Tag Archives: Ancient Science fiction

ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE NEW ADAM (1924)

THE NEW ADAM (1924) – Female author Noelle Roger (real name Helene Pittard) wrote this story in 1924. It was translated into English in 1926.

Scientist Dr. Flecheyre is experimenting with transplanting human glands. He has reached the stage where he has chemically enhanced some glands to the point where he feels the recipient will have their brain stimulated.

All the animals that Flecheyre has tried this on have died, but he still wants to try the process on a human subject. His son Rene foolishly volunteers and winds up dying like the test animals. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: ORRIN LINDSAY’S WONDERFUL VOYAGE ROUND THE MOON (1847)

Full Title: ORRIN LINDSAY’S PLAN OF AERIAL NAVIGATION WITH A NARRATIVE OF HIS EXPLORATIONS IN THE HIGHER REGIONS OF THE ATMOSPHERE AND HIS WONDERFUL VOYAGE ROUND THE MOON (1847) – This work was written by J.L. Riddell.

The tale is presented as if Riddell himself is delivering an educational lecture about Orrin Lindsay’s incredible scientific accomplishments. Lindsay, a Cincinnati native who resettled in Natchez, concocted a formula which renders objects immune to gravity.

Orrin did this by proceeding from the work of scientist Michael Faraday and working with amalgamated mercury and steel treated by magnetic fields. For his first experiment using his anti-gravity plates he temporarily floated a dog in a box. 

Next, he himself floated in a larger box to accommodate his greater size. His test was conducted by keeping himself connected to the ground by a lengthy rope. This success inspired him to try floating free of any anchor to the ground. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: TO JUPITER VIA HELL (1908)

Full title: THE REV. JOHN SMITH DIED – AND WENT TO JUPITER VIA HELL (1908) – This bizarre but memorable work was published by the Juno Society of the time and was written by an anonymous author. The title clergyman passes away and finds himself in Hell – not forever, but as an ambassador to Jupiter.

Before he can be sent to that interplanetary posting Smith must witness the horrors of Hell. In this odd tale the ruler of Hell is a woman named Satinita the Sexless Queen. She first shows him how many fellow clergymen are in Hell for eternal punishment.

After that, Satinita takes Rev. Smith on a tour of New York City’s Red Light District, bars, illegal casinos … and the Stock Exchange. Following this ham-fisted attempt at satire, Smith is dropped off on Jupiter as a guest of the planet’s Omu Family.

The family members become his guide to life on Jupiter, where everyone is ruled by a being called the Unity. There is one planet-wide language, and that’s just the beginning. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: SIX THOUSAND YEARS HENCE (1891)

SIX THOUSAND YEARS HENCE (1891) – Written by Milton W. Ramsey. Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog may remember that I’m usually enthusiastic about these works of “ancient” science fiction and look for any bright spots. In this novel’s case that is very, very difficult. For a book written in 1891 it seems more like an 1820s piece.

The central character is General Morton, a former military man who has become incredibly wealthy through a land deal. One night he starts tracking an odd dot in space with his telescope. The object turns out to be a wandering planet that is headed for the Earth.

In the event, the planet throws Earth’s moon out of orbit and into the sun. It does not collide with our planet but it comes close enough to capture General Morton’s city in its gravity and drags the metropolis out into space with it. And you ain’t seen nothin’ yet in terms of this book’s WTF attempts at “science.”

As the rogue planet drags the city behind it, the individual buildings in it form a long “tail”. The people inside those buildings stay alive by keeping the doors and windows shut so that they have air to breathe inside. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: INSOMNIUM PHILOSOPHICUM (1647)

Henry MoreHenry More was a Platonist philosopher at Cambridge. Inspired by Keplers’ work of “ancient science fiction” titled Somnium More wrote a poem titled Insomnium Philosophicum which was published in 1647.

In this work More depicted his astral body departing his physical form to fly into space, rowing “with mine own arms in liquid sky” for fans of the cult movie of that name. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE AUTOMATIC MAID (1893)

primitive robotTHE AUTOMATIC MAID-OF-ALL-WORK. A POSSIBLE TALE OF THE NEAR FUTURE (1893) – Written by female author M.L. Campbell. Obviously, I shortened the title for my blog post headline. Balladeer’s Blog’s look at “ancient” science fiction continues with this 1893 robot story.

Well-to-do John Matheson and his wife are having a hard time keeping a maid. To satisfy his hard to please wife, the inventor works away in his laboratory/ workshop to perfect his new idea: a mechanized “Maid-Of-All-Work” hoping this will solve the domestic staff issue. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE STEAM MAN OF THE PRAIRIES (1868)

Steam Man of the PrairiesTHE STEAM MAN OF THE PRAIRIES (1868) – Written by Edward Sylvester Ellis. Before the Frank Reade stories came this work that is often hailed as the first Dime Novel with a science fiction theme.

Ellis seems to have been inspired by the REAL and well-known Newark Steam Man built by Zadoc P. Dederick in January of 1868. That Steam Man was built strictly to pull carts and wagonloads up and down the street. Its human appearance was just a novelty.

Back to Ellis’ novel: In Saint Louis lives Johnny Brainerd, a 15 year old dwarf with a hunchback, who has a brilliant mind in his misshapen body. After a long line of somewhat modest inventions Johnny constructs a human-shaped Steam Man that stands 9 feet tall. It has long legs with spiked feet, has the boilers in its chest, the firepot in its stomach and lets excess steam vent from its hat. (Dederick’s Newark Steam Man also wore a top hat.) The creation’s nose serves as its whistle, like on a tea kettle.      Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE DEATH-TRAP (1908) A DINOSAUR IN LAKE MICHIGAN

Pearson'sTHE DEATH-TRAP (1908) – Written by George Daulton, this story was published in the March, 1908 issue of Pearson’s Magazine. It’s once again Ancient Creature Feature time with this story about a monster from Lake Michigan which sometimes enters the Chicago sewer system to prey on unsuspecting denizens of the Windy City.

The tale’s unnamed main character leaves his Chicago gentleman’s club at 2 in the morning after a night of drinking, card-playing and cigar smoking. He refrains from taking a horse-drawn cab since he feels that walking will do him good.

masc graveyard newHe comes to regret that decision when, on a poorly-lit street, he sees a drunken sailor get dragged down into the sewer and devoured by a slimy, half-glimpsed creature. Our hero flees for his life and doesn’t stop running until he’s reached one of Chicago’s bridges.

It is there that he encounters Hood, an eccentric but courageous Chicagoan who had his own encounter with the sewer monster weeks earlier and has been looking for it every night since. Hood spotted our main character’s headlong flight and figured he had just found another witness to the creature’s existence.

The pair decide against trying to convince the authorities about what they saw and plan to kill the beast themselves. Kolchak should have been so sensible. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: TO THE MOON AND BACK IN NINETY DAYS (1917)

to-the-moon-and-back-in-ninety-daysTO THE MOON & BACK IN NINETY DAYS (1917) – By John Y. Brown. Balladeer’s Blog presents more Ancient Science Fiction (or Vintage Science Fiction if you prefer). This story was first penned in 1917 and later published by the Lunar Publishing Company in 1922.

Brown himself pretended to narrate the adventure, which hewed so closely to what was known about the moon back then that it must have both educated and entertained readers. The story says that in 1914 our narrator met Captain Horace Ewald, a brilliant nautical engineer and scientist in Alton, IL.

Captain Ewald invited Brown along on his planned expedition to the moon in what he dubbed his “Ethereal Vessel” but which we would call a spaceship. The craft was 235 feet tall with the shape of a dome fused to prisms. Ewald and his team constructed the Ethereal Vessel out of aluminum plating and used electric batteries to power the anti-gravity pods.   Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE PEOPLE OF THE MOON (1895)

People of the Moon biggerTHE PEOPLE OF THE MOON (1895) – Written by Tremlett Carter. An unnamed narrator, a scientist of some sort, sees a glowing 18 inch object floating in the sky. A bird who makes physical contact with the glowing orb is killed by the object’s electric charge.

Our narrator jury-rigs a means of grounding against the electricity and hauling the orb down to his laboratory. The object slowly reaches room temperature and ejects from its interior a book written in an unearthly alphabet.

The anonymous narrator’s friend Professor Hector Goss visits him in the midst of all this and excitedly tells our protagonist about a secret society that he belongs to. Goss and his fellow society members have been performing scientific research by directing the astral/ spiritual bodies of hypnotized human guinea pigs.

Before dying, their most recent test subject visited the moon in his astral body and saw a city on the dark side of Earth’s satellite. He also spotted life – humanoid AND dragon life. Professor Goss jumps to the conclusion that the unearthly book that Nameless Narrator holds came from the moon.

Conveniently, Nameless and Goss had previously devised a fool-proof system of deciphering any and all languages so they translate the mysterious book and learn all about the beings on the moon.

The moon’s interior is a network of labyrinthine caverns lit by glowing materials. These vast underground caverns contain water, plant, animal and humanoid life. The humanoids – who do not need to breathe – are intelligent and are called Saravas. Continue reading

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