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Science Fiction

By Daniel Gonzalez

Early 1800's

Frankenstein (1823)

Background influence: medicinal revolution, human experimentation.

Elements: characters were highly important in this novel because it was focused on a scientist creating a monster.

Evolution: first ever sci fi novel.

Extrapolation: human biology/experimentation.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1870)

Mid 1800's

Elements: In the late 1800's a strange creature is sighted in the water. However, it turns out to be a futuristic submarine led by captain Nemo, which travels 20,000 leagues around the Earth. With character development, we see the toll of several deaths on the crew members, and the final captives escape, while the Nautilus' fate is unknown.

Evolution: This science fiction novel expands on under water exploration, a topic not as touched on.

Background influence:

It is probably influenced by submarines and underwater exploration, and actually describes future submarines very well.

Extrapolation:

Extrapolates on the idea of submarines, by improving on the then primitive submarines into a much more elaborate machine.

Late 1800's

War of the Worlds (1897)

Elements: This science fiction novel introduces the theme about space, and possible life outside Earth, and does not put much emphasis into characterization, instead delivering the events in a factual way. This factual narration could have also led to the 1938 radio broadcast disaster, as the events were delivered as if they were real news.

Evolution: One of the first science fiction novels depicting a war between an extraterrestrial civilization and humanity.

Extrapolation & Background: Mars had been viewed by telescopes for a long time, and in 1894, a 'strange light' was observed by mars. This was probably extrapolated to be an alien civilization living on Mars. The author lived in Great Britain, in which there was a spike in novels depicting its invasion at the time.

Early 1900's

1984 (1949)

Elements: The story focuses on character development, and uses symbolism, imagery and other ways to influence the character development of Winston, the main character. It also uses setting, which is set in London, Oceania (a fictional nation). It also uses an emotional first person narrative, with a gloomy narration which fits well the story and setting of the novel.

Background Influence:

The novel was created in 1949 as a warning to totalitarianism, four years after the second world war, which featured many totalitarian countries.

Extrapolation:

One can say that the core feature of 1984 is the extrapolation of common totalitarianism, where every single right of a person is controlled or even banned by the government, such as love, a key driver in the story.

Foundation (1942)

Elements: Uses symbolism, imagery and allegory, and is set in a galactic empire in its capital, Trantor. With ever complex man made structures covering the planet. Trantor is based in Rome, and as Rome, it is also based on its collapse.

Evolution:

Focuses on the collapse of Empires, which was a theme of the time, although this novel toyed with the idea of an intergalatic empire.

Background Influence A big part of the background influence are empires, which rise and fall, such as the German Empire. However, this story is more focused on the Roman Empire, and its fall.

Extrapolation:

It extrapolates the idea of an empire, in this case a galactic empire, and its fall, which is the center of the story, and to prevent the world from slipping into a long dark age. This can be related into the Roman time, in which a part of the empire was preserved to be able to enlight Europe once again, and the center of this novel was to preserve the knowledge of the empire to lower the length of the dark age to 1000 years for the next empire to arrive. The foundation is the name of the organization of bright minds to protect the knowledge.

Fahrenheit 451 (1953)

Elements: It is set on a future society in which books have been outlawed and any books that are found are burned at 451 degrees Fahrenheit-the temperature at which books burn. It is about Guy Montag, someone in charge of burning the books who becomes tired of censorship and begins preserving works of literature. It takes place in the later 1900s.

Evolution: Works with the idea of censorship and the decline of paper and dystopian societies.

Background influence: With the rise of the radio and other forms of alternative media, physical media was starting to decline.

Extrapolation:

What is extrapolated is the decline of books, in which almost nobody reads them in Fahrenheit, as they have been almost completely replaced by alternative media, akin to real life. It also symbolizes the Nazi book burnings, which traumatized the author.

Mid 1900's

Dune (1965)

Elements:

Dune is set on the planet Arrakis which is almost all a desert, but it is the only world where spice grows, so there is profit to be found. The planet actually moves a lot of the plot, as the Arrakian spices are the base of the economy and politics, similarily to gold. Therefore, Arrakis could be considered a protagonist.

Background Influence:

Although it seems ridiculous, the story Dune is actually based off a real dune, a sand dune. During a visit to Florence, Oregon, in 1957, the author visited the Oregon sand dunes to research an article which he never finished. But was an inspiration for a novel.

Evolution:

Uses a planet as a protagonist, as everything is centered on it and the spices it produces, and its people are the antagonists, which have conflicting interests.

Extrapolation:

We can draw some connections with the age of exploration, in which gold was a main driver in politics and economy. It also uses a theme of space in relation to the time, in which objects and people were starting to be sent into space, with later examples like Star Wars & Star Trek.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)

Elements: Like many sci-fi novels, the book is set in the future. More specifically, 2021. It is set in a time after world war terminus, a devastating war which was not named world war III because people felt it did not transmit the sheer devastation. Humans live across the stars, and care for the few animals left after the mass extinction.

Evolution: One of the first to forecast what would happen if the trend of things that were happening continued. Also unique because it focuses not on civilization, but of environment.

Background influence: Humans manipulated their surroundings, sometimes for the worst. With the cold war heating up due to the Korean and Vietnamese wars, and with the manipulation of chemicals such as DDT or napalm and agent orange affecting both human and nonhuman populations.

Extrapolation: the above is extrapolated to total environmental collapse caused by humans, and it also seems to forecast the sort of situation we face now with climate change, but also using cold war terms like nuclear war.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1978)

Elements: This was originally a science fiction comedy which was broadcast by radio in 1974. Since then, it has been adapted into other forms of media. The narrative follows the life of Arthur Dent, the last surviving man after the destruction of Earth, which was caused by another race simply wanting to clear it for an interstellar highway.

Background Influence: The series was based by a series of books throughout the 40 years it has existed. They were based on space, which was a popular choice at the time with giants like Star Wars coming out the year before.

Evolution: Was a radio broadcast, adapted into other media, one of the biggest hits. It also features space travel, a popular choice for the time.

Extrapolation:

The extrapolation was caused when the author was hitchhiking through Europe with a Hitchhiker's guide to Europe, and while lying, drunk, and looking at the sky, he thought of making a guide for the galaxy, and such book is published in the fictional universe.

Late 1900's

Ender's Game (1985)

Elements: Ender's game is a story centered around Ender, a tactical genius against the alien race of the formics, a race the humans have fought wars against. It follows the story of Ender and his constant triumph at the military school, in which children are thought games, and Ender is constantly promoted until he is tricked to think that the real life armies he commands are a game, and secretly wins the war against the formics.

Evolution:

This sci fi novel integrates the aspect of games and video games and the already existent space sci fi genera.

Background Influence.

The author states that Isaac Asimov's Foundation series was heavily influential of Ender's Game, and it may have also been based off other space sci fi novels of the time.

Extrapolation:

The novel probably extrapolates games, to use games as military strategy and education. This was actually well recieved by militaries and is now a suggested reading by the United States Marine Corps.

Neuromancer (1984)

Elements: Neuromancer is one of the most important novels of the Cyberpunk genera, in which Henry Dorsett is a low level hustler which has been taken off the matrix due to hacking, the matrix being an online virtual reality dataspace.

Evolution: Introduces the Genera of Cyberpunks, a combination of low life and high tech, and brought it together, drawing influence from punk and hacker culture from the 1980's.

Background influence:

Influenced by the rise of computers of the time, and communication emerging online, as well as the Punk and hacker cultures of the time.

Extrapolation:

All of the above are extrapolated to form the cyberpunk culture this book defined.

Early 2000's

Interstellar (2014)

Elements: The movie is set on near-apocalyptic earth where a crop blight and dust bowl are destroying farms, making food scarce, therefore, some take to the stars…never to come back.

Evolution: This movie introduces 21st century cinematography and praised science-fiction soundtracks while building on the dying earth genera of science fiction.

Background Influence & Extrapolation:

As this movie was made in 2014, it was probably influenced by climate change, which, when extrapolated could bring about our decline, as well as space travel.

The Martian (2011)

Elements:

The Martian follows American astronaut Mark Watney, as he becomes stranded on Mars on the year 2035, alone. Therefore, he must face strong, character shaping challenges to survive the hostile environment of Mars.

Evolution:

This applies a more scientific and plausible approach to Mars exploration in the science fiction genera.

Background influence & extrapolation:

Probably influenced by the fact that no manned missions to Mars have been achieved, only rovers. This could be extrapolated a step further to include manned month long missions to mars on the not-so-distant future.

Works Cited

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