THE YEAR 4338, LETTERS FROM PETERSBURG (1835) – Written by Vladimir Fedorovich Odoevski. Set in the year 4338 A.D. this novel is told through correspondence from Hyppolitus Tsungiev, a Chinese college student in Saint Petersburg to Chinese friends in Peking. In that far future year Saint Petersburg has grown to be a megalopolis so large that it extends all the way to Moscow.
Russia and China are the two dominant world powers in this fictional future. China itself had fallen into a long period of stagnation which ended only with a revival during the reign of Hin Gin during the 3800s.
Looming over the exchange of scientific talk is the impending return of Biela’s Comet. That object was last seen in 1838 and is set to return in 4339, but its course this time will cause it to collide with and destroy the Earth. Continue reading
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