Science Fiction Literature:

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Science Fiction Literature

• Tales of Possibilities
• John M. Busch

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Definition

• Science fiction is a literary or cinematic genre
  that focuses on imaginative scientific
  discoveries or developments, consequences of
  environmental or societal changes, space travel,
  or finding life on other planets.
• Every author seems to have his / her own
  definition of this elusive term.

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The Origins of Science Fiction

• Most scholars argue that Mary Shellys
  Frankenstein was the first pure science fiction
  tale.
• Others attribute the creation of the genre to
  Jonathan Swift, Voltaire, and Thomas Moore.
• Still other critics suggest that science fiction
  began much earlier in prehistory or the time of
  the Babylonian Empire.
• There are varied opinions on the subject.

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Subgenres of Science Fiction

• There are many varieties of science fiction. Some
  may deal with space colonies while others are
  about time travel.
• Each of these is known as a subgenre.

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Mary ShelleyThe Real Dr. Frankenstein?

• Mary Shelly published Frankenstein in 1818.
• She had written the novel in a competition with
  her friends to create the most horrific ghost
  story.
• Frankenstein had a great impact on the literature
  of the world.

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H. G. Wells

• Known as the father of the science romance novel,
  Wells always incorporated social themes in his
  works.
• He was one of the first writers to postulate time
  travel, invisibility potions, alien invasions,
  and genetic manipulation.

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Jules Verne

• Verne was much more interested in scientific
  accuracy. As a result, he predicted the invention
  of elevators, atomic submarines, and rocketships.

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Other Nineteenth-Century Writers

• Edgar Allan Poe dabbled in science fiction with
  many of his short story and his one, incomplete
  novel The Narrative of Gordon Pym.

• Nathaniel Hawthorne described genetic experiments
  and the quest for immortality in Rappaccini's
  Daughter and Dr. Heideggers Experiment,
  respectively.

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The Pulp Novels

• Many science fiction writers began their careers
  contributing stories to various pulp magazines.
• During the early twentieth century, there were
  many such magazines in publication.

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Edgar Rice Burroughs

• Most famous for creating the character Tarzan,
  Burroughs had a penchant for creating strange,
  lost worlds on earth as well as other planets.

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H. P. Lovecraft

• Lovecraft postulated the existence of gigantic,
  malevolent beings who once ruled the earth (and
  who intend to rule it once again once disposing
  of mankind).

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Isaac Asimov

• Perhaps one of the most eclectic writers of the
  twentieth century, Asimov has published works on
  practically every subject.
• His most famous works include the Foundation and
  The Caves of Steel series.
• Asimov created the Three Laws of Robotics 1) to
  serve mankind, 2) never to harm mankind, and 3)
  never to disobey mankind unless it would result
  in the breaking of either Rule 1 or 2.

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Larry Niven

• Niven created the Known Space series.
• His most famous work is Ringworld, in which he
  describes an artificial satellite surrounding an
  entire planet used to support life.
• He has also created a famous alien race known as
  the Kzinti, giant cat-like creatures out to make
  dinner out of the rest of the galaxy.

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Robert A. Heinlein

• Robert A. Heinleins most famous works include
  Starship Troopers.
• In A Stranger in a Strange Land, Heinlein
  introduced the world to the popular word grok,
  meaning complete understanding.

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Frank Herbert

• Frank Herberts Dune is considered a classic work
  of literature, in general.
• Several sequels were written to make Herberts
  imaginary world one of the most extraordinary
  conceptions to be found in science fiction.

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Arthur C. Clarke

• Clarke is probably most famous for writing the
  screenplay for 2001 A Space Odyssey for Stanley
  Kubrick he wrote the novel afterwards.
• Rendezvous with Rama deals with the exploration
  of a mysterious alien vessel that has entered our
  solar system.
• Like Verne before him, Clarke conceived of
  scientific achievements in his fiction that
  became reality, namely communication satellites
  that are in geostationary orbit.

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Ray Bradbury

• Like Asimov, Bradbury is a very eclectic author.
• In The Martian Chronicles, he describes mans
  attempt to establish colonies on other problems.
• Fahrenheit 451 imagines a future in which all
  forms of writing are forbidden.

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Philip K. Dick

• Dick is famous for writing stories that examine
  mankinds individuality and identity in the
  universe, such as Do Androids Dream of Sheep,
  We Can Remember It for You Wholesale, and
  Paycheck. These were successfully adapted by
  Hollywood.
• In The Man in the High Castle, he examines what
  would have happened had the Axis Powers won World
  War II.

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Samuel R. Delaney

• Inspired by his own life experiences, Delaneys
  Dahlgren and Triton explore role of sexuality in
  the future.
• His Neveryon series of stories are set in the
  mystical past, but include a disease analogous
  with the A.I.D.S. epidemic.

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Ursula K. Le Guin

• Many of Le Guins works focus on the impact
  mankind has had on the environment.
• Others deal with the manner in which we judge
  others whose way of life are different from our
  own.

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Octavia Butler

• Butler is renowned for her works that reflect her
  feminist viewpoints as well as her pride in her
  African-American heritage.
• Her Patternmaster series focuses on a group of
  telepaths who are controlled by an immortal
  African.
• Many of her stories, like Kindred and
  Bloodchild, reflect the cruelty of slavery as
  practiced by humans and aliens.

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Harry Turtledove

• Turtledove is the master of alternative
  histories, in which he imagines what would have
  happened had past events been altered in some
  manner as in The Guns of the South and the World
  War series.

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Orson Scott Card

• Card is most famous for Enders Game and its
  first sequel, Speaker for the Dead.
• In 1986 and 1987, he won both the Nebula and Hugo
  Awards for both works. He is the first author to
  win such recognition in two consecutive years.
• Xenocide and Children of the Mind also belong in
  the series.

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Legacy of These Authors

• The works of these writers have inspired the
  creation of many television shows and movies.