Windwagon Smith and the Martians"; Robert Frazier's "Retrovisions"; Eric Vinicoff's "The Great Martian Railroad Race"; Greg Bear's "All the Beer on Mars"; Ian McDonald's "The Catharine Wheel"; George Alec Effinger's "Mars Needs Beatnicks"; Kim Stanley Robinson's "Green Mars" (excerpt)- George DuMaurier's "The Martian" [1897]
- Alan Dunn's "Is There Intelligent Life on Earth? a Report to the Congress of Mars" [Simon and Schuster, 1960]
: comic portrayal of Earth as misunderstood by hypothetical Martian explorers, 118 p., illustrated by Alan Dunn- Umberto Eco's "The Three Astronauts" [London: Secker & Warburg, 1989]
: children's picture book, illustrated by Eugenio Carmi- Peter Edwards's "Terminus" [New York: St. Martin�s Press, 1976]
- Richard M. Elam's "Young Visitor to Mars" [Lantern Press, 1953]
: Young Heroes Library series, 256 pp.- Philip Jose Farmer's "Jesus on Mars" [Pinacle Books, 1979]
- Mick Farren's "Mars--The Red Planet" [Del Rey, 1990]
- Charles L. Fontenay's "Kipton and the Ovoid" [1996]
- Charles L. Fontenay's "Rebels of the Red Planet" [Ace, 1961]
- Robert L. Forward's "Martian Rainbow" [Del Rey, 1991]
- Joseph Fraser's "Melbourne and Mars: My Mysterious Life on Two Planets" [Australia, 1889]
- Oscar Friend's "The Kid from Mars" [Frederick Fell, 1949]
: children's book, illustrated by Virgil Findlay- Raymond Z. Gallun's "Skyclimber" [Tower Books, 1981]
- Kenneth F. Gantz's "Not in Solitude" [Doubleday, 1959]
- Jonathan Gems' "Mars Attacks!" [1996] movie novelization
- Hudor Genone's "Bellona's Bridegroom: a Romance" [Lippincott, 1887]
- Rex Gordon's "No Man Friday" [London: Heinemann, 1956; as "First on Mars", Ace, 1957] Ace paperback #D-233]
- Louis Pope Gratacap's "The Certainty of a Future Life in Mars: Being the Posthumous Papers of Bradford Torrey Dodd" [Brentano:1903]
- Percy Greg's "Across the Zodiac" [London: Trubner & Co., 1880]
- Pelham Groom's "The Purple Twilight" [1948]
- Virginia Hamilton's "Willie Bea and the Time the Martians Landed" [Greenwillow Press, 1993]
: Not science fiction as such, this realistic novel of rural Ohio deals with an African-American family's reaction to Orson Welles' 31 Oct 1938 "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast- William K. Hartmann's "Mars Undergound" [Tor, 1997]
- Robert Heinlein's "Between Planets" [1951]
: also set on Earth and Venus- Robert Heinlein's "Red Planets: a Colonial Boy on Mars" [Scribner's, 1949]
- Robert Heinlein's "Double Star" [Doubleday, 1956]
actor replacing President has to be hypnotized to eliminate aversion to martians' odor; [Astounding, Feb, Mar, Apr 1956]- Robert Heinlein's "Podkayne of Mars" [Putnam, 1963]
see section on Heinlein in "AuthorsH-I" by webmaster "I dated Podkayne of Mars"- Robert Heinlein's "Space Family Stone" [London: 1953; as "The Rolling Stones" [New York: Putnam, 1952]
- Robert Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land" [Putnam,1961]
- Joan Hess' "Martians in Maggody" [Dutton, 1994]
: Not science fiction as such, Arkansas village perturbed by tabloid accounts of Martians; "An Arly Hanks Mystery"- Jane Hipolato & Willis E. McNally, eds. "Mars, We Love You" [Doubleday, 1971
: anthology: Edgar Rice Burroughs' excerpts from "A Princess Of Mars"; Stanley Weinbaum's "A Martian Oddessey"; Donald A. Wollheim's "The Embassy"; Lester Del Rey's "Dark Mission"; George O. Smith's "Lost Art"; P. Schuler Miller's "The Cave"; Anthony Boucher's "Expedition"; Arthur C. Clarke's "Loophole"; Damon Knight's "Catch that Martian"; H. Beam Piper's "Omnilingual"; Ray Bradbury's "The Lost City of Mars"; Harry Harrison's "One Step From Earth"; Frank Herbert's "Carthage: Reflections of a Martian"; William Fox's "Soft Landing"; Irene Moyer Jackson's "Earthbound"; Harlan Ellison's "In Lonely Lands"; Bruce McAllister's "World of the Wars"; Barry M. Malzberg's "Exploration"; Robert A. Heinlein's excerpt from "Double Star"; Willis E. McNelly's "Linguistic Relativity in Middle High Martian"; the British edition as "The Book of Mars" [Futura Publications, Ltd., 1976] included Willis E. McNelly's critical essay on Heinlein�s "Stranger in a Strange Land"- Edward Hirschman's "Tarzan at Mar�s Core" [1977]
- Cecelia Holland's "The Floating Worlds" [Knopf, 1976]
- H. M. Hoover's "The Winds of Mars" [1995]
- K. W. Jeter's "Blade Runner: Replicant Night" [1996]
: sequel to novelization of the film "Blade Runner]- Alice Ilgenfritz Jones & Ella Marchant (under pseudonym "Two Women of the West") "Unveilling a Parallel: A Romance" [Arena Publishing Co., 1893]
- Alexander Key's "Rivets and Sprockets" [Westminster, 1964
: illustrated by Alexander Key- Otis Adelbert Kline's "Outlaws of Mars" [Ace, 1961]
: Ace paperback #D-531 preface tribute of Otis Adelbert Kline by Camille Cazedessus, Jr., editor of ERB-dom Magazine (for E. R. Burroughs' fans)- Otis Adelbert Kline's "Swordsmen of Mars" [Ace, 1960]
: Ace paperback #D-516 preface tribute of Otis Adelbert Kline by Vernell Coriell, Founder of "The Burroughs Bibliophiles"- Cyril M. Kornbluth & Judith Merril's (under pseudonym Cyril Judd) "Gunner Cade" [Simon and Schuster, 1952]
- Cyril M. Kornbluth & Judith Merril's (under pseudonym Cyril Judd) "Outpost Mars" [Abelard Press, 1952; revised as "Sin in Space", 1961]
- Sterling F. Lanier's "Menace Under Marswood" [New York: Del Rey, 1983; London: Grafton, 1983]
- Kurd Lasswitz's "Auf zwei Planeten" [Verlag B. Elischer Nachfolger, 1897 2 volumes, all subsequent editions are abridged; Abridged by Erich Lasswitz, Cassianeum, 1948; abridged by Erich Lasswitz, eds. Bruckhardt Kiegland and Martin Molitor, Verlag Heinrich Scheffler, 1969; as "Two Planets", Southern Illinois University Press, 1971, 405 pp. abridged by Erich Lasswitz, traslated by Hans Rudnick, epigraph by Werner von Braun; as "Two Planets", Popular Library, 1972, 383 pp., abridged by Erich Lasswitz, translated by Hans Rudnick, afterword by Mark R. Hillegas, paperback]
- C. S. Lewis' "Out of the Silent Planet" [Bodley Head, 1938; First volume in the Ransom or Cosmic Trilogy, sequels: "Perelandra" (1943) (as "Voyage to Venus", 1945), and "That Hideous Strength" (as "The Tortutured Planet", 1948)]
- Frank Belknap Long's "Mars is My Destination" [Pyramid Books, 1962; Pyramid paperback #F-742, June 1962, 158 pp.]
- James Lovelock & Michael Allaby's "The Greening of Mars", St. Martin�s Press, 1984]
- Hugh MacColl's "Mr. Stranger's Sealed Packet" [London: Chatto and Windus, 1889]
: Beat H.G. Wells to the punch by being the first fiction to describe the death of a Martian by Earthly bacteria- E. MacGregor's "Miss Pickerell Goes to Mars" [19zz]
- Paul J. McCauley's "Red Dust" [London: Gollancz, 1993]
- Ian McDonald's "Desolation Road" [Bantam, 1988]
: strong debut novel- Maureen F. McHugh "China Mountain Zhang" [Tor, 1992]
: from viewpoint of young gay Chinese man- J. T. Mcintosh's "One In Three Hundred" [Doubleday, 1954]
- John Ames Mitchell's "Drowsy" [Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1917]
- Langston Moffett's "The Conquest of Mars" [???]
: by Edison- Donald Moffitt's "Crescent in the Sky" [Del Rey, 1990]
: 280 pp., Part 1 of "The Mechanical Sky" series- Donald Moffitt's "A Gathering of Stars" [Del Rey, 1990]
: 281 pp., Part 2 of "The Mechanical Sky series", sequel to "Crescent in the Sky"- Michael Moorcock's (under pseudonym Edward P. Bradbury) "Barbarians of Mars" [Roberts & Vinter, 1965
: 2nd in series starting with "Warriors of Mars" (a.k.a. "City of the Beast"), following "Blades of Mars" (a.k.a. "Lord of the Spiders"). Later published as "Masters of the Pit"- Michael Moorcock's (under pseudonym Edward P. Bradbury) "Blades of Mars" [Roberts & Vinter, 1965, Compact paperback #F279; Lancer,1966, Lancer paperback #72-122]
: 1st sequel to "Warriors of Mars" (a.k.a. "City of the Beast"), and followed in the series by "Barbarians of Mars" (a.k.a. "Masters of the Pit"). Later published as "Lord of the Spiders"- Michael Moorcock's (under pseudonym Edward P. Bradbury) "Warriors of Mars" [Roberts & Vinter, 1965; Lancer, 1966, Lancer paperback #72-118 Compact paperback #F279]
: Published later as "City of the Beast" Sequels include "Blades of Mars" (a.k.a. "Lord of the Spiders") and "Barbarians of Mars" (a.k.a. "Masters of the Pit").- Mary Ann Moore-Bentley's (under pseudonym Mrs. H. H. Ling) "A Woman of Mars, or Australia's Enfranchised Woman" [1901]
: see FEMINIST- Patrick A. Moore's "Peril on Mars" [19zz]
juvenile- Ludek Pesek's "The Earth Is Near" [Longman Young Books, 1973]
: Translated from German by Anthea Bell, originally published as "Die Erde is Nah: die Marsexpedition" [1970]- E. Petaja's "The Caves of Mars" [Ace, 1965]
- W.H. Pickering's "Mars" [Gorham Press, 1921]
: in the Lowellian tradition of Martian "canals", 173 pp.- Christopher Pike's "The Season of Passage" [London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1992]
: More Horror than Science Fiction- Frederik Pohl's "Man Plus" [London, Gollancz, 1976; New York: Random House, 1976; Bantam, 1977]
: many subsequent printings- Frederik Pohl's "Mining the Oort" [Ballantine, 1992] 264 pp.
- Frederik Pohl's "The Day the Martians Came" 1988" [Ballantine, 1988; 1989 paperback]
: collection of Mars stories by Fred Pohl- Gustavus W. Pope's "Romances of the Planets, No. 1: Journey to Mars, the Wonderful World: Its Beauty and Splendor: Its Mighty Races and Kingdoms: Its Final Doom" [Dillingham, 1894; Hyperion:1974]
: 1974 reprint of 1894 edition has new Sam Moskowitz introduction; trade paperback- Christopher Priest's "The Space Machine: a Scientific Romance" [Faber, 1976]
- Theron Raines' "The Singing: a Fable About What Makes Us Human" [1988]
- W. A. Rember's "Eighteen Visits to Mars" [19zz]
- Julia Riding's "Space Traders Unlimited" [1987]
: is it a Mars novel?- Kim Stanley Robinson's "Mars" trilogy: "Red Mars" [HarperCollins, 1992; Bantam Spectra, Nov 1993] ISBN 0-553-56073-5, paperback "Green Mars" [Bantam/Spectra:1994; Fanfare, June 1995] ISBN 0-553-57239-3, mass market paperback "Blue Mars" [Bantam, July 1997] ISBN 0-553-35733-7, 704 pp.
: the definitive recent realistic Mars fiction- Kim Stanley Robinson's "Icehenge" [Ace, 1984; Severn House, 1986, hardcover]
- Kim Stanley Robinson's "The Memory of Whiteness" [Tor, 1985
- Carey Rockwell's "Stand By For Mars!" [Grosset & Dunlap, 1952
: 216 pp., the "Tom Corbet Space Cadet" series (see TV of 1940s-1950s)- Roy Rockwood's "Through Space to Mars Or the Longest Journey on Record" [Whitman, 1910]
- Eric Frank Russell's "Men, Martians and Machines" [Dobson, 1955]
: story collection: "Jay Score", "Mechanistria", "Mesmerica", "Symbiotica"- Andrew M. Seddon's "Red Planet Rising" [???]
- Garrett P. Serviss' "Edison's Conquest of Mars" [Carcosa House, 1947]
- Jack Sharkey's "The Secret Martians" [Ace, 1960]
: Half of Ace Double #471 with John Brunner's "Sanctuary of the Sky"- Lewis Shiner's "Frontera" [Baen, 1984]
- Robert Silverberg's "The Lost Race of Mars" [Scholastic Book Services, 1960]
juvenile- Robert Silverberg's "Vornan-19" [London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1970; as "Mars of Time" [USA: ???, 1970]
- Jerry Sohl's "The Mars Monopoly" [Ace, 1956]
- Dana Stabenow's "Red Planet Run" [Ace, 1995]
- Allen Steele's "Labyrinth of Night" [Century, 1992, hardback before 1st U.S. edition; Ace, 1992] 340 ppp. Ace paperback original
- G. Harry Stine's "Rocket Man" [Henry Holt, 1955]
- John E. Stith's "Death Tolls" [1987]
: is it a Mars novel?- Joshua Stoff's "The Voyage of the Ruslan : the First Manned Exploration of Mars" [Athenaeum, 1986]
: Juvenile.- Tim Sullivan's "Martian Viking" [Avalon, 1991]
- S. C. Sykes's "Red Genesis" [Bantam, 1991]
: 360 + xx pp. Isaac Asimov Introduction "Off to Explore Mars" + bibliography by Eugene Mallove- Alexei Tolstoy's "Aelita" [Moscow, 1922; Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1957]
- E. C. Tubb's "Alien Dust" [Boardman, 1955; Avalon, 1957]
- E. C. Tubb's "C.O.D. Mars" [Ace, 1968]
: Ace Double H-40. Published with John Rackham's Alien Sea- Frederick Turner's "A Double Shadow" [1978]
: poet author's 1st novel- Harry Turtledove's "A World of Difference" [1989]
: colonists on Mars encounter Martians with cultural complexities and gender differences- John Varley's "In the Hall of the Martian Kings" [UK, 1978; as "The Persistence of Vision", USA: 1978]
: story collection: "Air Raid" (under pseudonym Herb Boehm), "The Black Hole Passes", "Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance", "In the Bowl", "In the Hall of the Martian Kings", Introduction ("The Persistence of Vision")-- an essay by Algis Budrys, "Overdrawn at the Memory Bank", "The Persistence of Vision", "The Phantom of Kansas", Retrograde Summer.- Werner Von Braun's "Life on Mars" [19zz]
novel- Werner Von Braun & Willy Ley's "Project Mars" [19zz]
nonfiction- Kurt Vonnegut's "Sirens of Titan" [1959]
- H. Walter's [W. L. Hughs] "Destination Mars" [19zz]
- Ian Watson's "The Martian Inca" [Gollancz, 1977, 1993; Ace, 1993]
- Lawrence Watt-Evans' (under pseudonym Nathan Archer) "Martian Deathtrap" [Del Rey, 1996] Hardcover and Paperback
- Stanley G. Weinbaum's story "A Martian Odyssey" [19zz]
- Stanley G. Weinbaum's "A Martian Odyssey and Others" [Fantasy Press, 1949]
: hardcover story collection written between 1934-1936: "The Adaptive Ultimate" (under pseudonym John Jessel), "The Brink of Infinity", "The Circle of Zero", "The Ideal", "The Lotus Eaters", "The Mad Moon", "A Martian Odyssey", "Parasite Planet", "The Planet of Doubt", "The Point of View", "Proteus Island" "Pygmalion's Spectacles", "Valley of Dreams", "The Worlds of If"- Stanley G. Weinbaum & Sam Moskowitz "A Martian Odyssey" [Lancer, 1962; as "A Martian Odyssey and Other Science Fiction Tales", Hyperion, 1974]
: paperback story collection: "The Adaptive Ultimate" (under pseudonym John Jessel), "The Brink of Infinity", "The Lotus Eaters", "A Martian Odyssey", "Proteus Island", essay by Sam Moskowitz: "The Wonders of Weinbaum" 1974 edition also has Sam Moskowitz essay "Dawn of Fame: The Career of Stanley G. Weinbaum" Graph on Stanley G. Weinbaum, "The Ideal" by Stanley G. Weinbaum- L. Edgar Welch's "Politics and Life in Mara: a Story of a Neighboring Planet" [1883]
- Mac Wellman's "Annie Salem" [1996]
: Midwestern man journeys to Mars to win a woman's love- H. G. Wells' "War of the Worlds" [Heinemann, 1898]
: the most famous Mars novel of all time- H. G. Wells' with Introduction and Notes by David Y. Hughes & Harry M. Geduld, "A Critical Edition of War of the Worlds: H.G. Wells's Scientific Romance" [Indiana University Press, 1993]
Extensive notes, comments, appendices- Wynne Whiteford's "Lake of the Sun" [Ace, 1989] 249 pp.
- Wynne Whiteford's "The Specialist" [Ace, 1990] 246 pp.
- Mark Wicks' "To Mars Via the Moon" [J. B. Lippincott Co., 1911]
- Michael Lindsay Williams' "Martian Spring" [Avon, 1986]
277 pp., in the "Martian" series which includes "FTL: Faster Than Light" [1987]- Jack Williamson's "Beachhead" [Tor, 1992] 368 pp.
- Jack Williamson & M. Breuer's "The Girl from Mars" [Stellar Publishing Co., 1929]
- Fred Winkowski's "The Martian Crystal Egg" [1980]
- G. McLeod Winsor's "Station X" [1919]
: 1st novel; Earthlings and Venusians fight off a psychic Martian invasion- R. R. Winterbotham's (as Russ Winterbotham) "The Red Planet" [Monarch Books, 1962]
: 140 pgs. From author�s profile: "The author�s son-in-law is a member of the team developing the plasma space motor which is planned to carry men to Mars within the next 10 years." Well, we're less than 30 years behind schedule...- Donald A. Wollheim's "Secret of the Martian Moons" [Winston, 1955]
: juvenile, 206 pp.- Donald A. Wollheim's (under pseudonym David Grinnell) "Destiny�s Orbit" [Avalon, 1961] 224 pp.
- Donald A. Wollheim's (under pseudonym David Grinnell) "The Martian Missile" [Avalon, 1959]
- John Wyndham (under actual name John Benyon) "Planet Plane" [Newnes, 1935]
: Later published and better known as "Stowaway to Mars" (under pseudonym John Wynham) [Fawcett, 1972] 192 pp.- Ruth Young's "A Trip to Mars" [Orchard Books, 19zz]
: Juvenile- Roger Zelazny's story "A Rose for Ecclesiastes" [19zz]
There are a number of stories and novels and (in 1998) movies about asteroid impacts on Earth, and how to prevent them. 1998 brought us "Deep Impact" and "Armageddon" -- but the subject had been handled in fiction far earlier {to be done} Jupiter:
- Isaac Asimov's (as Paul French) "Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids" [New York: Doubleday, 1953]
- Jonathan Burke's story "Asteroid Crusoe" [Authentic #49, September 1954]
- R. L. Fanthorpe's "Asteroid Man" [???]
- Raymond J. Gallun's novella "Asteroid of Fear" [Planet Stories, March 1951]
- Edmond Hamilton's "Horror on the Asteroid" [19zz]
- E. R. James' story "Asteroid City" [New Worlds, March 1952]
- Murray Leinster's "The Wailing Asteroid" [19zz]
- James Rosenquist's story "Asteroid of Horror" [Super Science Fiction, October 1959]
- E. C. Tubb's story "Asteroids" [Authentic #66, February 1956]
- Edgar Wallace's novella "Planetoid 127" [Fantastic, November 1962]
- Donald A. Wollheim (as Martin Pearson's) story "Asteroid 745: Mauritia" [Orbit #1, 1953]
- John Wyndham's story "The 2194 Asteroids" [Amazing, January 1961]
- Jane Yolen and Bruce Degen's "Commander Toad and the Dis-Asteroid" [Paper Star, 1985; 1996] ISBN 0-698-11404-3
juvenile (ages 4-8)- Don Dwiggins' "The Asteroid War" [1978] ASIN 0-516-08807-6
- Greg Bear's "Eon" [19xx]
but the artifact in the hollow asteroid is the really BIG concept in this novel (and its sequel)Saturn:
- Isaac Asimov's (as Paul French) "Lucky Starr and the Moons of Jupiter" [New York: Doubleday, 1957; under his own name as The Moons of Jupiter, London: New English Library, 1974]
- Alexander Blade's "Gambit on Ganymede" [Fantastic Adventures, Mar 1953]
- Arthur C. Clarke's novella "Jupiter Five" [If, May 1953]
- Philip K. Dick & Ray Nelson's "The Ganymede Takeover" [18zz]
- J. L. Green's "Journey to Jupiter" [19zz]
juvenile (Dig Allen series)- B. M. Peek's "The Planet Jupiter" [19zz]
nonfiction- J. Rackham's "Jupiter Equilateral" [19zz]
- H. Walter's [W. L. Hughs] "Journey to Jupiter" [19zz]
juvenile- Robert F. Young's story "Jupiter Found" [Amazing, March 1963]
- Charles Sheffield's "Putting Up Roots: A Jupiter Novel" [Sep 1997] ISBN 0-312-86241-5, 256 pp., one of a trilogy of Young Adult "Jupiter Novels"
By the way "Saturn Science Fiction" was a magazine in France... Uranus:
- Isaac Asimov's (as Paul French) "Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn" [New York: Doubleday, 1953]
- Arthur C. Clarke's story "Saturn Rising" [F&SF, March 1961]
- D. Grinnell's [Donald A. Wollheim] "Destination Saturn" [19zz]
- Isabel M. Lewis's story "Saturn -- Queen of the Sky" [Science-Fiction +, June 1953]
- A. E. Nourse's "Trouble on Titan" [???]
- J. B. Priestley's "Saturn Over the Water" [19zz]
- Donald A. Wollheim's "The Secret of Saturn's Rings" [19zz]
juvenile- Poul Anderson's "Saturn Game" [1989] novella
: crew on mission to moons of Saturn get slightly too deep into a role-playing game- Michael McCollum's "Clouds of Saturn" [1991] ISBN 0-345-36412-0
- Robert Forward's "Saturn Rukh" [Tor, Mar 1997] ISBN 0-312-8632-7, hardcover [Tor, Apr 1998] ISBN 0-812-53458-1, mass market paperback, 352 pp.
: rukhs are 2-brained 4-kilometer-wide creatures that live in the clouds of Saturn, and five people are stranded on one rukh's back when they descend into those clouds...- W. G. Sebald's "The Rings of Saturn" [1998] translated by Michael Hulse
: Literary, not actually about the planet Saturn...Neptune, the planet having been discovered by Galle in 1846, after being orbitally predicted by Adams and Leverier:
- Vivenair's "A Journey Lately Performed Through the Air, in an Aerostatic Globe, to the Newly Discovered Planet, Georgium Sidus" [1784 (!)]
- R. R. Winterbotham's "Clouds over Uranus" [Astounding, Mar 1937] ed. F. Orlin Tremaine, $0.20
- Daniel F. Mitcheall's "The Uranus Run" [University Editions, May 1996] ISBN 156-002549-2, paperback
Pluto, the planet having been discovered by Clyde Tombaugh in 1930:
- Spirito Gentil's "Earth-Born!" [1899]
: icy, inhabited- John W. Campbell's "Neptune Orbit Observatory" [Astounding, December 1962] nonfiction
- Hugh Walter's "Neptune One is Missing" [1970] ASIN 0-679-24060-8
- Michael Coney's "Neptune's Cauldron" [1981] ASIN 0-505-51755-8
- Paul Cowdy's "The Neptune Effect" [Omega, 1984] ASIN short story
- Gordon Eklund's "A Thunder on Neptune" [1989] ASIN 1-5557-10052-7, Young Adult, First Contact
- Jeffrey Carver's "Neptune Crossing" [Tor, 1994] ISBN 0-312-85640-7 hardcover, [Tor, 1994] ISBN 0-812-53515-4 paperback
- Keith Topping & Martin Day's "The Devil Goblins from Neptune" (Dr. Who series) [London Bridge, June 1998] ISBN 0-563-40564-3, mass market paperback
By the way, H. P. Lovecraft claimed to have predicted the discovery of Pluto in fiction! He had published various astronomy articles in a Rhode island newspaper, and in his Horror/Science Fiction he described prior to 1930 a planet beyond Neptune. [some of the above were also listed in "Steven Silver's Pluto in SF" 10th Planet beyond Pluto: {to be done}
- Stanton Coblentz's "Into Plutonian Depths" [1931; Avon, 1950]
- Jack Williamson's "The Plutonian Terror" [publisher?, 1933]
- Stanton Coblentz's "Riches for Pluto" [Astounding, Dec 1934]
- Stanton Coblentz's "Blue Haze on Pluto" [Astounding, June 1935]
- Donald W. Horner's "Winged Destiny" [1912]
- Wallace West's "En Route to Pluto" [Astounding, Aug 1936]
- Laurence Manning & Fletcher Pratt's "Expedition to Pluto" [Planet Stories, Winter, 1939]
- S.D. Gottesman (pseudonym of C.M. Kornbluth) "King Cole of Pluto" [Super Science Stories, 1940]
- Joseph Ferrell's "Mind-Stealers of Pluto" [Planet Stories, Winter 1944]
- Murray Leinster's "Pipeline to Pluto" [Astounding, Aug 1945]
- Clifford D. Simak's "Cosmic Engineers" [Gnome, 1950]
- Jack Williamson's "The Cometeers" [Fantasy Press, 1950]
- Clark Ashton Smith's "The Plutonian Drug" [The Outer Reaches, ed. August Derleth, Pelligrini Cudahy, 1951]
- Vargo Statten's (pseudonym of John Russell Fearn) "Deadline to Pluto" [Scion, 1951]
- Charles A. Stearn's "The Pluto Lamp" [Planet Stories, Fall 1954]
- Algis Budrys' "Man of Earth" [Ballantine, 1958]
- Robert Heinlein's "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel" [Scribner's, 1958]
: great scene trekking across Pluto's surface with The Mother Thing sharing the teenaged protagonist's spacesuit- Wilson Tucker's "To the Tombaugh Station" [Ace, 1960]
- Larry Niven's "World of Ptaavs" [Ballantine, 1966]
- Larry Niven's "Wait It Out" [Future Unbounded, Westercon Program Book, 1968]
- Philip Latham's (pseudonym of R.S. Richardson) "The Rose-Bowl Pluto Hypothesis" [Orbit 5, ed. Damon Knight, Putnam, 1969]
- Hugh Walters' "Passage to Pluto" [Nelson, 1973]
- Jonathan V. Post "Skiing the Methane Snows of Pluto" [Focus, Autumn 1979]
: Your Humble Webmaster not only predicted the methane snows of Pluto (now confirmed by spectroscopy) but also "the volcanoberg terrain of Io" well before Voyager discovered volcanos on Io!- Keith Laumer's "No Ship Boots in Fairyland" [Once There Was a Giant, ed. Keith Laumer, Tor, 1984]
- Kim Stanley Robinson's "Icehenge" [Jove, 1984]
: alien artifact found on Pluto expanded from the short story "On the North Pole of Pluto"- Kim Stanley Robinson's "The Memory of Whiteness" [Tor, 1985]
- Rick Gauger's "Charon's Ark" [Ballantine, 1987]
- Donald A. Wollheim's "Secret of the Ninth Planet" [19zz]
juvenile- Roger MacBride Allen's "The Ring of Charon" [Tor, 1990]
: living alien spacewarp generator buried in the giant moon of Pluto- Colin Greenland's "Take Back Plenty" [AvoNova, 1992]
- Stephen Baxter's "Gossamer" [Science Fiction Age, Nov 1995]
: ingenious cruogenic ecology on Pluto- Colin Greenland's "Seasons of Plenty" [AvoNova, 1996]
- Robert Silverberg's "Pluto in the Morning Light" [magazine?, date?]
Comets: {to be done}
- R. W. Goll's "Through Space to Planet T" [19zz]
: juvenileOther Solar Systems: {to be done}
- David Brin & Gregory Benford's "Heart of the Comet" [19zz]
- Jules Verne's "Off on a Comet" [18zz]
- G. Weston's "Comet Z" [19zz]
Space-Going Races: these are novels of human or extraterrestrial civilizations who have bid farewell to planetary life and now live forver in transit between the stars
- Leigh Brackett's "Alpha Centauri or Die!" [19zz]
- "Homo Sol", Isaac Asimov [1940]
when humans invent FTL and send a spaceship to Alpha Centauri to settle the 5th planet, our civilization is invited to join the galactic federation. The advanced races are fascinated that we've outdone their technology, with an improvement of "hyperatomic" drive. Humans modify various peaceful alien technologies into deadly weapons.- J. W. MacVey's "Journey to Alpha Centauri" [19zz]
nonfictionOther Galaxies: {to be done}
- James Blish's "Cities in Flight" series [1955-1962]
, in which human cities use a "spindizzy" Antigravity technology to fly out into the galaxy, with some relocating to planets (as Pittsburgh settles on Mars) and others free-flying- Arthur C. Clarke's "Rendezvous with Rama" and its sequels co-authored with Gentry Lee[19zz]
: vast interstellar cylinder spacecraft can carry huge populations of creatures for indefinite periods- Donald Moffitt's "The Jupiter Theft" [New York: Del Rey, 1977]
: aliens use Jupiter-class planets as fuel sources for Moon-sized spacecraft wandering from star to star. For excerpt, see:Moffitt's "Jupiter Theft"
- Larry Niven's "Ringworld" [Ballentine Books, 1970]
: and sequels, which besides the "Ringworld" of the title, an artificial construct with millions of times the habitable surface area of Earth, also features the "Outsiders" who stay away from stars because they like the cold, and the "Puppeteers" who are escaping with their entire solar system from the exploding core of our Milky Way galaxy- Alexei Panshin's "Rite of Passage" [Ace, 1968]
with human societies living in generation spaceships, and only sending people down to planets as part of their education- Joan Vinge's "The Outcasts of Heaven's Belt" [19zz]
: when war ruins the habitable planet of a solar system, the warring societies survive on inhospitable worlds and in space- George Zebrowski's "Macrolife" [19zz]
: civilizations which live in vast interstellar space habitats are considered to be the next phase of evolution, and constitute "Macrolife" as a form of life beyond anything possible for planet-bound species- xxx's "yyy" [19zz]
RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
- Brian Aldiss' "Galaxies Like Grains of Sand" [19zz]
- Kenneth Johns' "Galaxies at Random" [Nebula #40, May 1959]
extra powers make characters more than human All alienated young boys and girls daydream about having powers and abilities that would set them above their tormenting peers and indifferent adults. This wish-fulfillment fantasy has deep resonance with an examination of what it means to be human. We don't mean merely being very strong and heroic, but having mental abilities that show us the world in a different light, allow us to forge a new destiny, and yet pay the price in being more different and lonely than ordinary humans. David Hartwell [Age of Wonders, New York: Walker, 1984, p.16] comments that "SF people know, for instance, that Superman is real SF. In his book 'Seekers of Tomorrow', Sam Moskowitz tells the story of the teenage fans associated with the creation of the character and its early publication in Action Comics in 1938 -- and if the first generation of science fiction people had produced nothing more than Superman and Buck Rogers, the effect of science fiction on Am,erican culture would still have been profound."SUPERMEN Some Supermen also have EXTRA-SENSORY PERCEPTION and some become Messiah figures, including:
- "Food of the Gods" by H. G. Wells (1904)
you are what you eat- "The Overman" by Upton Sinclair (1906)
isolated man grows superior- "The Hampdenshire Wonder" by J. D. Beresford (1911)
super-child develops- "The Gladiator" by Phillip Wylie (1930)
inspiration for comicstrip "Superman"- "Seeds of Life" by John Taine [Eric Temple Bell] (1931)
- "The Intelligence Gigantic" by John Russell Fearn (1933)
- "Odd John" by Olaf Stapledon [Dutton, 1936; Galaxy novel #8; Berkley; Dover; Garland, 1976]
- "The Gland Superman" by Ed Earl Repp (1938)
- "The New Adam" by Stanley G. Weinbaum (1939)
- "Slan" by A. E. Van Vogt (1940)
- "The World of Null-A" by A. E. Van Vogt's (1945)
cloned hero super-smart- "Brain Wave" by Poul Anderson (1954)
all animals and people become geniuses- "The Reassembled Man" by Herbert Kastle [New York: Fawcett Gold Medal, 1964]
Extraterrestrials rebuild a human to have super powers and altered sexuality.- "The Inner Wheel" by Keith Roberts (1970)
- "The Computer Connection" (a.k.a. "Extro") by Alfred Bester (1974)
The cartoon strip "Superman" was created by Jerome Siegel and drawn by Joseph Shuster in the early-to-mid 1930s, and began in Action Comics in 1938. They sold all rights to the comic and the character, and were living in poverty and obscurity until fans persuaded DC Comics to give them a stipend, after the character "Superman" had earned over $1,000,000,000 for publishers, television, and film studios. {to be done} RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
- Paul Atreides = Muad'Dib, in "Dune" by Frank Herbert [Chilton, 1965; Science Fiction Book Club; Ace; Berkley] and sequels
- John Cave, in "Messiah" by Gore Vidal [Dutton, 1954; Ballentine; Bantam]
- Colin Charteris, in "Barefoot in the Head" by Brian Aldiss [Doubleday, 1970; Ace]
- Jerry Cornelius, in "The Final Programme" by Michael Moorcock [Avon, 1968; Greg, 1976] and sequels
- Palmer Eldrich in "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrich" by Philip K. Dick [Doubleday, 1965; Science Fiction Book Club; McFadden-Bartell; Bantam]
- Michael Valentine Smith in "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein [Putnam, 1961; Science Fiction Book Club; Avon; Berkley]
- Vornan-19 in "The Masks of Time" by Robert Silverberg [Ballentine Books, 1968]
Science Fiction or Fantasy about Religion Traditionally, very little Science Fiction dealt with Religion, while a major segment of Fantasy and Horror was predicated on Religious beliefs. To oversimplify, Science Fiction is Materialist in essence, about a science/engineering/technology universe in which there is very little room for God. Fantasy and Horror, on the other hand, often depend upon an explicit border between Natural and Supernatural, and on the distinctions between Good and Evil, and are therefore essentially about God or His absence. H. P. Lovecraft pointed out in "Notes on Interplanetary Fiction" that religion was a local Earth custom, like Royalty, which had no significance whatsoever in other parts of the astronomical universe. James Blish strove, in fiction and critical essays, to establish exactly the opposite point of view. His masterpieces of Theological Science Fiction are: the "After Such Knowledge" series: * Doctor Miribilis [Dodd Mead, 1971] * Black Easter [Doubleday, 1968; Dell; Avon] * The Day After Judgment [Doubleday, 1971] * A Case of Conscience [Ballentine Books, 1958; Walker, 1969] As Darrell Schweitzer says in "God and All That" [Aboriginal Science Fiction, Summer 1998]: "Sure, there had always been stories about brave explorers landing on Mars and finding a humanoid culture there which is sort of like African/Aztec/Samoan culture only less interesting, where the priest-ridden natives are bent on sacrificing the pith-helmeted -- er, I mean space-suited -- strangers to the Great Ghod Ghu. But let's get real. Serious SF about religion began to slip through the pages of 'Astounding' circa 1940..." We can make a preliminary categorization of Religious subgenre fiction as follows:Afterlife Most religions presume that existence does not end with death. Either the individual has some sort of physical IMMORTALITY, and thus cheats death; or the individual Soul persists as a Ghost here on Earth; or as a spirit on some Astral Plane, or in some secondary world (Heaven, Hell, Limbo, Purgatory, or Valhalla); or through Reincarnation into a new life. Each of these is a frequent subject in fantasy and, less often, has been explored logically in Science Fiction. Some Afterlife novels include:
- Afterlife
- Angels
- Apocalypse
- Aztec
- Celtic
- Christian
- Demon
- Devil
- Egyptian Pantheon
- Elder Gods
- God
- Goddess
- Greek/Roman Pantheon
- Haiti and Voodoo
- Heaven
- Hell
- Hindu Pantheon
- Islamic
- Jewish/Hebrew
- Limbo
- Mayan
- Messiah Figures
- Native American
- Oriental Fantasy
- Original (to this fiction) Pantheon
- Pseudo-Religions
- Purgatory
- Scandanavian Pantheon
- those miscellaneous others
Some Afterlife movies {film hotlinks to be done} include:
- Alexander Lernet-Holenia's "Baron Bagge" [1936]
: translated into English by Jane B. Green] protagonist leads World War I cavalry charge, dies, has experiences in afterlife, refuses to cross a Golden Bridge to Heaven, and reawakens on Earth as the only survivor of the battle- John Kendrick Bangs' "Houseboat on the Styx" series: * A Houseboat on the Styx: Being Some Account of the Divers Doings of the Associated Shades [1895] * The Pursuit of the Houseboat: Being Some Further Account of the Divers Doings of the Associated Shades, Under the Leadership of Sherlock Holmes [1897] * The Enchanted Type-Writer [1899] linked stories
- Marie Corelli's "The Soul of Lilith" [1892]
magical dream-sleep- L. Sprague de Camp & Fletcher Pratt's "The Incomplete Enchanter" [1941]
in Norse Fimbulwinter- Philip Jose Farmer's "Riverworld" series
everyone who ever lived is resurrected by the banks of a loxendromic mega-river- John Grant's "The World" [1992]
afterlife=dream=alternate reality- Robert Heinlein's "Job: A Comedy of Justice" [1984]
heaven is bureacracy- Aldous Huxley's "Time Must Have a Stop" [1944]
messages from afterlife- Frederic Arnold Kummer's "Ladies in Hades" [1928]
- Frederic Arnold Kummer's "Gentlemen in Hades" [1930]
- Wyndham Lewis' "Human Age" series: * The Childermass [1928; revised 1956] * Monstre Gai; Malign Fiesta [1955; in 2 vols., 1966] story collection
- Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "Inferno" [1975]
updates Dante- Sherri S. Tepper's "The Awakeners" [1987]
resurrection by banks of mega-river, as with Farmer (see above)- R. H. Wright's "The Outer Darkness" [1906]
allegory/purgatory/LOST LANDS/LOST RACE- Mary Kay Zuravleff's "The Frequency of Souls" [1996]
[Farrar, Straus & Giroux 1996; Chatto & Windus, 1996; Vintage UK, Aug 1997] ISBN 0-09-973141-X, �5.99, trade paperback, Tony Campbell cover art Literary Science Fiction/Fantasy about scientific way to communicate with the spirits of the deceasedAngels: Angels: God stands above all, and below him (in hierarchical order) are: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, Angels; humans fall below those, and animals below humans, in the medieval "Great Chain of Being." The science of Angels is called Angelology, and has made a big comeback in popularizations in recent fiction and film/TV. Fallen Angels are called Demons or Devils. Apocalypse: Apocalypse: Fantasy Art coupled with high technology changed the consciousness of the world. "Apocalypse Now" ... "Apocalypse Next Wednesday" ... when did this theological word acquire its real-time burden of fright? According to James Reston, Jr. in his book "The Last Apocalypse: Europe at the Year 1000 AD" [New York: Doubleday, 1998]: "The last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, sometimes called the Book of the Apocalypse, has something to do with the world's modern association with disaster. In that fantastic and confusing book, we find the images of horrible monsters, islands changing their position, the heavens opening up. Through the first millennium and a half after Christ, these stories were seen as metaphors, the mystical and perhaps even demented imaginings of the apostle St.John the Divine. The tales of an end time were not meant to be treated literally, nor were they so depicted." "In modern usage, however, the word 'Apocalypse' occasions fear and trembling. But the word has been draped with this terrible trapping only in the past 500 years. If we go back to its Greek derivation, the word means an unveiling, an uncovering, a disclosure, a revelation." "I put the transformation of the word's meaning from revelation to catastrophe down to an exact date: AD 1498; to an exact place: Nuremberg, Germany; and to an exact work: a series of woodcut etchings called 'Apocalypse' by Albrecht Durer. Of all the visual depictions of the Apocalypse, these disturbing drawings are the most famous. Durer wiped out the abstract and mystical images. By blending realism with fantasy, his works enhanced the fear and foreboding about the Apocalypse." "Durer's etching of 'The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse' is the best known of the series. The woodcut possesses a horrifying dynamic movement as the four horsemen gallop across the sky, vying with one another for position, trampling their victims underfoot. The rider on the black steed is the central figure. While he trails his balance of justice and judgment behind him in the wind, his face is natural, muscular, human, except that his eyes are blank as if he is blind." "The Fourth Horseman, Death, is placed below the black stallion. The avenger is an emaciated, stick-like figure, with a gaunt face and wild eyes. He carries a pitchform instead of the traditional scythe, as if he is harvesting rather than killing. His advanced age, his crazed look, his decrepit horse make him all the more terrifying." "If Durer's 'Four Horsemen' are his most famous apocalyptic work, his portrayal of the Fifth and Sicth Seals of the sacred book that held the fate of the world lies at the heart of the modern concept of Apocalypse. This was the passage in Revelation that so transfixed David Koresh in Waco, Texas before his fiery incineration.... A shower of burning stars rains down upon a cowering humanity, as the sun turns black 'as a sack cloth of hair' and the moon becomes blood red...." "In part, the paranoia can be explained by the invention of printing. Gutenberg's printing press had arrived in Nuremberg in 1470, and in the years afterward, the presses turned out literature and art with unparalleled speed and in unparalleled quantity. In 1472 the astronomer Johannes Regiomontanus printed a series of popular calendars. For the first time in Western civilization, there was a wide appreciation of the passage of days and years, especially towards an apocalyptic benchmark. The calendars were widely distributed, and Regiomontanus was summoned to Rome by Pope Sixtus IV to work on the reform of the calendar...." Also involved: "... a technical advance in clock-making. The invention of the coil spring around 1500 made it possible to mass-produce small, lightweight clocks for the home. The tick of the clock went along with the turning of the calendar page to give the citizen of Reformation Europe a fresh and intimate awareness of the passage of time toward an unnerving landmark date." "And what happened at that date was revelation: the arrival of Martin Luther and the shaking of the Catholic Church at its roots. Ironically, Luther himself had grave doubts about the Book of Revelation and relegated it to an appendix in his German New Testament. Today, if we have anything overtly apocalyptic, its is the Year 2000 computer problem...." See: WORLD COMES TO AN END Aztec: Quetzalcoatl and other figures from Aztec mythology have appeared in the fiction of Carlos Fuentes. Aztec Mythology: at least 82 articles in the Encyclopedia Mythica Celtic: The Celtic Pantheon has been heavily strip-mined by modern Celtic Fantasy. Technically speaking, there are at least 3 different branches of Celtic myths: (1) Wales and Cornwall [the "Insular Brythonic"] (2) the Western Highlands of Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ireland [the "Goidelic"] (3) Brittany ["the Coninental Brythonic"] as best surveyed in modern Fantasy by Poul and Karen Anderson. Celtic deities, who include Cernunnos, Lir, Lugh, and Mabon, were described in the Mabinogion. The magical Tuatha De Danaan ousted the Fir Bholg from Ireland. Nuadha, the leader of the Tuatha De Danaan, lost his arm in the battle and had a silver prosthesis, thus becoming renamed Nuadha Airgedlamh (of the Silver Hand), and he lated abdicated to make way for Lugh. Eventually, the Tuatha De Danaan were in turn ousted by the Milesians (Gaelic Irish) for whom the Tuatha De Danaan were worshipped. The name "Ireland" comes from the Tuatha De Danaan goddess Eriu, which became Eire, as she first foretold that the land would be ruled by the Milesians. Celtic Pantheon at least 171 articles in the Encyclopedia Mythica. Mabinogion: the central body of myths and legends of Britain in the Welsh language, see WALES, mostly found in: * The White Book of Rhydderch [circa 1300-1350] * The Red Book of Hergest [circa 1400-13450] * The Mabinogion [1838-1849] first English translation by Lady Charlotte Guest * The Mabinogion [1948; revised 1974; revised 1982] definitive translation by Gwyn Jones and Thomas Jones (according to "The Encyclopedia of Fantasy", John Clute & John Grant, St.Martin's, 1997, pp.600-601) Herne the Hunter: Celtic Mythology, a.k.a. Cernonnos, stag's-horned, god of the Forest, ruthlessly suppressed by Christianity who deemed him evil and adopted his horns for "Satan." Shakespeare mentions him in "The Merry Wives of Windsor." See Devil. Christian: Christian Fantasy and Science Fiction revolves around the Christian God or Trinity, Jesus Christ, Apocalypse, the Anti-Christ, Eschatology, Evil, the End of the World, Angels, Demon, Satan, Heaven,Hell, Limbo, and Purgatory. Particularly important in the modern canon is James Blish's "After Such Knowledge" series: * Doctor Miribilis [Dodd Mead, 1971] * Black Easter [Doubleday, 1968; Dell; Avon] * The Day After Judgment [Doubleday, 1971] * A Case of Conscience [Ballentine Books, 1958; Walker, 1969] James Blish, writing under his Critic's pseudonym of William Atheling in "The Issue at Hand [1953], analyzed Christian Science Fiction (including his own "A Case of Conscience") especially in the chapter "Cathedrals in Space." He says that the majority of Christian Science Fiction is in a Jesuit, or at least Catholic viewpoint. He carefully does NOT say that Fundamentalist Christians are too modern, anti-intellectual, or unsophisticated, but one suspects that he thought so. That is, Science Fiction as such has little room for rapture and personal revelation, but does share a common goal with Christianity in seeking a cosmic explanation for how everything works. Blish discusses R. H. Benson, C. S. Lewis, M. P. Shiel, and Ray Bradbury's fine story "The Man." Blish makes the following dismissal: "These science fiction stories are not fundamentally theological at all. Every one of them, including 'A Case of Conscience'... are instead instruments of a chiliastic crisis, of a magnitude we have not seen since the world-wide chiliastic panic of 999 A.D., when everyone expected the Second Coming and the Last Judgment on the next New Year's Morning and nobody in his heart of hearts could believe in the forgiveness of Christ. We no more believe in it now than we did then, and small wonder; and our modern Apocalyptic literature, overlaid though it is with the mythologies of scientific humanism and heroic technology, takes just as dim a view of it." Some interesting older Christian Science Fiction includes:
- Outward Bound [1930]
Limbo on a Steamship- Between Two Worlds [1944]
Limbo on a Steamship (remake of Outward Bound)- A Matter of Life and Death [1946]
Limbo- Down to Earth [1947]
Limbo- Heaven Can Wait [1978]
Limbo (remake of Down to Earth)- Beetlejuice [1988]
Limbo- Always [1989]
pastoral Limbo with Angel- All Dogs Go to Heaven [1989]
Heaven, doggy-style- Defending Your Life [1991]
Limbo- Bill & Ted'd Bogus Journey [1991]
Heaven and Hell, humorously- xxx
Some particularly good recent Christian Science Fiction includes:
- James Cowan's "Daybreak: A Romance of an Old World" [G. H. Richmond & Co., 1896
: Christianity evolves differently on Mars; see: SPACE TRAVELAntichrist: the leading false prophet whose coming foretells the end of the world, according to The Book of Revelations. In science fiction, we skip the foreshadowing, and use mechanical means to reach the end of the world. See: WORLD COMES TO AN END no more civilization, or people, or worse... more {to be done} Demon: Evil beings of spirit, derived from the morally netral "Daimon" [Greek] and "Daemon" [Latin]. The evil connotation was layered on by Christian revisionists, who had to insist for doctrinal reasons that all Magic was evil, and that all Witchcraft involved supervising the performance of demons. The general pattern, anthropologically speaking, is that one culture conquers another culture, the pantheon of the defeated culture is redefined to be demons by the victorious culture. The paradigm of this was in Zoroastrianism, whose malevolent "devas" were the gods in the conquered Indo-Iranian culture. The hierarchy of demonic devas in Zoroastrianism (under the leadership of Ahriman) was subsequently absorbed into Christian mythology. Christianity also inherited a few major demons from Judaism. The Hebrews had eliminated most demons from their mythos, but a few survived into the Old Testament, including Azazel, Belial, and Lilith -- all of whom were now placed under the jurisdiction of Satan. Similarly, the Islamic mythos incoporated as demons an entire hierarchy (with Iblis at the top) of Jinn (genies) absorbed from Arabic folklore. Practically all societies have similar entities in their religions and folklores, but if they are not evil, they are usually translated in English as Elementals, Fairies, or Spirits. Dangeous aspects of nature, such as earthquakes, volcanic explosions, deserts, storms and the like were sometimes animistically described as demons. Black Magic, Occult Fantasy, and Heroic Fantasy sometimes deal with demons, humans who invoke demons, and humans who worship demons. More rarely, the demons themselves are central characters, as in: * Isaac Asimov's "Azazel" short stories * L. Sprague de Camp's "The Fallible Fiend" [1973] novel * Miranda Seymour's "The Reluctant Devil" [1990] novel Some recent Fantasy draws upon native American demons; and many Hong Kong and Japanese Fantasy movies have oriental demons. [according to "The Encyclopedia of Fantasy" by John Clute & John Grant, New York: St.Martins, 1997, pp.264-265] See also "Lilith" in Authors pages Devil: Christianity is officially monotheistic -- a single God -- and yet the Christian mythos is actually bipolar, with God opposed by an "anti-God" who is variously called the Devil, Lucifer, or Satan. This center of ultimate evil rules a hierarchy of fallen Angels, who are variously known as Demons or Devils. Classical Christian Fantasy centered on the war in heaven, in which a failed coup d'etat led to the Devil being cast into the everlasting pit of Hell, along with his retinue. The Bible has other synonyms for the Devil, including Beelzebub. Later Christian Fantasy used names such as Beelzebub for the highest-ranking followers of Satan -- his generals, or his cabinet, as it were. Another such demotion was Asmodeus, who was a King of Demons in the Jewish Talmud, but became a likeable protagonist in Alain Rene Le Sage's "Le Diable boiteux" [1707]. The apocryphal "Book of Enoch" gives a lengthy list of fallen Angels (all now considered Devils), and this list includes the gods of the tribes surrounding the Hebrews, such as Astaroth, Baal, and Moloch, all of whom were similarly demonized. Even lengthier indices of Devils include: * Pandaemonium [1684] by Richard Bovet * The Hierarchy of Hell [1972] by Lauran Paine Mephistopheles was a major henchman of the Devil, and starred in the Faust legend (see "Faust" in the Authors' listings, or under "Goethe"), as well as other folklore and Fantasy. C. S. Lewis achieved bestsellerdom with "The Screwtape Letters" [1942] in which a bureaucratic hierarchy of devils contest with Heaven for the sould of a contemporary mortal. Devils are usually iconified as possessing beards, horns, goats' legs, and forked tail -- a pictorial representation that came from previous mythologies. For instance, Herne the Hunter (in Celtic Mythology, a.k.a. Cernonnos) was the stag's-horned, god of the Forest, ruthlessly suppressed by Christianity who deemed him evil and adopted his horns for "Satan." For some insights into the anthropology of Devil Worship, see Rollo Ahmed: Rollo Ahmed: expert and author on the occult, from EGYPT: * The Complete Book Of Witchcraft [pub?, date?] * The Black Art [copyright 1938; Paperback Library, 1966, 1968] PL#166-7 the AuthorsA listing has book reviews of the Satanist aspects of his writings. Egyptian Pantheon: Re (a.k.a. Ra) Isis Horus Thoth as best used recently in Roger Zelazny's "Creatures of Light and Darkness" [1969] see: Science Fiction's Prehistory Egyptian Pantheon at least 208 articles in the Encyclopedia Mythica Elder Gods: Numerous Pantheons distinguish between younger Gods and Elder Gods. The notion that each religion holds cultural sway only after a previous religion has been sociologically crushed has several implications explored in fiction. As pagan Gods were displaced by Christianity, magic itself began to be eliminated from the world. This is central to the many books of Thomas Burnett Swann. Even though the younger Gods are in control, there may be occult ways to re-awaken the Elder Gods:
- James Morrow's "Towing Jehovah" [Harcourt Brace, 1993]
the corpse of God is found floating in the Atlantic, and is towed to the Arctic to avoid rotting...- James Morrow's "Blameless in Abaddon" [Harcourt Brace, 1996]
sequel to Towing Jehovah, where the Corpus Dei is the center of a Fundamentalist theme park in Florida, but some of His brain cells still work, and He is put on trial in the Hague by a cancerous widower (a modern Job) and defended by a parody of C. S. Lewis- Walter M. Miller's "A Canticle for Leibowitz" [Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1960]
- Walter M. Miller's "Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman" [Bantam, 1997]
posthumous sequel to A Canticle for Leibowitz, completed by Terry Bisson- Mary Doria Russell's "The Sparrow" [1996]
remarkable debut novel, a Jesuit expedition to an ingabited planet of Alpha Centauri, whose only survivor (Father Emilio Sandoz) returns to Earth in a crisis of faith, degraded by the aliens of the planet Rakhat- Mary Doria Russell's "Children of God" [Villard Books, 1998]
sequel to The SparrowH. P. Lovecraft carried this notion of re-awakening the Elder Gods furthest, so much so that the phrase "Elder Gods" is now identified with Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. These deities are quasi-immortal interstellar interlopers, also connecting to Earth through some other dimension. They are neither Good nor Evil as such, but strangely Other. Some of them came to Earth because they were banished because of some long-vanished rebellion (a dark echo of fallen angels). These so-called Great Old Ones founded the civilizations of Atlantis, Lemuria, and Mu -- among others -- and still have power within the ruins of these LOST LANDS. The Great Old Ones, with Cthulhu at the top of the heap, are now sleeping until the time destined for their re-awakening, which will not be a nice time for the human race. Besides Cthulhu, the Great Old Ones include Azathoth, Nodens, and Yog-Sothoth. Nodens is sometimes described as the leader of a rebel counter-faction within the rebel faction. Lovecraft created such a useful and haunting fantasy universe, that the Cthulhu Mythos has been continued by many writers of dark fantasy, most particularly Lin Carter and Brian Lumley. God: Almost all religions have a God or Gods. Judaism was the first to insist on a single God (a.k.a. Jehovah, Yahweh), and Christianity modified the single God into a 3-in-one Trinity (The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost). Many other cultures have a Pantheon (from the Greek "Pan-Theon" = All Gods), except for Animist cultures which have godlike powers in all animals, plants, rocks, and so forth. The Judeo-Christian God appears fictionally in:
- Algernon Blackwood
, various nature myths- Aleister Crowley
, Black Magic ("magick")- Charles De Lint
, various nature myths- Robert Holdstock
, various nature myths in the "Mythago Woods" series- Arthur Machen
, Black Magic- Dennis Wheatley
, Black MagicScience Fiction and Fantasy authors who make major use of Gods in non-satirical context include:
- Brigid Brophy's "The Adventures of God in His Search for the Black Girl" [1973]
story- James Branch Cabell's "Jurgen" [1919]
- G. K. Chesterton's "The Man Who Was Thursday" [1908]
- Lester del Rey's "For I Am a Jealous People" [1954]
story- Stanley Elkin's "The Living End" [1979]
- Neil M. Gunn's "The Green Isle of the Great Deep" [1944]
- Victor Koman's "The Jehovah Contract" [1987]
- James Morrow's "Towing Jehovah" [Harcourt Brace, 1993]
the corpse of God is found floating in the Atlantic, and is towed to the Arctic to avoid rotting...- James Morrow's "Blameless in Abaddon" [Harcourt Brace, 1996]
sequel to Towing Jehovah, where the Corpus Dei is the center of a Fundamentalist theme park in Florida, but some of His brain cells still work, and He is put on trial in the Hague by a cancerous widower (a modern Job) and defended by a parody of C. S. Lewis- Jeremy Pascal's "God: the Ultimate Autobiography" [1988]
- T. F. Powys (in various novels as Jar" and "Mr. Weston")
- George Bernard Shaw's "The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God [1932]
See also Michael Jordan's "The Encyclopedia of Gods" [1992]. Goddess: {to be done} see Clute & Grant's "The Encyclopedia of Fantasy" pp.412-414. see also FEMINIST Greek/Roman Pantheon: Before the modern genres of Fantasy and Science Fiction developed, Western cultures most often fictionalized the Greek (Roman) Pantheon. Of course, this has had a tremendous influence on the modern Fantasy and Science Fiction of GREECE. The best-known modern source on Greek Mythology, now extended to an on-line hypertext, is: Bulfinch's Mythology Various writers have attempted to use essentially the whole Greek Pantheon in their fiction, including:
- L. Sprague de Camp
- Lord Dunsany
who created his own hierarchical Pantheon- E. R. Eddison
who created his own Pantheon in the "Zimiamvia" series- Philip Jose Farmer
- H. P. Lovecraft
Cthulhu Mythos pantheon in our cosmos- Michael Moorcock
- Eden Phillpott
- Terry Pratchett
well, his are serious/funny- Michael Shea
- J. R. R. Tolkien
geneology and languages of Gods of Middle Earth- Jack Vance
- Roger Zelazny
Zeus (a.k.a. Jove, a.k.a. Jupiter) became King of the Gods after his successful coup against his father Cronos or Kronos (a.k.a. Saturn), who was king of the Titans, and his mother Rhea. This coup placed six siblings in control of the universe: Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hestia, Demeter, and Hera. Before that, Cronos had castrated his father Uranus (the father of the Gods). Zeus had a dysfunctional marriage with Hera (Juno), and an endless series of affairs and one-night-stands with mortal women, demigoddesses, and goddesses (which Dr. Emily Socolov suggests have an historical origin in the Greek mythos absorbing the mythos of conquered tribes). Zeus @ Encyclopedia Mythica Aphrodite (Venus) was the Goddess of Love and Beauty. She is nearly equivalent to Astarte (to the Phoencians). She started the Trojan War by offering Helen to Paris; and cuckolded her husband Hephaestus with Ares. Homer says she's the daughter of Zeus and Dione; Hesiod that she sprang from the severed gentalia of Uranus after Cronos threw them in the sea. We see her starring in such books and stories as: * Aphrodite [1896] by Pierre Louys * "The Disinterment of Venus" [1934] by Clark Ashton Smith * Mistress of Mistresses [1935] by E. R. Eddison * "Mr. Skinner's Night in the Underworld" [1878] by Max Adeler * "Mrs. Hepaestus" [1887] Goerge A. Baker * The Night Life of the Gods [1931] by Thorne Smith * Pagan Passions [1959] by Randall Garrett and Larry M. Harris * Venus the Lonely Goddess [1949] John Erskine * The World's Desire [1890] by H. Rider Haggard and Andrew Lang There are also Aphrodite-related fictions based on the Pygmalion myth, and on the Germanic legend of Tannhauser (who hung out with the Goddess in a palace/cave in Venusberg). She had a magic girdle which made her invulnerable and/or irresitable. She had numerous God and mortal lovers, including Adonis and Anchises. Her sons include Eros, Anteros, and Anaeas. The 9 Muses accompany her. Her symbols are dove, swan dolphin, pomegranite, and lime tree. She is nearly equivalent to Ishtar (Mesopotamean pantheon) and Astarte (Syro-Palestinian). Aphrodite @ Encyclopedia Mythica Apollo: (1) Greek Sun God in Fantasy, and (2) how people actually got to the Moon in Hard SF. As a major God in Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo was in charge of Music; divinely punsihed transgressors with arrows from a mighty bow; and was patron god of Oracles. Since sacrifices were made to him when new cities were founded, he became (by default) the God of Civilization itself. This was ramified and distinguished from hedonism in Friedrich Nietzche's "The Birth of Tragedy" [1872] which contrasted "Apollonean" and "Dionysian" modes of culture. Apollo (Apollon) was the son of Zeus and Leto, and brother of Artemis. Apollo is a central figure in these fictions:
- Patrick H. Adkins' "Titans" trilogy
- John Kendrick Bang's "Olympian Nights" [1902]
- Richard Garnett's "The Twilight of the Gods" [1888, 1903]
- Eden Philpott (various works)
- Thorne Smith's "The Nightlife of the Gods" [1931]
Apollo @ Encyclopedia Mythica Ares (Mars) was the God of War. He is the brother of Eris (Goddes of Strife) and his sons include Phobos (Fear) and Demos (Panic). His other companions were Enyo (ancient war-goddess), Famine, and Oblivion. Ares @ Encyclopedia Mythica Artemis (Diana) was Goddess of the Moon. She was daughter the son of Zeus and Leto, and twin sister to Apollo. He symbols include the bow and qrrow, hunting dogs, deer, and geese. Artemis @ Encyclopedia Mythica Athena (Minerva) was a Goddess associated with Athens, Owls, and Thought. She was born full-grown from the brow of her father Zeus, already dressed in the helmet and robe of her mother Metis. She gave virgin birth to Erichthnonius. She owned the Aegis, and hung out with Nike (Goddess of Victory). Athena @ Encyclopedia Mythica Demeter (Ceres) was the Goddess of Grains, and by extension a fertility Goddess of the Harvest (thus identifying her with Gaia and Rhea). Demeter was a sister of Zeus, thus she was one of the 6 ruling deities. She was the mother of Persephone. Her symbols were the fruits of the earth, the torch (due to her search in the underworld for Persephone), the snake, and the pig. Demeter @ Encyclopedia Mythica Dionysus: (a.k.a. Bacchus) was the God of Wine, drunkenness, orgies, and Fighting for the Right to Party. Wreathed in grape vines, always carrying a cup (which runneth over), his satellites include Pan, the Satyrs, and his even more drunk mentor Silenus. He is variously the son of Zeus and Persephone, or Zeus and the mortal Semele. He may (anthropologically) sprung from the combination of an ancient Greek nature God with an imported Thracian or Phrygian major deity. In fiction, Dionysus and his retinue (including the Maenads) appear significantly in:
- Ivor Bannet's "The Arrows of the Sun" [1949]
novel- Richard Garnett's "The Dumb Oracle" [1878]
story- Richard Garnett's "The Poet of Panopolis" [1888]
story- Henry Kuttner's "The Mask of Circe" [1948; 1975]
novel- Vernon Lee's "The Gods and Ritter Tanhuser" [1913]
story- Eden Phillpott's "Evander" [1919]
novel- R. Ellis Roberts' "Under the Sun" [1923]
story- John Sterling's "The Substitute for Apollo" [1833]
storyDionysus @ Encyclopedia Mythica Hades (Pluto, Dis) was the god of the underworld; confusingly, the name is also applied to the underworld itself. Hades managed the punishment of special denizens such as Tantalus and Sisyphus, although he was not a malicious figure such as the Christian's Satan. "Hades" was used as a less offensive term for Hell in times of linguistic sensitivity (such as the Victorian era), so some Fantasies set in Hell refer to the location as hades, such as those of Fredericj Arnold Kummer and John Kendrick Bangs' "Houseboat on the Styx" series: * A Houseboat on the Styx: Being Some Account of the Divers Doings of the Associated Shades [1895] * The Pursuit of the Houseboat: Being Some Further Account of the Divers Doings of the Associated Shades, Under the Leadership of Sherlock Holmes [1897] * The Enchanted Type-Writer [1899] linked stories The same applies to "O Men of Athens" [1947] by A. C. Malcolm. The rivers of Hades also include the Phlegathon and the Lethe (the waters of which induce amnesia). The two main myths of Hades are the story of Persephone, and the story of the descent of Orpheus into the underworld. Hades @ Encyclopedia Mythica Hephaestus (Vulcan) was the God of Blacksmiths and Fire, and, by extension, Technology. His creations included the treasures, weapons, and 12 golden thrones of Olympus. More importantly, from a Science Fiction point of view, he made metal servants (robots!): one of gold, one of silver. He was powerful but walked with a limp, and had a rather uneasy marriage with Aphrodite. Hephaestus @ Encyclopedia Mythica Hermes (Mercurius, Mercury)) was the messenger of the Gods, and the God of Thieves. As the Gods' Federal Express service, he wore winged-sandals and petasos (wide-brimmed hat) and carried a cadeuceus, also associated with doctors. He was father of the master thief Autolycos, and of Hermaphroditus (mythic bisexuality/gender confusion figure). His father was Zeus, his mother was Maia (one of the Pleiades). As messenger, he was the patron of people going on journeys, including (as psychopomp) through Hades. He has a Trickster aspect, can communicate with mortals through Dreams, and is often associated with difficult choices. E. M. Forster was fascinated with Hermes, and used him in several short works of fiction. He appears in Thomas Mann's "Death in Venice" [1913] as a symbol of homosexual epiphany and guidance to death and/or an Afterlife. Thomas Disch's "The Doctor" has a modern physician wield Herme's cadeuceus. In Commedia Dell'Arte he is the God underlying the character of Harlequin. Hermes @ Encyclopedia Mythica Poseidon (Neptune) was the God of the Sea. Brother of Zeus (hence one of the 6 ruling deities), he also ruled over horses and earthquakes. His symbols were the dolphin, trident, and 3-pronged fish-spear. Poseidon @ Encyclopedia Mythica There were also many lesser Gods, including: Arachne: goddess of weaving, spiderwebs, and the World Wide Web. see Eden Phillpott's "Arachne" [1927] Arachne @ Encyclopedia Mythica Eros (Cupid), the God of Sexual and Romantic Love. Helios (Sol) a more restricted type of Sun God than the major Apollo. Pan (Faunus) was the God of the Forest. See "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Graeme [1908]; Eden Phillpott's "Pan and the Twins" [1922]. Haiti, Voodoo: The religious cult which evolved from Vodun, the worship of the Snake God in Dahomey (now Benin), now known as Voodoo is common in Haiti and the elsewhere in the West Indies, and in the Creole communities of the American South. It involves ritual sacrifice to ancestors and to local Gods called the Loa. Much fiction is based on misconceptions widely promulgated by biased early reporters, such as: * Old Creole Days [1879] George W. Cable * Lafcadio Hearn [various writings] Direct eyewitness experience and research from the same later led to superior supernatural fiction, especially by: * Grant Allen * Hugh B. Cave * Patricia Geary: "Strange Toys" [1987] * Robert R. McCammon: "Night Boat" [1980] * Bill Pronzini, editor: "Voodoo!" [1980] anthology * William S. Seabrook: "The Magic Island" [1929] * Dennis Wheatley: "Strange Conflict" [1941] * Henry S. Whitehead CYBER PUNK sometimes embraces the conceit that the Loas, which can possess a person, may actually evolve on the Internet. Most popular treatments (especially movies) concentrate on Zombies. The best of these, according to John Clute and John Grant's "Encyclopedia of Fantasy" are: * The Ghost Breakers [1940] with Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard * I Walked with a Zombie [1943] written by Curt Siodmak, directed by Jacques Tourneur Modern anthopology reveals that Zombies have a basis in fact, namely a drug which induces the previously misunderstood symptoms of "the walking dead." Haitian Mythology at least 67 articles in the Encyclopedia Mythica Heaven: Heaven: where Jehovah lives, as recounted in the earliest Jewish writings (see ISRAEL and JEWISH SCIENCE FICTION) and by 2nd Century BC writings had been extended into the place that all good peoples' souls will go after the Last Judgment (see Apocalypse), also where the Angels live (see Angels), and a place slightly dull because the most interesting dead folks have gone to Hell (see Hell); central location (even if mostly offstage) in the subgenre of Christian Fantasy; see C. S. Lewis; see Dante. Hell: Hell: from the Norse "Hel" (a.k.a. Niflheim), a shadowy locale for the Afterlife, similar to "Hades" (Greek myth) and "Sheol" (Hebrew myth); Zoroaster invented the universal place of punishment for all human souls (it was cryonically cold) and Jewish theologians (see "Apocalypse") adopted the concept, albeit thermodynamically reversed to the flaming "Gehenna." Early Christian and Mohammedan theologians followed suit, staffing Hell with "Satan" and his junta of fallen "Angels" cast out of "Heaven." See: THEOLOGY See also "Dante." See: * The History of Hell, Alice K. Turner [Harcourt Brace, 1993] ISBN 0-15-140934-X, $29.95, hardcover [Harcourt Brace, 1995] ISBN 0-15-600137-3, $17.00, trade paperback Acheron: River flowing through Hell (fed by the Styx, Phlegethon, Cocytus, and Lethe rivers); also an unrelated city in "Conan the Conquerer" by Robert E. Howard. Hindu Pantheon: Roger Zelazny has done the definitve job of recasting the Hindu Pantheon as Science Fiction in the novel "Lord of Light" [1967]. Hindu Pantheon at least 259 articles in the Encyclopedia Mythica Islamic: The Islamic mythos incoporated as demons an entire hierarchy (with Iblis at the top) of Jinn (genies) absorbed from Arabic folklore. One short story by Your Humble Webmaster which incorporates this mythos is: King of the Jinns Islamic/Mohameddan myth is a rich source of recent Science Fiction and Fantasy, including: {to be done} Jewish/Hebrew: An extensive analysis of Judaism may be found in ISRAEL and JEWISH SCIENCE FICTION Christianity inherited a few major demons from Judaism. The Hebrews had eliminated most demons from their mythos, but a few survived into the Old Testament, including Azazel, Belial, and Lilith -- all of whom were now placed under the jurisdiction of Satan. Limbo: Limbo is the First Circle of Hell according to Dante, where souls in the Afterlife are not actively tortured, but are passively punished by being cut off from the presence of God. Modern Fantasy (including cinema) tends to turn Limbo into a transitional place where souls wait until being relocated to Hell or Heaven, or even (unrealistically) back to Earth; see also Purgatory Mayan: There have been a number of recent Fantasy and Science Fiction novels and stories based on Mayan Mythology: {to be done} Miguel Angel Asturias (1899-1974) Guatamala-born major novelist in Spain, with one genre book translated into English: * "Mulata", a.k.a. "The Mulata and Mr.Fly" (New York: Delacorte, 1967) the power of indigenous magic in a modern couple He won the 1967 Nobel Prize in Literature, was in exile for many years, but became the Guatemalan ambassador to France. Because he studied Anthropology in Paris, he is also listed here for: * Popul Vuh [1927] Spanish translation of the Mayan sacred book, originally written in the Quiche' language Mayan Mythology at least 106 articles in the Encyclopedia Mythica Messiah Figures: Some science fictional Supermen also have EXTRA-SENSORY PERCEPTION and some become Messiah figures, including:
- James Branch Cabell's "Jurgen" [1919]
Silenus- C.S. Lewis' "Prince Caspian" [1951]
Bacchus, Silenus, unfermented grape juice- Thorne Smith's "The Nightlife of the Gods" [1931]
Native American: {to be done} Native American at least 313 articles in the Encyclopedia Mythica Oriental Fantasy: The subgenre of Oriental Fantasy draws upon Chinese, Japanese, or Korean mythology. See: ["The Encyclopedia of Fantasy" by John Clute & John Grant, New York: St.Martins, 1997, pp.734-735] Chinese Mythology at least 159 articles in the Encyclopedia Mythica Japanese Mythology at least 261 articles in the Encyclopedia Mythica (both Shinto and Buddhist) {to be done} Original (to this fiction) Pantheon: {to be done}
- Paul Atreides = Muad'Dib, in "Dune" by Frank Herbert [Chilton, 1965; Science Fiction Book Club; Ace; Berkley] and sequels
- John Cave, in "Messiah" by Gore Vidal [Dutton, 1954; Ballentine; Bantam]
- Colin Charteris, in "Barefoot in the Head" by Brian Aldiss [Doubleday, 1970; Ace]
- Jerry Cornelius, in "The Final Programme" by Michael Moorcock [Avon, 1968; Greg, 1976] and sequels
- Palmer Eldrich in "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrich" by Philip K. Dick [Doubleday, 1965; Science Fiction Book Club; McFadden-Bartell; Bantam]
- Michael Valentine Smith in "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein [Putnam, 1961; Science Fiction Book Club; Avon; Berkley]
- Vornan-19 in "The Masks of Time" by Robert Silverberg [Ballentine Books, 1968]
Pseudo-Religions: In Science Fiction, Pseudo-Religions have a special place. As Darrell Schweitzer says in "God and All That" [Aboriginal Science Fiction, Summer 1998]: "intriguingly, stories like Heinlein's "If This Goes On" and Leiber's "Gather Darkness!" (or, for that matter, Heinlein's "Sixth Column") were about FAKE religions, political or social movements masquerading behind the guise of religion. Here, at least, was an acknowledgement that religion is an important sociological fact, but that the specific details are as variable from society to society as, say, the political power structure. But there was no room for theology in 'Astounding', the magazine of burly interstellar engineers who were as quick on the draw with a slide rule as with a fist. The only thing we were asked to take on faith was that characters in the stories could actually believe this stuff. Heinlein in particular never managed to produce a convincing religious ideology. For that, you had to turn back to the mainstream wander-in writers; it's why Gore Vidal's 'Messiah' is an infinitely better book than 'Stranger in a Strange Land.' But I digress. The pulp stories tended to be about the empty shell of religion, used for other purposes." Purgatory: According to Catholicism, sinners in the Afterlife are purged through disciplinary punishment before being admitted to Heaven. This is assumed to be part of the background in Christian Fantasy. The most vivid depiction is in "Purgatorio" by Dante Alighieri (1265-1321). It is a cone-shaped mountain with circular ledges, the higher of which have higher degrees of "refining fire" to purge away sins from the increasingly joyous soul. Dorothy L. Sayers' translation [1955] has a nice map as appendix. In "Inferno" [1976] by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, Hell is shown to be a subset of Purgatory, so that all souls have an eventual chance of graduating to Heaven. C. S. Lewis, in "The Great Divorce" [1946] treats Purgatory as metaphysical, a process rather than a location. Piers Anthony's "Incarnations of Immortality" combines Purgatory with Limbo, where a celestial bureaucracy performs tedious eternal functions. Stephen Pyne's fascinating History text "Vestal Fire" [Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1998, 659 pp., $34.95] explains the historical origin of the Doctrine of Purgatory as follows. The Catholic Church, in 734 A.D., banned the European ritual of "Needfire" -- which may have derived from the perpetual flame in the hearth of the Roman goddess Vesta (see Greek/Roman Pantheon). The ban was widely ignored, so the Catholic priesthood adopted the ceremony, in which a purifying fire was set and maintained to magically protect a community. The priests superimposed a new moral interpretation to the formerly pagan ritual, and "reworked the imagery of fire" to explain how Hell was stoked with perpetual flames, and that those plames were a purgatory that could cleanse the sins from souls in the afterlife, allowing admittance to Heaven. Scandanavian Pantheon: Many Western authors have drawn from the Scandanavian Pantheon, also known as the Aesir, as ruled by Odin (a.k.a. Woden to the Teutons), and including the trickster Loki. Their stories are recounted in the Volsunga Saga and in the Nibelungenlied (see also Nordic Fantasy). See L. Sprague de Camp & Fletcher Pratt's "The Incomplete Enchanter" [1941] in Norse Fimbulwinter (the Aesir's conflict at the end of time). J.R.R. Tolkein derived considerable inspiration from the Scandanavian Pantheon, especially as in Old Icelandic poetry. See THERE AND BACK AGAIN. Norse Mythology at least 122 articles in the Encyclopedia Mythica Those Other Miscellaneous Religious/Mythological Topics: African: {to be done} Akkadian: see Babylonian and Sumerian {to be done} Babylonian: Marduk and Tiamat et al. {to be done} Etruscan: I don't know of any Fantasy or Science Fiction based on the Etruscan pantheon. Etruscan Pantheon at least 36 articles in the Encyclopedia Mythica Hittite: {to be done} Inca: {to be done} Indonesian: {to be done} Khmer: {to be done} Latvian Mythology: Latvian Mythology at least 37 articles in the Encyclopedia Mythica Lithuanian: {to be done} Madagascan: {to be done} Micronesian: {to be done} Persian Mythology: Persian Mythology at least 37 articles in the Encyclopedia Mythica Philistine: Ashtoreth (based on the Sumerian Ishtar) et al. {to be done} Phoenecian: Baal and Dagon et al. {to be done} Polynesian Mythology: Roger Zelazny has made modern use of Polynesian Mythology in {to be done} Polynesian Mythology at least 261 articles in the Encyclopedia Mythica Slavic: {to be done} Sumerian: Enlil and Ishtar et al. {to be done} Syrian: {to be done} Tibetan: {to be done} * Arthur C. Clarke's "The 9 Billion Names of God" [date?] Yoruban: {to be done} Zoroastrian: The general pattern, anthropologically speaking, is that one culture conquers another culture, the pantheon of the defeated culture is redefined to be demons by the victorious culture. The paradigm of this was in Zoroastrianism, whose malevolent "devas" were the gods in the conquered Indo-Iranian culture. The hierarchy of demonic devas in Zoroastrianism (under the leadership of Ahriman) was subsequently absorbed into Christian mythology. MUCH MORE {to be done} RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
- Lord Dunsany
, who created his own hierarchical Pantheon- E. R. Eddison
, who created his own Pantheon in the "Zimiamvia" series- H. P. Lovecraft
, Cthulhu Mythos pantheon in our cosmos- Terry Pratchett
, well, his are serious/funny- J. R. R. Tolkien
, geneology and languages of Gods of Middle Earth especially in "The Silmarillion"
leave our world for a more magical one "There and Back Again" is the subtitle of J. R. R. Tolkein's "The Hobbit." This is (as Baird Searles, Beth Meacham, and Michael Franklin point out ["A Reader's Guide to Fantasy", New York: Avon, 1982] a fine description of tales in which a protagonist from our "mundane" world slips, explores, or is kidnapped into another world, far more magical than ours. "The Wizard of Oz" is one of the best-known examples. Travel Tales as such, from the era when anoyone who'd been to faraway lands could mix fact with fantasy and know the audience couldn't find the dividing line between, includes the tall tales of Pliny (Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, circa 97-113 A.D.) and Sir John Mandeville. Homer, Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels, Sinbad the Sailor, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ("The Lost World"), Jules Verne, even "King Kong" is a travel tale. But here we focus on travel beyond the mundane world altogether, into a land genuinely different from that of the terrestrial sphere. The magical place might be a castle (Ghormenghast) or a world (Middle-Earth), but it would wrench the plot overmuch to put someone from our contemporary world in Peakes' or Tolkein's self-contained magical land. Hence we focus on a magical land -- be it Oz or Neverland -- that we might cross over into, and might or might not ever want to leave Here are 38 examples, alphabetically by author's last name:RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
- Poul Anderson's "A Midsummer's Tempest"
Shakespeare's stories were true- Poul Anderson's "Operation Chaos"
werewolf, witch, and math- Poul Anderson's "Three Hearts and Three Lions"
combat between gods- Robert Aspirin's The Mythic Persons series
funny, punny tales of sorcerer's apprentice- J. M. Barrie's "The Little White Bird"
first appearance of Peter Pan- J. M. Barrie's "Peter Pan"
Play produced 1904, novelization 1911- J. M. Barrie's "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens"
- L. Frank Baum's "Oz" books
started in 1900, will never die- Hannes Bok's "The Sorcerer's Ship"
magical ship (like Merritt's "Ship of Ishtar")- Lin Carter's The Green Star series
astral projection to another planet- Joy Chant's "Red Moon and Black Mountain"
1970, 3 children slip into beuatiful epic land of Star Magic versus the Black Enchanter- L. Sprague de Camp & Fletcher Pratt's Harold Shea stories
symbolic logic "syllogismobile" takes hero to worls of Spenser's "Faerie Queen", Kalevala, Norse Myth -- where literature is reality- L. Sprague de Camp & Fletcher Pratt's "The Land of Unreason"
funny yet poignent exploration of "Midsummer Night's Dream"- Gordon Dickson's "The Dragon and the George"
Professor Jim Eckert tries to rescue his beloved (astrally projected to another world) but unfortunately arrives in the body of a dragon...- Stephen R. Donaldson's "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever"
atypical leper/hero leaves our world for The Land, is hailed as reincarnation of Berek Halfhand to fight Lord Foul and Drool Rockworm, find Staff of the Law, and summon Covenant- Lord Dunsany's "The King of Elfland's Daughter"
Alveric of the Vale of Erl brings magical princess to help his people, and some of the most gorgeously written fantasy ever written begins- Edward Eager's The Half Magic series
two generations of children encounter ingenious and wonderfully logical magic- Edward Eager's "Seven Day Magic"
- E. R. Eddison's Zimiamvian trilogy
super-literary one-of-a-kind trilogy interlaces 19th century England and mythical kingdom Zimiavia- Jack Finney's "The Woodrow Wilson Dime"
spend magical coin at news-stand and enter an alternative New York City- Jane Gaskell's "Strange Evil"
written at age 17, heroine walks off a Notre-Dame cathedral spire and encounters dark fairies and talking shadows- Robert Heinlein's "Glory Road"
superb novel that completely works as fantasy OR as science fiction, where ex-Vietnam mercenary enters magical world, marries queen of the universe, fights utter evil, then comes home and enrolls at Caltech (where your humble webmaster went to school).- Robert E. Howard's "Almuric"
hero gets to other world by science fictional "Space-transition machine" but finds pure magic- Henry Kuttner's "The Dark World"
humans and smart animals v.s. lost race- C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia
7 books in series, children enter magical world through wardrobe, side with Christ-like lion Aslan against the Ice Witch, in wonderfully told fantasy loved by children and adults alike- David Lindsay's "The Haunted Woman"
ghostly staircase to nonexistant upper storey of house, where boy meets girl, but sadly forgets her (and she him) on returning downstairs- H. P. Lovecraft's "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadeth"
Lewis Carroll meets Lord Dunsany in George MacDonald phantasy world- George MacDonald's "At the Back of the North Wind"
Scottish minister created modern Christian subgenre of Fantasy, and was declared heretic as result. Classic fairy tale of princess and miner's son in country of magic, beasts, goblins.- George MacDonald's "Lilith"
Adam, Eve, Lilith, love and foregiveness- George MacDonald's "Phantastes"
metaphysical self-discovery in magic land- A. Merritt's "The Ship of Ishtar"
lushly penned tale of archeologist in world of Babylonian magic as galley slave aboard eternally traveling ship- Larry Niven's "Inferno"
rewrite of Dante's classic poem, satirical Hell- Joan North's "The Cloud Forest"
milk-stone ring transport's 12-year-old orphan from girls' school (his aunt works there) to magic land- Joan North's "The Light Maze"
Lightsone bends time and space- Joan North's "The Whirling Shapes"
artist and old lady set loose dangerous forces, and a girl must send them from our world- Andre Norton's "Steel Magic"
- J. R. R. Tolkein's "Smith of Wootton Major"
token allows passage between our world and that of Faerie, in a timeless village- Roger Zelazny's "Amber" novels
intricate set of novels interweaves politics, intrigue, swordfights, the Tarot, and ontological analysis of the nature of reality. Our world, you see, is only a shadow of the true reality, Amber, whose king Oberon has disappeared, leaving struggle for succession among nine princes
time machines, travel to the past or the future Some important early time travel subcategories, and their first published examples include:Some other memorable time travel novels are:
- Present to Future: "Anno 7603", by Norwegian playwright Johan Hermann Wessel (1781)
- Present to Past: "Missing One's Coach", anonymous, Dublin Literary Magazine, 1838, sends narrator back a millennium
- Future to Present: "An Uncommon Sort of Spectre", Edward Page Mitchell, 1879 (or should I count the Ghost of Christmas Future in Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" (1843)?
- Past to Present: "The Hour Glass", Robert Barr, [The Strand magazine, December 1898]
- Time Machine: 7 years before H. G. Well's "The Time Machine", there was "The Clock That Went Backwards", by Edward Page Mitchell, [The New York Sun, 18 September 1881]
A dozen novels set in prehistoric times, whether or not visited by time machines, are:
- "Flatland" by E. A. Abbott [reprint New York: Penguin, 1986]
not actually about time travel, but the key fictional work on the Fourth Dimension- "Dracula Unbound" by Brian Aldiss (New York: Harper Collins, 1991)
- "Frankenstein Unbound" by Brian Aldiss (New York: Random House, 1973)
- "Time Cat" by Lloyd Alexander (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1963)
- "Time's Arrow" by Martin Amis (1991)
- "The Trinity Paradox" by Kevin J. Anderson & Douglas Beason (New York: Bantam, 1991)
- "The Star Wagon" by M. Anderson (Washington DC: Anderson House, 1937)
play on the New York stage, got poor review in New York Times- "The Avatar" by Poul Anderson [New York: Berkley, 1978]
- "Tau Zero" by Poul Anderson [Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1970]
- "The Corridors of Time" by Poul Anderson [New York: Lancer, 1966]
- "Tourmalin's Time Cheques" by F. Anstey [New York: D. Appleton, 1891]
- "The End of Eternity" by Isaac Asimov (1955)
- "Pilgrims Through Space and Time" by J. O. Bailey (Westport CT: Greenwich Press, 1972)
- "Berkeley Square" by J. L. Balderston (New York: Macmillan, 1941)
- "The Fall of Chronopolis" by Barrington J. Bayley (New York: Daw, 1974)
- "Before the Dawn" by Eric Temple Bell (Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1934)
- "The Time Stream" by Eric Temple Bell (Providence RI: Buffalo Books Co., 1931)
- "The Trolley To Yesteday" by J. Bellairs (New York: Dial, 1989)
- "Looking Backward, 2000-1887" by Edward Bellamy (1888; reprinted New York: Bantam, 1983)
See the article "Edward Bellamy's Impact on Utopian Fiction", Sam Moskowitz, as "Voyagers Through Eternity Part XVI, XXVII", Fantasy Commentator No.49, Winter 1996.- "Timescape" by Gregory Benford [New York: Simon & Schuster, 1980]
the best of the modern time travel novels, even though only subatomic tachyons do the travelling- "Changing the Past" by J. T. Berger (Boston: Little Brown, 1973)
- "The Fury Out of Time" by Lloyd Biggle [Garden City New York: Doubleday, 1965]
- "Lord Kelvin's Machine" by James P. Blaylock [New York: Ace, 1992]
time travel based on the "suppressed" Maxwell's Equation- "The Complete Time Traveler" by H. J. Blumenthal et al. (Berkley CA: Ten Speed Press, 1988)
- "Doctor Brodie's Report" by Jorge Luis Borges [New York: E. P. Dutton, 1972]
- "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury [New York: Doubleday, 1950]
- "Time and Chance" by Alan Brennert (New York: Tor, 1990)
- "The Gap in the Curtain" by John Buchan [London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1932]
- "Sphereland" by D. Burger [New York: Harper & Row, 1983]
- "The Man Who Folded Himself" by David Gerrold (1973)
- "Past Master" by R. A. Lafferty (1968)
- "Up the Line" by Robert Silverberg (1969)
- "Our Children's Children" by Clifford Simak (1973)
Mar 1948 Isaac Asimov's "The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline" parody of a scientific paper in "Astounding", about a chemical which dissolves just BEFORE you add water... The definitive book on time travel, its mathematical theory, its possibilities in modern Physics, and its literary exploration is Time Machines: Time Travel in Physics, Metaphysics, and Science Fiction, by Paul Nahin [New York: American Institute of Physics, 1993]. This was a primary (but not exclusive source) for listing (alphabetically) these short works of Time Travel science fiction:
- "An Age" by Brian Aldiss (London: Faber & Faber, 1967)
: time travel- "Clan of the Cave Bear" by Jean Auel (19??)
: anthropology- "No Enemy But Time" by Michael Bishop (19??)
: time travel- "The Shores of Kansas" by Robert Chilson (Popular Books, 1976)
: time travel- "Traitor to the Living" by Philip Jose Farmer (Ballentine, 1973)
: time travel- "The Inheritors" by William Golding (Harcourt Brace World, 1962)
: anthropology- "Speaking of Dinosaurs" by Philip High (19??)
: time travel- "Before Adam" by Jack London (Macmillan, 1906)
: anthropology- "The Many-Colored Land" by Julian May (19??)
: time travel- "The Mists of Dawn" by Chad Oliver (Winston, 1952)
: anthropology- "Quest for Fire" by J. H. Rosny-Aine' (19??)
and sequels: anthropology- "Hawksbill Station" by Robert Silverberg (Doubleday, 1968)
: time travelBesides the definitive analysis by Paul Nahin, other worthwhile non-fiction sources (critical and scientific) include:
- "Heritage" by R. Abernathy, in "Omnibus of Science Fiction", ed. Groff Conklin [New York: Crown, 1952]
- "Poor Little Warrior!" by Brian Aldiss, in "The Science Fictional Dinosaur", ed. Robert Silverberg, C. Waugh, M. Greenberg [New York: Avon, 1982]
- "Man in His Time" by Brian Aldiss, in "The Traps of Time", ed. Michael Moorcock [Middlesex: Penguin, 1970]
- "T" by Brian Aldiss, in "First Flight", ed. Damon Knight [New York: Lancer, 1966]
- "Pausodyne" by G. Allen, in "British Barbarians" [London: John Lane, 1895] reprinted in "Beyond Time and Space", ed. August Derleth [New York: Pellegrini and Cudahy, 1950]
- "Earthman, Beware!" by Poul Anderson, in "Alight in the Void" [New York: Tor, 1991]
- "The Man Who Came Early" by Poul Anderson, in "The Great Science Fiction Stories, Vol.18" [New York: Daw, 1988]
- "Delenda Est" by Poul Anderson, in "The Great Science Fiction Stories, Vol.17" [New York: Daw, 1988]
- "My Object All Sublime" by Poul Anderson, in "101 Science Fiction Stories" ed. M. Greenberg & C. Waugh [New York: Avenel, 1986]
- "Wildcat" by Poul Anderson, in "The Science Fictional Dinosaur", ed. Robert Silverberg, C. Waugh, M. Greenberg [New York: Avon, 1982]
- "Flight to Forever" by Poul Anderson, in "Last Man on Earth" ed. Isaac Asimov, M. Greenberg, & C. Waugh [New York: Ballentine, 1982]
- "Time Patrol" by Poul Anderson, in "The Guardians of Time" [New York: Pinnacle, 1981]
- "Kyrie" by Poul Anderson, in "The Road to Science Fiction, Vol.3" ed. James Gunn [New York: New American Library, 1979]
- "The Long Remembering" by Poul Anderson, in "Trips in Time" ed. Robert Silverberg [New York: Thomas Nelson, 1977]
- "Dialogue" by Poul Anderson, in "Faster Than Light", ed. Jack Dann & George Zebrowski [New York: Harper & Row, 1976]
- "The Little Monster" by Poul Anderson, in "Science Fiction Adventures from WAY OUT", Ed. Roger Elwood [Racine WI: Whitman, 1973]
- "Time Heals" by Poul Anderson [Astounding Science Fiction, Oct 1949]
- "Missing One's Coach: An Anachronism" by Anonymous, in "Far Boundaries" [New York: Pellegrini & Cudahy, 1951]
- "January First, A.D. 3000" by Anonymous [Harper's New Monthly Magazine, 12 Jan 1856, pp.145-157]
- "The Hero Equation" by R. Arthur [Fantasy & Science Fiction, Jun 1959]
- "Time Dredge" by R. Arthur [Astounding Science Fiction, Jun 1942]
- "The Wings of a Bat" by P. Ash, in "The Science Fictional Dinosaur", ed. Robert Silverberg, C. Waugh, M. Greenberg [New York: Avon, 1982]
- "A Loint of Paw" by Isaac Asimov, in "100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories", ed. Isaac Asimov, Martin Greenberg & J. Olander [New York: Avon, 1978]
- "The Last Question" by Isaac Asimov, in "The Great Science Fiction Stories, Vol.18" [New York: Daw, 1988]
- "The Immortal Bard" by Isaac Asimov, in "101 Science Fiction Stories" ed. M. Greenberg & C. Waugh [New York: Avenel, 1986]
- "The Ugly Little Boy" by Isaac Asimov, in "The Time Travelers", ed. Robert Silverberg & Martin H. Greenberg [New York: Primus, 1985]
- "The Winds of Change" by Isaac Asimov, in "The Winds of Change" [New York: Del Rey/Ballentine, 1986]
- "A Statue for Father" by Isaac Asimov, in "The Science Fictional Dinosaur", ed. Robert Silverberg, C. Waugh, M. Greenberg [New York: Avon, 1982]
- "Day of the Hunters" by Isaac Asimov, in "The Science Fictional Dinosaur", ed. Robert Silverberg, C. Waugh, M. Greenberg [New York: Avon, 1982]
- "The Dead Past" by Isaac Asimov, in "The Arbor House Treasury of Great Science Fiction Short Novels" [New York: Arbor House, 1980]
- "Button, Button" by Isaac Asimov, in "Buy Jupiter and Other Stories" [Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1975]
- "Blank!" by Isaac Asimov, in "Buy Jupiter and Other Stories" [Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1975]
- "Big Game" by Isaac Asimov, in "Before the Golden Age, Vol.3", ed. Isaac Asimov [New York: Doubleday, 1974]
- "The Red Queen's Race" by Isaac Asimov, in "The Early Asimov, Vol.2" [Greenwich CT: Fawcett Crest, 1972]
- "Time Pussy" by Isaac Asimov, in "The Early Asimov, Vol.2" [Greenwich CT: Fawcett Crest, 1972]
- "The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline" by Isaac Asimov, in "The Early Asimov, Vol.2" [Greenwich CT: Fawcett Crest, 1972]
- "What If..." by Isaac Asimov, in "Science Fiction Adventures in Dimension", ed. Groff Conklin [New York: Berkley, 1965]
- "The Brazen Locked Room" by Isaac Asimov, in "Deals With the Devil", ed. B. Davenport [New York: Dodd Mead & Co., 1958]
- "Time of Passage" by J. G. Ballard, in "Time of Passage" [New York: Taplinger, 1978]
- "The Sound Sweep" by J. G. Ballard, in "Chronopolis" [New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1971]
- "Chronopolis" by J. G. Ballard, in "Chronopolis" [New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1971]
- "Mr. F is Mr. F" by J. G. Ballard, in "The Traps of Time", ed. Michael Moorcock [Middlesex: Penguin, 1970]
- "The Lost Leonardo" by J. G. Ballard, in "New Worlds of Fantasy", ed. Terry Carr [New York: Ace, 1967]
- "This Side Up" by R. A. Banks, in "The Fifth Galaxy Reader", ed. Horace L. Gold [Garden City New York: Doubleday, 1961]
- "The Hour Glass" by R. Barr, in "The Strong Arm" [New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1989]
- "Alas, All Thinking" by Harry Bates, in "Science Fiction of the 1930s", ed. Damon Knight [New York: Avon, 1975]
- "Tangents" by Greg Bear, in "Mathenauts, Tales of Mathematical Wonder", ed. Rudy Rucker [New York: Arbor, 1987]
4th dimension- "Ben Franklin's Laser" by Doug Beason [Analog, Mid-Dec 1990]
- "Enoch Soames" by Max Beerbohm , in "Deals With the Devil", ed. B. Davenport [New York: Dodd Mead & Co., 1958]
- "Down the River Road" by Gregory Benford, in "After the King", ed. Christopher Tolkien and Martin Greenberg [New York: Tor, 1991]
- "Valhalla" by Gregory Benford, in "Hitler Victorious", ed. Gregory Benford and Martin H. Greenberg [New York: Berkley, 1987]
- "Time Shards" by Gregory Benford, in "In Alien Flesh" [New York: Tor, 1986]
- "Cambridge, 1:58 A.M." by Gregory Benford, in "Epoch", ed. Robert Silverberg & Roger Elwood [New York: Berkley, 1975]
- "3:02 P.M., Oxford" by Gregory Benford [If, Sep 1970]
- "Paul Revere and the Time Machine" by A. W. Bernal [Amazing Stories, Mar 1940]
- "Hobson's Choice" by Alfred Bester, in "The Great Science Fiction Stories, Vol.14 [New York: Daw, 1986]
- "Of Time and Third Avenue" by Alfred Bester, in "Magic For Sale", ed. Avram Davidson [New York: Ace, 1983]
- "The Men Who Murdered Mohammed" by Alfred Bester, in "Voyagers in Time", ed. Robert Silverberg [New York: Meredith Press, 1967]
- "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce, reprinted in "The Ghost and Horror Stories of Ambrose Bierce" [New York: Dover, 1964]
- "The Damned Thing" by Ambrose Bierce, reprinted in "The Ghost and Horror Stories of Ambrose Bierce" [New York: Dover, 1964]
- "Mysterious Disappearances" by Ambrose Bierce, reprinted in "The Ghost and Horror Stories of Ambrose Bierce" [New York: Dover, 1964]
- "D. F. C." by Lloyd Biggle, in "The Rule of the Door" [New York: Doubleday, 1967]
- "The Time Cylinder" by Eando Binder [Science Fiction Plus, Mar 1953]
- "The Time Cheaters" by Eando Binder [Thrilling Wonder Stories, Mar 1940]
- "The Man Who Saw Too Late" by Eando Binder [Fantastic Adventures, Sep 1939]
- "Eye of the Past" by Eando Binder [AstoundingScience Fiction, Mar 1938]
- "One Way Street" by Jerome Bixby [Amazing Stories, Jan 1954]
- "Entrance and Exit" by Algernon Blackwood, in "Tales of the Uncanny and Supernatural" [London: Peter Nevill, 1949]
- "The Pikestaffe Case" by Algernon Blackwood, in "Tales of the Uncanny and Supernatural" [London: Peter Nevill, 1949]
- "A Toy for Juliette" by Robert Bloch, in "Dangerous Visions", ed. Harlan Ellison [New York: Doubleday, 1967]
- "Crime Machine" by Robert Bloch, in "The Seventh Galaxy Reader of Science Fiction", ed. Frederik Pohl [Garden City New York: Doubleday, 1964]
- "Beep." by James Blish, reprinted in "Galactic Empires, Vol.2", ed. Brian Aldiss [New York: St.Martin's Press, 1976]
- "Common Time" by James Blish, in "The Mirror of Infinity, ed. Robert Silverberg [San Francisco: Canfield, 1970]
- "A Matter of Energy" by James Blish, in "The Best from Fantasy & Science Fiction", ed. Anthony Boucher [Garden City New York: Doubleday, 1956]
- "The Solar Comedy" by James Blish [Future Fiction, Jun 1942]
- "Weapon Out of Time" by James Blish [Science Fiction Quarterly, Spring 1941]
- "The Magic Staircase" by Nelson S. Bond, in "Mr. Mergenthwirker's Lobblies" [New York: Coward-McCann, 1946]
- "Johnny Cartwright's Camera" by Nelson S. Bond, in "Mr. Mergenthwirker's Lobblies" [New York: Coward-McCann, 1946]
- "The Einstein Inshoot" by Nelson S. Bond, in "Mr. Mergenthwirker's Lobblies" [New York: Coward-McCann, 1946]
- "Dr. Fudddle's Fingers" by Nelson S. Bond, in "Mr. Mergenthwirker's Lobblies" [New York: Coward-McCann, 1946]
- "The Bacular Clock" by Nelson S. Bond, in "Mr. Mergenthwirker's Lobblies" [New York: Coward-McCann, 1946]
- "Horsesense Hank in the Parallel Worlds" by Nelson S. Bond [Amazing, Aug 1942]
- "The Geometrics of Johnny Day" by Nelson S. Bond [Astounding, July 1941]
- "The Fountain" by Nelson S. Bond [Unknown, June 1941]
- "The Monster from Nowhere" by Nelson S. Bond [Fantastic Adventures, July 1939]
- "Lightship, Ho!" by Nelson S. Bond [Astounding, July 1939]
- "The Other Death" by Jorge Luis Borges, in "The Aleph and Other Stories 1933-1969" [New York: E. P. Dutton, 1970]
- "The Garden of Forking Paths" by Jorge Luis Borges, in "Labyrinths" [New York: New Directions, 1964]
- "The Secret Miracle" by Jorge Luis Borges, in "Ficciones" [New York: Grove, 1962]
- "Barrier" by Anthony Boucher, in "Great Science Fiction Stories, Vol.4" [New York: Daw, 1980]
- "Snulbug" by Anthony Boucher, in "Great Science Fiction Stories, Vol.3" [New York: Daw, 1980]
- "Elsewhen" by Anthony Boucher, in "Far and Away" [New York: Ballentine, 1953]
- "The Other Inauguration" by Anthony Boucher, in "Far and Away" [New York: Ballentine, 1953]
- "The Chronokinesis of Jonathan Hull" by Anthony Boucher, in "Great Stories of Science Fiction", ed. Murray Leinster [New York: Random House, 1951]
- "Time Out of Mind" by Pierre Boulle, in "Time Out of Mind" [New York: Vanguard Press, 1966]
- "10,000 Years in a Block of Ice" by L. Boussenard [New York: Neely, 1898]
- "The Toynbee Convector" by Ray Bradbury, in "The Toynbee Convector" [New York: Knopf, 1988]
- "The Shape of Things" by Ray Bradbury, in "Tales Out of Time", ed. B. Ireson [New York: Philomel, 1981]
- "Forever and the Earth" by Ray Bradbury, in "Sinister, Strange, and Supernatural", ed. H. Hoke [New York: Elservier/Nelson, 1981]
- "A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury, in "The Stories of Ray Bradbury" [New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980]
- "The Fox and the Forest" by Ray Bradbury, in "The Stories of Ray Bradbury" [New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980]
- "Tomorrow's Child" by Ray Bradbury, in "The Stories of Ray Bradbury" [New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980]
- "A Scent of Sarsaparilla" by Ray Bradbury, in "The Stories of Ray Bradbury" [New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980]
- "Time in Thy Flight" by Ray Bradbury, in "S is for Space" [Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1966]
- "The Past and Its Dead People" by Reginald Bretnor [Fantasy & Science Fiction, Sep 1956]
- "The Appendix and the Spectacles" by M. J. Breuer, in "The Mathematical Magpie", ed. Clifton Fadiman [New York: Simon & Schuster, 1962]
- "The Gostak and the Doshes" by M. J. Breuer, in "Great Science Fiction by Scientists", ed. Groff Conklin [New York: Collier, 1962]
- "The Captured Cross-Section" by M. J. Breuer, in "Fantasia Mathematica", ed. Clifton Fadiman [New York: Simon & Schuster, 1958]
- "The Finger of the Past" by M. J. Breuer [Amazing Stories, Nov 1932]
- "The Einstein See-Saw" by M. J. Breuer [Astounding Stories, April 1932]
- "The Time Valve" by M. J. Breuer [Wonder Stories, July 1930]
- "The FitzGerald Contraction" by M. J. Breuer [Science Wonder Stories, Jan 1930]
- "Via the Time Accelerator" by F. J. Bridge [Amazing Stories, Jan 1931]
- "Hall of Mirrors" by Frederic Brown, in "The Great Science Fiction Stories, Vol.15" [New York: Daw, 1986]
- "Nightmare in Time" by Frederic Brown, in "Microcosmic Tales", ed. Isaac Asimov, Martin Greenberg, and J. Olander [New York: Taplinger, 1980]
- "The Short Happy Lives of Eustace Weaver I, II, and III" by Frederic Brown, in "The Best of Frederic Brown" [New York: Ballentine, 1977]
- "The End" by Frederic Brown, in "The Best of Frederic Brown" [New York: Ballentine, 1977]
- "First Time Machine" by Frederic Brown, in "Honeymoon in Hell [New York: Bantam, 1958]
- "Blood" by Frederic Brown, in "Honeymoon in Hell [New York: Bantam, 1958]
- "Experiment" by Frederic Brown, in "Honeymoon in Hell [New York: Bantam, 1958]
- "Paradox Lost" by Frederic Brown, in "Science Fiction Carnaval" [Chicago: Shasta, 1953]
- "Lostling" by John Brunner, in "The Far Side of Time", ed. Roger Elwood [New York: Dodd Mead, 1974]
- "Galactic Consumer reports No.1 -- Inexpensive Time Machines" by John Brunner [Galaxy, Dec 1965]
- "Paths" by Edward Bryant, in "Microcosmic Tales", ed. Isaac Asimov, Martin Greenberg, and J. Olander [New York: Taplinger, 1980]
- "Story of a Curse" by D. P. Buck, in "Starships", ed. Isaac Asimov, Martin H. Greenberg, and C. G. Waugh [New York: Ballentine, 1983]
- "Plausible Fantasies or a Journey in the 29th Century" by F. Bulgarin, translated and reprinted in "Pre-Revolutionary Russian Science Fiction", ed. L. Fetzer [Ann Arbor MI: Ardis, 1982]
- "A Gun for Grandfather" by F. M. Busby, in "Getting Home" [New York: Ace, 1987]
- "Proof" by F. M. Busby, in "Getting Home" [New York: Ace, 1987]
- "The Chronicle of the 656th" by G. Byram, in "The Fantastic Civil War" ed. F. McSherry, Jr. [New York: Baen, 1991]
- "xxxxxxxx" by yyyyyyyyyyy [zzzzzzzz, 19ww]
- "xxxxxxxx" by yyyyyyyyyyy [zzzzzzzz, 19ww]
- "xxxxxxxx" by yyyyyyyyyyy [zzzzzzzz, 19ww]
- "xxxxxxxx" by yyyyyyyyyyy [zzzzzzzz, 19ww]
- "Origins of Futuristic Fiction" by P. K. Alkon [Athens GA: University of Georgia, 1987]
- "New Maps of Hell" by Kingsley Amis [New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1960]
- "When It Comes to Time Travel, There's No Time Like the Present" by Isaac Asimov [New York Times, 5 Oct 1986, Sec.2, pp.1&32]
- "Faster Than Light" by Isaac Asimov [Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Nov 1984]
- "Time Travel" by Isaac Asimov [Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, Apr 1984]
- "Impossible, That's All" by Isaac Asimov, in "Science, Numbers and I [New York: Doubleday, 1968]
- "The Time Machine: an Ironic Myth" by B. Bergonzi [Critical Quarterly 2, Winter 1960, pp.293-305]
- "Physics and Fantasy: Scientific Mysticism, Kurt Vonnegut, and Gravity's Rainbow" by Russell Blackford [Journal of Popular Culture 19, Winter 1985, pp.35-44]
- "Science Fiction: The Early Years" by E. F. Bleiler [Kent OH: Kent State University Press, 1990]
- "Time" special issue with many essays [Daedalus, Spring 2003]
- "Why Time Flows: the Physics of Past and Future" by Thomas Gold [Daedalus, Spring 2003]
- "xxxxxxxx" by yyyyyyyyyyy [zzzzzzzz, 19ww]
"Absolute, true, and mathematical time, of itself, and from its own nature, flows equably without relation to anything external, and by another name it is called duration: relative, apparent, and common time is some sensible and external (whether accurate or unequable) measure of duration by the means of motion, which is commonly used instead of true time." -- Si Isaac Newton, Principia [1687] Scholium
Time Travel Links: this list draws heavily on the compliation by Edgar Church, Jr. Time Travel IN Literature, Movies,and TV Time Travel Books detailed listing, with RealAudio of "If I Could Hold Time in a Bottle" Time Travel Literature (essay by John L. Flynn) Time Travel TV Series Links relating to: * Doctor Who * Quantum Leap * Time Trax * Time Tunnel Dr. Who Time Travel Manual Tardis Manual, version 3.0, by Alistair Roberts NewsPage of the Future pretends to be headlines from 2090 A.D. What's New Great Information On Time Travel by Dr. Jack Sarfatti: * Synchronicity Storm * Psi Wars * The Great Debate * Star Ship Flight Simulations * Einstein, Heisenberg and Tipler * Time Travel Physics * NASA Star Fleet Academy Flight School * Time Tunnels * and much, much more... Ultimate SF: Time Travel Movies my own list is linked to by Edgar Church, Jr. Theory of Time Travel Time Travel Discussion essay by Howard Ullman Edgar Church, Jr.'s web site also has links on: * Gulliver's Paradox * The Complete Time Traveler * Time Travel and Paradox * Is Time Travel Physically Possible? * Reverse Time Travel * Time Is Relative * Effects of Time Travel * Time Travel Causality Violation * Worm Holes
TIME TRAVEL: List of 65 movies about time travel, last updated 6 March 1997 RETURN to the top of the IF YOU LIKE THIS PAGE
TV and MOVIE:
book series spun-off from television series or sci-fi films BIONIC WOMAN: from the TV SeriesFLASH GORDON: from the comic strips by Alex Raymond, (not really the films or TV Series)
- "Welcome Home, Jaime", by Eileen Lottman [Berkley, 1976]
- "Extracurricular Activities", by Eileen Lottman [Berkley, 1976]
THE INVADERS: from the TV Series
- "The Lion Men of Mongo", adapted by Steffanson [Avon, 1974]
- "The Plague of Sound", adapted by Steffanson [Avon, 1974]
- "The Space Circus", adapted by Steffanson [Avon, 1974]
- "The Time Trap of Ming XIII", adapted by Steffanson [Avon, 1974]
- "The Witch Queen of Mongo", adapted by Bingham [Avon, 1974]
- "The War of the Cybernauts", adapted by Bingham [Avon, 1975]
LAND OF THE GIANTS: from the TV Series
- "The Invaders", by Keith Laumer [Pyramid, 1967]
- "Enemies from Beyond", by Keith Laumer [Pyramid, 1967]
- "Army of the Undead", by Bernard Rafe' [Pyramid, 1967]
PLANET OF THE APES: from the movies (which derived from the novel "Planet of the Apes" by Pierre Boulle)
- "Land of the Giants", by Murray Leinster [Pyramid, 1968]
- "The Hot Spot", by Murray Leinster [Pyramid, 1969]
- "Unknown Danger", by Murray Leinster [Pyramid, 1969]
- "Flight of Fear", by C. H. Rath [Whitman, 1969]
PLANET OF THE APES: from the TV series
- "Beneath the Planet of the Apes", by Michael Avallone [Bantam, 1970]
- "Battle for the Planet of the Apes", by David Gerrold [Award, 1973]
- "Escape from the Planet of the Apes", by J*** P*** [Award, 1973]
- "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes", by John Jakes [Award, 1974]
RETURN TO THE PLANET OF THE APES: BY "William Arrow"
- "Man the Fugitive", by George A. Effinger [Award, 1974]
3 stories- "Escape to Tomorrow", by George A. Effinger [Award, 1975]
2 stories- "Journey Into Terror", by George A. Effinger [Award, 1974]
2 stories- "Lord of the Apes", by George A. Effinger [Award, 1976]
novelTHE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: from the TV Series (which derived from the 4 Steve Austin novels by Martin Caidin)
- "Visions of Nowhere", by William Rotsler [Ballentine Books, 1976]
- "Escape from Terror Lagoon", by Don Pfeil [Ballentine Books, 1976]
- "Man the Hunted Animal", by William Rotsler [Ballentine Books, 1976]
SPACE 1999: from the TV Series
- "Wine, Women and Wars", by Michael Jahn [Warner Paperback Library, 1975]
- "The Solid Gold Kidnapping", by Evan Richards [Warner Paperback Library, 1975]
- "High Crystal", by Martin Caidin [Warner Paperback Library, 1975]
- "Pilot Error", by Jay Barbree [Warner Paperback Library, 1975]
- "The Rescue of Athena One", by Michael Jahn [Warner Paperback Library, 1977]
- "Cyborg IV", by Martin Caidin [Warner Paperback Library, 1975]
- "The Secret of Big Foot Pass", by Michael Jahn [Berkley, 1976]
- "International Incidents", by Michael Jahn [Berkley, 1977]
SPACE 1999, Year 2: from the TV Series
- "Breakaway", by E. C. Tubb [Pocket, 1975]
- "Moon Odyssey", by John Rankine [Pocket, 1975]
- "The Space Guardians", by Brian M. Ball [Pocket, 1975]
- "Collision Course", by E. C. Tubb [Pocket, 1976]
- "Lunar Attack", by John Rankine [Pocket, 1976]
- "Astral Quest", by John Rankine [Pocket, 1976]
- "Alien Seed", by E. C. Tubb [Pocket, 1976]
- "Android Planet", by John Rankine [Pocket, 1976]
- "Rogue Planet", by E. C. Tubb [Pocket, 1976]
- "Phoenix of Megarion", by John Rankine [Pocket, 1976]
STAR TREK: from the TV Series
- "Planet of Peril", by Butterworth [Warner, 1977]
- "Mind Breaks of Space", by Butterworth [Warner, 1977]
- "The Space jackers", by Butterworth [Warner, 1977]
- "The Psychomorphs", by Butterworth [Warner, 1977]
- "The Timefighters", by Butterworth [Warner, 1977]
- "The Edge of the Infinite", by Butterworth [Warner, 1977]
- "Star Trek", adapted by James Blish [Bantam, 1967]
7 stories- "Star Trek 2", adapted by James Blish [Bantam, 1968]
8 stories- "Star Trek 3", adapted by James Blish [Bantam, 1969]
7 stories- "Star Trek 4", adapted by James Blish [Bantam, 1971]
7 stories- "Star Trek 5", adapted by James Blish [Bantam, 1972]
7 stories- "Star Trek 6", adapted by James Blish [Bantam, 1972]
6 stories- "Star Trek 7", adapted by James Blish [Bantam, 1972]
6 stories- "Star Trek 8", adapted by James Blish [Bantam, 1972]
6 stories- "Star Trek 9", adapted by James Blish [Bantam, 1973]
6 stories- "Star Trek 10", adapted by James Blish [Bantam, 1974]
6 stories- "Star Trek 11", adapted by James Blish [Bantam, 1975]
6 stories- "Star Trek 12", adapted by James Blish & J. A. Lawrence [Bantam, 1977]
5 stories
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