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An extraterrestrial or alien is any extraterrestrial lifeform: a lifeform that did not originate on Earth. The word extraterrestrial means "outside Earth". The first published use of extraterrestrial as a noun occurred in 1956, during the Golden Age of Science Fiction.
The timestream or time stream is a metaphorical conception of time as a stream, a flowing body of water. In Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction, the term is more narrowly defined as: "the series of all events from past to future, especially when conceived of as one of many such series". Timestream is the normal passage or flow of time and its historical developments, within a given dimension of reality. The concept of the time stream, and the ability to travel within and around it, are the fundamentals of a genre of science fiction.
Saturn has made appearances in fiction since the 1752 novel Micromégas by Voltaire. In the earliest depictions, it was portrayed as having a solid surface rather than its actual gaseous composition. In many of these works, the planet is inhabited by aliens that are usually portrayed as being more advanced than humans. In modern science fiction, the Saturnian atmosphere sometimes hosts floating settlements. The planet is occasionally visited by humans and its rings are sometimes mined for resources.
The Loch Ness Monster is a creature from folklore that has appeared in popular culture in various genres since at least 1934. It is most often depicted as a relict dinosaur or similar, but other explanations for its existence such as being a shapeshifter or from outer space also appear. It is only occasionally portrayed as threatening, despite its name.
Neptune has appeared in fiction since shortly after its 1846 discovery, albeit infrequently. It initially made appearances indirectly—e.g. through its inhabitants—rather than as a setting. The earliest stories set on Neptune itself portrayed it as a rocky planet rather than as having its actual gaseous composition; later works rectified this error. Extraterrestrial life on Neptune is uncommon in fiction, though the exceptions have ranged from humanoids to gaseous lifeforms. Neptune's largest moon Triton has also appeared in fiction, especially in the late 20th century onwards.
The Ganymede Club is a science fiction novel by American writer Charles Sheffield, published in 1995. A mystery and a thriller, the story unravels in the same universe that Sheffield imagined in Cold as Ice. Shortly after humanity begins colonisation of the Solar System, a trade war sets off vicious civil war that kills billions. The book received favorable reviews from Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews, as well as in the science-fiction press. It was ranked #14 in SF novels in the 1996 Locus awards. The novel has been translated into Italian and was published as Memoria impossibile in 1998 in the magazine Urania. In 2009 Bastei Lübbe published a German language edition in Germany.
In science fiction and fantasy literature, the term insectoid ("insect-like") denotes any fantastical fictional creature sharing physical or other traits with ordinary insects. Most frequently, insect-like or spider-like extraterrestrial life forms is meant; in such cases convergent evolution may presumably be responsible for the existence of such creatures. Occasionally, an earth-bound setting — such as in the film The Fly (1958), in which a scientist is accidentally transformed into a grotesque human–fly hybrid, or Kafka's famous novella The Metamorphosis (1915), which does not bother to explain how a man becomes an enormous insect — is the venue.
Pantropy is a hypothetical process of space habitation or space colonization in which, rather than terraforming other planets or building space habitats suitable for human habitation, humans are modified to be able to thrive in the existing environment. The term was coined by science fiction author James Blish, who wrote a series of short stories based on the idea.
The concepts of space stations and space habitats feature in science fiction. The difference between the two is that habitats are larger and more complex structures intended as permanent homes for substantial populations, but the line between the two is fuzzy with significant overlap and the term space station is sometimes used for both concepts. The first such artificial satellite in fiction was Edward Everett Hale's "The Brick Moon" in 1869, a sphere of bricks 61 meters across accidentally launched into orbit around the Earth with people still onboard.
Khaled: A Tale of Arabia is a fantasy novel by F. Marion Crawford. It was first published in hardcover by Macmillan and Co. in 1891; its first paperback edition was issued by Ballantine Books as the thirty-ninth volume of the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series in December, 1971. The Ballantine edition includes an introduction by Lin Carter.
Genies or djinns are supernatural creatures from pre-Islamic and Islamic mythology. They are associated with shapeshifting, possession and madness. In later Western popular representation, they became associated with wish-granting and often live in magic lamps or bottles. They appear in One Thousand and One Nights and its adaptations, among other stories. The wish-granting djinns from One Thousand and One Nights, however, are the divs of Persian origin, not the Arabian djinns.
Ole Doc Methuselah is a collection of science fiction short stories by American writer L. Ron Hubbard, published in 1970.
Comets have appeared in works of fiction since at least the 1830s. In keeping with their traditional cultural associations as omens, they often threaten destruction to Earth. This commonly comes in the form of looming impact events, and occasionally through more novel means such as affecting Earth's atmosphere in different ways. In other stories, humans seek out and visit comets for purposes of research or resource extraction. Comets are inhabited by various forms of life ranging from microbes to vampires in different depictions, and are themselves living beings in some stories.
Gary Wesley Westfahl is an American scholar of science fiction. He has written reviews for the Los Angeles Times, The Internet Review of Science Fiction and Locus Online. He worked at the University of California, Riverside until 2011 and is now an adjunct professor at the University of La Verne.
Recursive science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction, which itself takes the form of an exploration of science fiction within the narrative of the story.
Reptilian humanoids, or anthropomorphic reptiles, are fictional creatures that appear in folklore, fiction, and conspiracy theories.
The far future has been used as a setting in many works of science fiction. The far future setting arose in the late 19th century, as earlier writers had little understanding of concepts such as deep time and its implications for the nature of humankind. Classic examples of this genre include works such as H.G. Wells' The Time Machine (1895) or Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men (1930). Recurring themes include themes such as Utopias, eschatology or the ultimate fate of the universe. Many works also overlap with other genres such as space opera, science fantasy or apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction.
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Themes, Works, and Wonders is an English language reference work on science fiction and fantasy, published in 2005 by Greenwood Press. It was edited by Gary Westfahl and consists of three volumes of 200 entries each. The first two volumes contain entries organized by themes, such as "Aliens in Space", "Asia" or "Rats and Mice", while the third volume lists works such as novels and films which are considered defining for the science fiction and fantasy genres.
Technology in science fiction is a crucial aspect of the genre.
References
- 1 2 Clute, John (1997). Elder Races. London: Orbit. Retrieved 2021-08-16.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Swayer, Andy (2005). "Elder Races". In Westfahl, Gary (ed.). The Greenwood encyclopedia of science fiction and fantasy : themes, works, and wonders. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. pp. 238–239. ISBN 0-313-32950-8. OCLC 60401685.
- 1 2 Kluger, Jeffrey (2012-06-11). "Prometheus 101: The Science Behind Ridley Scott's Vision of Aliens Populating Earth". Time. ISSN 0040-781X . Retrieved 2021-08-16.
- 1 2 Anders, Lou (2005). "Babylon 5 (1993-1998)". In Westfahl, Gary (ed.). The Greenwood encyclopedia of science fiction and fantasy : themes, works, and wonders. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. pp. 926–927. ISBN 0-313-32950-8. OCLC 60401685.
- 1 2 Ney, Sharon; Sciog-Lazarov, Elaine M. (2000). "The Construction of Feminine Identity in Babylon 5". Fantasy Girls: Gender in the New Universe of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-8476-9834-3.
- ↑ Woodward, Jennifer (2009). "J. Michael Straczynski (1954-)". In Bould, Mark; Butler, Andrew M.; Roberts, Adam; Vint, Sherryl (eds.). Fifty Key Figures in Science Fiction. Routledge. p. 217. ISBN 9781135285340.
- ↑ Roberts, Daniel (2012). "Living Ships". Famous Robots and Cyborgs. Pen and Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-84468-079-5.
- ↑ Mains, Christine (2005). "Wisdom". In Westfahl, Gary (ed.). The Greenwood encyclopedia of science fiction and fantasy : themes, works, and wonders. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. p. 893. ISBN 0-313-32950-8. OCLC 60401685.