A. J. Blakemont

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H. P. Lovecraft’s vision of the future

March 28, 2015 by AJ Leave a Comment

Cthulhu-450pxH. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) had a particularly grim vision of the future. He created a dark, yet sublime fictional universe. What Lovecraft brought to speculative fiction is the concept of world building. He did not only create a myth; he created an entire fictional world to illustrate his cosmological views. This is how he summarized his vision in the introductory paragraph from The Call of Cthulhu (1926):

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.

What if he was right?

Filed Under: Classics, Horror, Science fiction Tagged With: classic, Cthulhu, Gothic, horror, Lovecraft, science fiction

Science fiction would not be the same without H. G. Wells!

March 28, 2015 by AJ Leave a Comment

Science fiction would not be the same without H. G. Wells (1866-1946). His ideas became an integral part of science fiction culture: time travel (The Time Machine, 1895), human/animal hybrids (The Island of Doctor Moreau, 1896), invisibility (The Invisible Man, 1897), alien invasion (The War of the Worlds, 1898), antigravity (The First Men in the Moon, 1901), and many others. Wells also wrote brilliant short stories that bordered on fantasy: The Sea-Raiders, In the Abyss, The Valley of the Spiders, The Empire of the Ants, etc.

Time-13178824-800pxThe Time Machine is my favorite. In this novel, an inventor builds a machine that allows him to travel to a distant future. He discovers that humanity evolved into two species: the Eloi, who live in a utopian society above ground, and the Morlocks, who live underground and prey on the Eloi. Wells used this dichotomy as a metaphor for the continuous struggle between the upper class and the underclass. I believe, however, that the main interest of this novel lies not in its socio-political overtones, but in the fascinating vision of evolution it presents. The Time Machine is a reflection on the future of our species and, more generally, the future of life on Earth.

Filed Under: Classics, Science fiction Tagged With: classic, H. G. Wells, science fiction, time travel

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

March 28, 2015 by AJ Leave a Comment

The ocean is the most mysterious place on Earth. We probably know more about the other planets of the Solar system than about the depths of this vast expanse that covers 71% of the surface of our planet. Deep-sea exploration has been fascinating humankind since antiquity. In the Alexander Romance (earliest version traced to the third century BC), we find an episode in which Alexander explores the bottom of the sea in a glass diving bell.

Underwater-ship-800pxBut the ultimate classic novel dealing with oceanic exploration is Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne (French: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers, 1870). This literary masterpiece is one of the earliest science fiction novels, and it features a particularly interesting postromantic character, the “tragic villain” Captain Nemo. Jules Verne shows us that the human soul is like the abyss; one can find light even in an ocean of darkness.

 

Filed Under: Classics, Science fiction Tagged With: classic, deep-sea exploration, Jules Verne, science fiction

Edgar Allan Poe and science fiction

March 28, 2015 by AJ Leave a Comment

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) is known for his mystery and horror short stories, but he also wrote in other genres, including science fiction. His best science fiction stories (in chronological order) are The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall, The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion, The Colloquy of Monos and Una, and Mellonta Tauta. We can also mention A Tale of the Ragged Mountains, Mesmeric Revelation, The Power of Words, and The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar.

His only (complete) novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (1838), bordered on science fiction and inspired masterpieces such as Moby-Dick (1851) by Herman Melville, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea (1870) and An Antarctic Mystery (1897) by Jules Verne. Edgar Allan Poe also wrote an essay on cosmology, Eureka: A Prose Poem (1849), that can be read as a philosophical science fiction work.

Edgar Poe's science fiction stories
Illustration of Edgar Poe’s science fiction stories

Filed Under: Classics, Science fiction Tagged With: classic, Edgar Allan Poe, Gothic, Herman Melville, Jules Verne, romanticism, science fiction

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About the Author

A. J. Blakemont is a novelist and essayist interested in speculative and gothic fiction. He is also passionate about music, history and its mysteries. He grew up in Paris where he studied literature. He lives near London and he is a member of the Society of Authors.

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