Tag Archives: Ancient Science fiction

ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE DOMINION IN 1983 (1883)

Dominion in 1983THE DOMINION IN 1983 (1883) – Written by “Ralph Centennius,” the presumed pseudonym of an unknown author.

Oh, Canada! Our neighbors to the north hopped on the speculative science fiction bandwagon with this short story. The premise is that the author is looking back at the 100 years of Canadian “history” from 1883 to 1983.

In futuristic 1983 the population of Canada is 93 million, there are 15 provinces and the country is a model for the world in terms of peace, learning, arts and sciences. We readers are told that there was a period around 1885 when many Canadians supported the idea of Canada becoming part of the United States, but this movement faded after losing at the ballot box.

Mascot new lookCanadian technology leads the world, with rocketships that can fly at a mile per second and electric automobiles for ground transport. Electricity is the predominant energy source, and Electropolis, the first all-electric city, was recently completed. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE PLURALITY OF WORLDS (1686)

conversationsCONVERSATIONS ON THE PLURALITY OF WORLDS (1686) – Written by Bernard le Bovier de Fontenelle. The author offered up some science fiction concepts that were considered real possibilities in 1686. These ideas were presented within the frame of conversations, as indicated in the full title. The conversations happened over the course of six evenings.  

FIRST EVENING – Bernard presented these conversations as taking place during flirtatious evening walks with a fictional Marchioness based on his real-life female acquaintance Madame de la Mesangire of Rouen. Due to the time period, she had not been educated in the sciences and Fontenelle needed to introduce her to certain concepts from the ground up.   

This first evening found him explaining what 1686 science knew about the rotation of the Earth and the Earth’s revolution around the Sun. An interesting, outdated element of the conversation came in when Bernard discussed what some scholars of the time apparently believed – that space was not a vacuum but was made up of “celestial fluid” in which the Earth and certain other bodies moved. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: MOUNTAINS, SEAS AND GIANTS (1924)

bergeMOUNTAINS, SEAS AND GIANTS aka BERGE MEERE UND GIGANTEN (1924) – Written by Alfred Döblin, later famous for the novel Berlin Alexanderplatz. A 2021 translation of the book uses the title Mountains Oceans Giants: A Novel of the 27th Century.

I wanted to make sure I made my blog post about this work during its Centennial year and I’m squeezing it in with a little time to spare. Berge Meere und Giganten is quite a piece of work, ranging as it does from standard Future History themes to dystopian settings and ultimately an Earth ravaged by wild and grotesque abominations of nature unleashed by reckless experimentation and terraforming.

The novel is almost Dune-like in its environmental concerns and its epic scope, in this case from shortly after World War One to the 2600s AD. Given Döblin’s experimental use of language I would have loved to read a review by James Joyce if he had ever read this novel.   

Berge Meere und Giganten is broken down into nine main sections: Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE FALLEN RACE (1892)

Fallen RaceTHE FALLEN RACE (1892) – Written by Austyn Granville. If you’ve ever thought to yourself “How come nobody ever combined science fiction, H. Rider Haggard-style Lost Race tales AND kangaroo-human hybrids” then THIS is the story for you.

This novel is presented as if it is the real-life journal of the adventures of Dr Paul Gifford in the Great Australian Desert from 1874-1888. An ill-fated expedition into Australia’s desert is nearly wiped out by dysentery, thirst and spoiled food. The only two survivors are the aforementioned Dr Gifford and Jacky-Jacky, which may sound like the name of a Hip-Hop Artist but is really the name of an Australian Aborigine member of the expedition.   Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE GERM GROWERS (1892)

germ-growersTHE GERM GROWERS (1892) – Robert Potter wrote this work of “ancient” or vintage science fiction dealing with biological warfare and alien abductions.

The two main characters are two Welsh men named Robert Easterley and Jack Wilbraham. In 1892 Easterley witnesses a stranger being abducted by aliens and carried off in their spacecraft. The extraterrestrial vessel is invisible but does cast a shadow on the ground as it flies past Robert Easterley, convincing him of the reality of what he witnessed.

Anticipating UFO conspiracy kooks by several decades Easterley and his friend Wilbraham speculate that old stories about humans being abducted by “little people” and other supernatural figures may really be accounts of abductions by aliens. Not long afterward the area suffers multiple deaths from a mysterious disease. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: A MODERN DAEDALUS (1887)

A Modern DaedalusA MODERN DAEDALUS (1887) – By Tom Greer. No, the title’s not referring to James Joyce’s character Stephen Dedalus (sic) but this tale IS about Ireland. The main character is a young man named Jack O’Halloran, a recent college graduate who returns to his native Ireland.

Jack has dreamed about flying since he was a child and now he uses his genius to create a winged apparatus that can be worn by a single person to take to the skies. Our modern Daedalus flies around at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour with his new invention. Jack is thrilled but complications arise when he shares the news with his father.

Old Man O’Halloran wants to use his son’s winged apparatus to wage aerial warfare against the hated British and thereby win independence for Ireland. Our protagonist doesn’t want his invention used for such a blood-soaked purpose and in the ensuing argument his father throws him out of the house. Continue reading

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A VOYAGE INTO TARTARY (1689) ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

a voyage into tartaryA VOYAGE INTO TARTARY (1689) – The real author of this work is unknown. It is a fictional encounter with a lost race, advanced technology and more. It’s possible that the writer wanted anonymity due to his then-blasphemous attitudes toward religion.

Ostensibly the travel memoirs of Heliogenes de L’Epy, A Voyage into Tartary details the author’s desire to experience the world first-hand and his subsequent expedition to the east. He and his companions visit Rome and Naples, then Athens and Constantinople.

From there the expedition proceeds further inland, where various calamities rob L’Epy of his fellow travelers. He struggles onward and luckily stumbles upon the isolated city of Heliopolis, located near what we in the 21st Century know as Samarkand.  Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: IN THE DEEP OF TIME (1897)

in the deep of timeIN THE DEEP OF TIME (1897) – This story was written by George Parsons Lathrop, who also wrote the libretto for Walter Damrosch’s opera version of The Scarlet Letter. Though Lathrop credited an interview with Thomas Edison for the scientific concepts in this tale, it is NOT an Edisonade. In the Deep of Time is instead one of the many 19th Century stories about “present day” characters waking up in the far future.   

In 1897, the Society of Futurity is experimenting with putting human beings into suspended animation. Our main character is Gerald Bemis, a young man who just lost his True Love and, feeling he has nothing left to live for, volunteers to be one of the Society’s human guinea pigs.

suspended animationThe multi-step procedure begins with Gerald being administered a drug that prepares his body for suspended animation, followed by another drug (mortimicrobium) that renders his body germ-free at all levels. Next, Bemis is placed in a glass cylinder at body temperature to “sleep” away the centuries.

In the 2190s A.D. the future administrators of the Society of Futurity remove Gerald from his glass cylinder and revive him. His body has survived suspended animation and he is introduced to 22nd Century life. Continue reading

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ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION: THE CONQUEST OF THE MOON (1887)

conquest of the moonTHE CONQUEST OF THE MOON (1887) – Written by French author Paschal Grousset under the alias Andre Laurie. This work ranges from absurd to fascinating, with – for people looking for science fiction – WAY too much time devoted to the fighting in the Sudan during 1884 and 1885.

In Australia, two German conmen – Ignaz Vogel and Costerus Wagner – team up with an American conman named Peter Gryphis. The trio launch a scheme to bilk scientifically ignorant tycoons by getting them to invest in their company which will supposedly conduct mining operations on the moon.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds are raised from the trio’s victims, who are thoroughly bamboozled until a stockholders’ meeting in Melbourne, Australia. Gryphis, Vogel and Wagner are successfully maintaining their ruse until, from the audience, French astronomer Norbert Mauny speaks up, demanding a detailed explanation of how the conmen plan to reach the moon. Continue reading

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THE AIR BATTLE: A VISION OF THE FUTURE (1859) ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

the air battleTHE AIR BATTLE: A VISION OF THE FUTURE (1859) – Written by an unknown author using the name Herrmann Lang. (Ignore the misspelling on the cover to the left.) Speculation has it that the author was British despite the German pseudonym and despite the narrator’s claim that he is a black man.

Before you jump to conclusions about how the narrator will be depicted to readers, let me make it clear that this novel has been confounding expectations for well over a century and a half now. The story is set in the year 6900 A.D. White civilization has fallen while three black and mixed-race nations are the dominant powers of the world. 

Much of the storyline deals with a war among those dominant powers to end slavery because black Christians strongly oppose that grotesque institution. In 6900 we are told that only white people are used as slaves and the war is being waged to free them. And yes, The Air Battle: A Vision of the Future really was published in 1859! Continue reading

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