Fitz-James O’Brien was born in Cork in 1826 and emigrated as a young man to the USA, where he died in 1862 in Cumberland, Maryland, at...

Samuel Butler (1835-1902) Samuel Butler was Bulwer-Lytton’s near contemporary. He is remembered these days for two books—“The Way of All...

Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton (1803-73) {this is not a typo} An English aristocrat, he was first a Whig (Liberal) MP, and...

When will scientists stop experimenting on frog DNA?

What are we, the inhabitants of this globe, least among the many that people infinite space? Our minds embrace infinity; the visible...

Mary Shelley Part Four: THE LAST MAN This work appeared in 1826, with the writer being described simply as "The Author of Frankenstein."...

MARY SHELLEY – Part Three So what is it about Mary Shelley’s work that establishes it as the first modern SF story? The answer lies in...

MARY SHELLEY- Part Two With Mary Shelley (1797-1851), we have finally arrived at the doorstep of modern SF. We have seen its early...

MARY SHELLEY – Part One Towards the end of the Eighteenth Century a new style of writing developed – the Gothic Novel. The hallmarks of...

As we approach the nineteenth century, we get closer to the modern forms of SF. But on the way, we encounter minor figures such as George...

Returning to the topic of underground adventures we come to "The Life & Adventures of Peter Wilkins-A Cornishman" by Robert Platock...

One of the enduring tropes of SF is the "Hollow Earth" concept, where the traveller encounters a subterranean world filled with monsters...

The next thinker to discuss the universe at large is Frenchman Bernard de Fontanelle; born in 1657 he lived to within a few weeks of his...

We mentioned William Herschel (1738-1822)who discovered Uranus and was the first to suggest that the Milky Way was the densest part of a...

The Irish Enlightenment scientist Robert Boyle (1627-91) is remembered for his work on gases and Boyle's Law is still important in...

We are getting nearer to modern times but we must not overlook such people as M. Vivenair who in 1784 published "A Journey Lately...

In our tour of the history of SF, we must not pass over "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathon Swift (1667-1745). Swift, who became something...

Moving ever closer to the modern age of SF we encounter Voltaire and his short work "Micromegas". It starts with the description of an...

Here's an excerpt from the Ab Initio section of my latest novel: They were thrown unconscious to the floor as the sphere vanished with an...