III.

Science-Fiction Novels

Stories of lost races and unexplored corners of the world were popular in Victorian England. She and Allan Quartermain by H. Rider Haggard both appeared in 1887, and in 1912 Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published The Lost World. The first major writer of science fiction in English, however, and the man who may be considered the founder of modern science fiction is H.G. Wells. More interested in biology and evolution than in the physical sciences and more concerned about the social consequences of invention than the accuracy of the invention itself, Wells, from 1894 on, wrote stories of science invested with irony and realistic conviction. His reputation grew rapidly after the publication of The Time Machine in 1895; this was followed by The Island of Dr Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), The War of the Worlds (1898), When the Sleeper Wakes (1899), and The First Men in the Moon (1901), before Wells turned to other forms of literature.

Other science-fiction novels were written by British authors during the first half of the 20th century. Noteworthy are the fancies of Matthew Phipps Shiel (The Purple Cloud, 1901), the cosmic panoramas of Olaf Stapledon (Last and First Men, 1930), and the allegories by the critic and Christian apologist C. S. Lewis (Out of the Silent Planet, 1938). The most important American writer in the field at this time was Jack London, whose contributions included The Iron Heel (1907) and The Scarlet Plague (1912). Many British authors of standard fiction wrote one or two striking novels of a socially prophetic nature. Particularly successful and influential were Brave New World (1932), by Aldous Huxley, and Nineteen Eighty-four (1949), by George Orwell. One prolific writer of works dealing with both science fiction and science fact is Arthur C. Clarke (Childhood's End, 1953).

In the opinion of many critics, one of the most able American writers of mainstream science fiction, combining scientific extrapolation with narrative art, is Robert Heinlein (The Green Hills of Earth, 1951; Stranger in a Strange Land, 1961). Other widely known American science-fiction authors are Isaac Asimov (The Caves of Steel, 1953), who is also a prolific author of science surveys for the layperson, and Ray Bradbury (The Martian Chronicles, 1950; Fahrenheit 451, 1953), who is considered more of a fantasy writer. Among the many other authors who have drawn critical acclaim are Philip K. Dick (The Man in the High Castle, 1962) and Ursula K. Le Guin (The Left Hand of Darkness, 1969; The Dispossessed, 1974). Frank Herbert’s works are widely popular. His Dune Chronicles include Dune (1965), Children of Dune (1976), and God Emperor of Dune (1981). Michael Moorcock, author of the Elric of Melnibone series, beginning in 1972; Greg Bear (Eon, 1985); and Larry Niven (N-Space, 1990) should also be mentioned.

In other countries, science fiction also flourished, most notably in Eastern Europe and Russia. Karel Čapek, a Czech writer, introduced the word robot in his play R.U.R. (1921). Polish writer Stanislaw Lem used science-fiction settings to explore both scientific and philosophical concerns. His books include Solaris (1961; translated 1970) and Dzienniki gwiazdowe (1957; translated as two books: The Star Diaries, 1976, and Memoirs of a Space Traveller, 1982). In Russia, utopian fiction first appeared in the 1750s with the works of such authors as V. A. Levshin and M. D. Chulkov. Twentieth-century Russian science-fiction writers include Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, who wrote in the 1920s of space exploration; Yevgeny Zamaytin, known for his anti-utopian novel We (1924; translated, 1925), which greatly influenced George Orwell; Aleksandr Belyaev, who wrote in the 1920s of biological influences on humans; Ivan Efremov, author of the utopian Tumannost' Andromedy (1956; Andromeda Nebula); and the brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, prolific authors of the 1960s.