Science Fiction Novels
Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2014 10:57 am
The science fiction novel started way back in 1818 with Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Since that time, the genre has experienced multiple cycles of development, namely three Awakenings, (Early Transcendental, Missionary, Baby Boomer) three Unravelings, (Late Transcendental, Lost, X) three Crises, (Gilded, Greatest, Millennial) and two Highs (Progressive, Silent). It seems that the tropes in this genre always seem to first emerge during a Crisis, are further developed during a High, explode in popularity during an Awakening, and fade out during an Unraveling.
I had a difficult time identifying exactly what time period each generation of science fiction comes from. I determined that originally, novelists would right according to their own generation, hence why Mary Shelley is an idealist. But at some point something changed, and now scifi writers tailor their work to appease the generation of their audience. Thus, a novel written in the 2000s will always be written for Millennials, regardless of when the author was born. After some research, I determined that that change happened at the turn of the 20th century, because the rise of the dime novel meant that any average Joe is going to have access to the author's work. However, this shift does not majorly disrupt the flow of generational dynamics, as I will explain momentarily.
When Mary Shelley introduced science fiction, she started off with a novel that can be considered barely scientific. In general, the scifi of Shelley's novels served as a backdrop for her to introspect into transcendental ideals (Awakening). After her time, the genre all but disappeared throughout the 1820's and 1830's (Unraveling). It reemerged in the 1840's through the more obscure works of Edgar Allen Poe and Charles Dickens, experimenting with alternative forms of literature that explores the limits of science (Crisis). This was expounded heavily by Jules Verne in the 1860's and 1870's, who took a very practical, realistic view as to how technology can develop to solve most problems (High). This became greatly popular in the 1880's and 1890's, where writers like H G Wells, Edwin A Abbott and Robert Louis Stevenson extrapolated these ideas to the most logical extremes, arguably to an extreme that was once again barely scientific. Like Mary Shelley, the scifi from this time served as a venue to explore man's inner morality (Awakening).
With the dime novel appearing, this form of science fiction quickly disappeared in the 1900's (Unraveling). Staring in the 1910's, however, writers soon adapted to writing novels for the younger generation, such as Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars which was aimed at the Greatest Generation. This reintroduced the next phase of science fiction (Crisis). In the 1930's and 1940's, writers expounded on this new concept with a realistic take on future development and exploration. This included C S Lewis' exploration in the Space Trilogy, along with the distopian visions of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell (High). (Incidentally, C S Lewis also envisioned a distopia in The Scewtape Letters, but that's not science fiction.) This genre became a sensation in the 1950's and 1960's, known as the great age of scifi, and included some of the most famous authors like Isaac Asimov, Robert A Heinlein, Frank Herbert and Arthur C Clark. Once again, science was taken to some far extremes as way of expounding on philosophical issues. Distopian futures were not so much all bad as they were devoid of morality (described by Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury). This was also the time that most of the cliches of science fiction were also established, such as red shirts and bug-eyed aliens (Awakening).
In the 1970's and 1980's, writing for a reactive audience, these cliches were highly criticized (Margaret Atwood), and ultimately satirized (Douglas Adams). Science fiction was seen as something that needs to be redone and reevaluated. Focus turned away from exploring new worlds and to our own place in the universe (seen by Carl Sagan and L Ron Hubbard) (Unraveling). In the 1990's and 2000's, a new form of science fiction seems to be in the developing stage, once again looking at a realistic take on future exploration, (Kim Stanley Robinson) alien invasion, (Orson Scott Card) and political shift (Suzanne Collins) (Crisis).
Over this long 200 year period, one can start to point out how one trope is used from one cycle to another. Let's take Frankenstein (1818) for example. Mary Shelley's work was focusing on the creation of life, a philosophical issue characteristic of the the Transcendental awakening. If we fast forward 80 years to the Missionary awakening, we find that one of H G Wells' most popular novels was The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), an exact parallel to Frankenstein. If we move forward to the Baby Boomer awakening, we discover that the most popular novel that set off this era was Isaac Asimov's book I, Robot (1950). Thus we find a remarkable chain of similar stories across the generations: Frankenstein... Doctor Moreau... I, Robot.
Other, smaller parallels exist as well: alien invaders from various 1910's books parallels Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. A realistic depiction of space travel is seen in Jules Verne's From Earth to the Moon (1865) and C S Lewis' Out of the Silent Planet (1938). A focus on time travel is seen in H G Wells' The Time Machine (1895) and Isaac Asimov's The End of Eternity (1955). (In fact, Wells and Asimov had very similar ideas for a scientific utopia). I don't know if there are any other parallels, but I'm sure there are.
Thanks for listening,
Nathan G
I had a difficult time identifying exactly what time period each generation of science fiction comes from. I determined that originally, novelists would right according to their own generation, hence why Mary Shelley is an idealist. But at some point something changed, and now scifi writers tailor their work to appease the generation of their audience. Thus, a novel written in the 2000s will always be written for Millennials, regardless of when the author was born. After some research, I determined that that change happened at the turn of the 20th century, because the rise of the dime novel meant that any average Joe is going to have access to the author's work. However, this shift does not majorly disrupt the flow of generational dynamics, as I will explain momentarily.
When Mary Shelley introduced science fiction, she started off with a novel that can be considered barely scientific. In general, the scifi of Shelley's novels served as a backdrop for her to introspect into transcendental ideals (Awakening). After her time, the genre all but disappeared throughout the 1820's and 1830's (Unraveling). It reemerged in the 1840's through the more obscure works of Edgar Allen Poe and Charles Dickens, experimenting with alternative forms of literature that explores the limits of science (Crisis). This was expounded heavily by Jules Verne in the 1860's and 1870's, who took a very practical, realistic view as to how technology can develop to solve most problems (High). This became greatly popular in the 1880's and 1890's, where writers like H G Wells, Edwin A Abbott and Robert Louis Stevenson extrapolated these ideas to the most logical extremes, arguably to an extreme that was once again barely scientific. Like Mary Shelley, the scifi from this time served as a venue to explore man's inner morality (Awakening).
With the dime novel appearing, this form of science fiction quickly disappeared in the 1900's (Unraveling). Staring in the 1910's, however, writers soon adapted to writing novels for the younger generation, such as Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars which was aimed at the Greatest Generation. This reintroduced the next phase of science fiction (Crisis). In the 1930's and 1940's, writers expounded on this new concept with a realistic take on future development and exploration. This included C S Lewis' exploration in the Space Trilogy, along with the distopian visions of Aldous Huxley and George Orwell (High). (Incidentally, C S Lewis also envisioned a distopia in The Scewtape Letters, but that's not science fiction.) This genre became a sensation in the 1950's and 1960's, known as the great age of scifi, and included some of the most famous authors like Isaac Asimov, Robert A Heinlein, Frank Herbert and Arthur C Clark. Once again, science was taken to some far extremes as way of expounding on philosophical issues. Distopian futures were not so much all bad as they were devoid of morality (described by Kurt Vonnegut and Ray Bradbury). This was also the time that most of the cliches of science fiction were also established, such as red shirts and bug-eyed aliens (Awakening).
In the 1970's and 1980's, writing for a reactive audience, these cliches were highly criticized (Margaret Atwood), and ultimately satirized (Douglas Adams). Science fiction was seen as something that needs to be redone and reevaluated. Focus turned away from exploring new worlds and to our own place in the universe (seen by Carl Sagan and L Ron Hubbard) (Unraveling). In the 1990's and 2000's, a new form of science fiction seems to be in the developing stage, once again looking at a realistic take on future exploration, (Kim Stanley Robinson) alien invasion, (Orson Scott Card) and political shift (Suzanne Collins) (Crisis).
Over this long 200 year period, one can start to point out how one trope is used from one cycle to another. Let's take Frankenstein (1818) for example. Mary Shelley's work was focusing on the creation of life, a philosophical issue characteristic of the the Transcendental awakening. If we fast forward 80 years to the Missionary awakening, we find that one of H G Wells' most popular novels was The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), an exact parallel to Frankenstein. If we move forward to the Baby Boomer awakening, we discover that the most popular novel that set off this era was Isaac Asimov's book I, Robot (1950). Thus we find a remarkable chain of similar stories across the generations: Frankenstein... Doctor Moreau... I, Robot.
Other, smaller parallels exist as well: alien invaders from various 1910's books parallels Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. A realistic depiction of space travel is seen in Jules Verne's From Earth to the Moon (1865) and C S Lewis' Out of the Silent Planet (1938). A focus on time travel is seen in H G Wells' The Time Machine (1895) and Isaac Asimov's The End of Eternity (1955). (In fact, Wells and Asimov had very similar ideas for a scientific utopia). I don't know if there are any other parallels, but I'm sure there are.
Thanks for listening,
Nathan G