While science fiction stories deal more with the future than the past, the science fiction genre has a fascinating history. So, where did sci-fi begin? What was the first science fiction novel?
The first science fiction novel was Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”. This Gothic novel was written in 1817. The story’s themes would become popular topics for science fiction. Victor Frankenstein broke religious and cultural taboos with his search for the secret of life. Bringing the creature to life challenged our understanding of what it means to be human.
If you have only ever seen the films, do yourself a favor and read the novel. The story is far more meaningful, and the creature is a much more complex character. The green skin and “rarr I’m a monster” pop culture caricature is not true to the book.
Frankenstein is the most accepted answer for the first science fiction novel, mostly thanks to critic Brian W. Aldiss and his book “Billion Year Spree: The True History of Science Fiction.” However, there are many great examples of science fiction written before Shelley was even born.
Table of Contents
What Is Science Fiction?
Asking about the first science fiction novel is a little like asking, “When was the automobile invented?” What do you consider an “automobile”? Does it have to run on gasoline? What about oil? Does it need an internal combustion engine or do steam-powered vehicles count? Depending on how you answer these questions, the date of the invention of the automobile can change by as much as 110 years! Before we discuss early science fiction novels, we need to define science fiction. There are several key science fiction characteristics a work needs to be a part of the genre.
Science fiction is a genre of fiction about our relationship with technology and how technology can produce social change. It covers themes like how new technology affects our environment, how technology changes our relationships with institutions and each other, and how technology changes our understanding of what it means to be human.
Before we could have science fiction, several events had to take place. The Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment created modern science. The scientific method allowed people to methodically research the natural world. Knowledge could be developed faster than ever. Political revolutions in France and America showed people that massive social change was possible. Access to education and literacy were expanding. People were learning about science and marveling the possibilities of the future.
However, even before these events, people were already writing about fantastic technological marvels and imagining other worlds.
What is Proto-Science Fiction?
There are many early novels and stories with elements of science fiction, but that aren’t officially a part of the genre. We term these “proto-science fiction”.
“Proto-science fiction” refers to early literature with elements that would develop into the science fiction genre.[i]
Authors mark the cutoff at different points. Some say anything before science fiction was a named genre is proto-sf. For convenience’s sake, we can consider proto-science fiction to be any science fiction pre-Shelley.
What Was The First Example of Science Fiction?
Whether we want to call it “proto” or “official,” science fiction (or fiction about scientific things) existed before Shelley.
Johannes Kepler wrote a book called “Somnium” ( “The Dream”) in 1608. The story is about demons that can carry humans to the moon. Despite supernatural elements, Somnium contains scientific discussion on astronomy, the moon, and space. Authorities like author Isaac Asimov have called it the first science fiction novel. That would mean science fiction began over two hundred years before Frankenstein. But science fiction does not begin there.
The book “Theologus Autodidactus” (“The Self-taught Theologian”) by Ibn al-Nafis may be the first example of science fiction. It was written somewhere between 1268 and 1277. The author attempts to scientifically explain the end of the world, resurrection, and the afterlife. If we accept this book as science fiction, this would mean science fiction began over five hundred years before Frankenstein.
Outside of novels, the earliest examples of proto-science fiction could be Indian epic poetry. These poems are primarily religious texts, but we could consider elements precursors to science fiction.
The Hindu epic Ramayana was written in the 7th to 3rd centuries BC. The story includes the Vimana, a flying machine that can travel underwater and into space. The Vimana was armed with weapons that could level entire cities. The Mahabharata was written between the 9th and 8th centuries BC. This epic discusses Kakudmi, the King of Kusasthali. Looking for advice about who his daughter should marry, the king traveled to another dimension to speak with the deity Brahma. Brahma was busy listening to music, so the king had to wait. Unfortunately, the king discovered that time worked differently in that dimension. When he returned home, a hundred years had passed.[ii]
To continue this overview of the history of science fiction genre, let’s look at how the genre got its name.
Where Did The Term “Science Fiction” Come From?
Names influence us deeply. Writers often use a character’s name to hint at how we should feel about that character. In Barn Burning, William Faulkner introduces us to a violent, horse-stealing arsonist named Abner Snopes. It’s an awkward name that doesn’t roll off the tongue very well, a very unlikable name for an awfully unpleasant character. Harlan Ellison wrote a marvelous story called Repent, Harlequin! Said the Ticktockman. The title paints vivid images in the minds of the readers. From just the names of these two characters, we know that this will be a battle between an uptight, rule-bound antagonist and an untamed, freedom-loving hero. If the names of characters are so important, so much so the name of the genre! Where did the names originate?
The first recorded use of the term “science fiction” is in A Little Earnest Book Upon a Great Old Subject by William Wilson. “Science-Fiction, in which the revealed truths of Science may be given interwoven with a pleasing story which may itself be poetical and true.”[iii] This was in 1851. Unfortunately for Mr. Wilson, his term didn’t catch on.
The popular technical magazine Science and Invention ran from 1920 to 1931. In 1925, publisher Hugo Gernsback announced to his subscribers he was beginning a new magazine. He would fill this new publication with tales of fantastic gadgets, space travel, and the future. Mr. Gernsback gave the new magazine the name Sciencefiction.[iv] (Mr. Gernsback’s original name for the new genre was actually “scientificion.” Fortunately, he realized the word was all but unpronounceable, and quickly rethought his marketing strategy.) The magazine was later re-titled Amazing Stories, but it was still termed “the magazine of sciencefiction.” This time, the term would spread to popular culture.
When Was The Term “Sci-Fi” Invented?
Science fiction author and fan Forrest J. Ackerman is listed in numerous sources as the inventor of the term “sci-fi.” He invented the term in 1954, after hearing a radio DJ use the word “hi-fi.”[v] The term “sci-fi” caught on soon after Mr. Akerman coined the phrase, but many fans and authors intensely disliked it. However, after the introduction of the Sci-Fi Channel television network, the term “Sci-fi” found some acceptance with hardcore fans.
Related Genre Terms
Author Harlan Ellison popularized the term “speculative fiction”. Speculative Fiction an umbrella term for several genres: science fiction, alternate history fiction, fantasy, and horror. According to Orson Scott Card, speculative fiction is any story that describes a world other than reality as we know it.[vi] Writers like Ellison advocate this term because it avoids pigeonholing their work as strictly “science fiction.”
A Final Note
There are many options for the “real” first science fiction novel. Instead of debating the past, let’s stay true to the spirit of science fiction and focus on the future. There are many great science fiction authors to come. If you want your name to be among them, take a look at these articles on writing tips.
[i] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/proto-science_fiction
[ii] http://www.scififantasynetwork.com/indian-epic-poetry-sf-origins/ [site down]
[iii] “A Little Earnest Book Upon a Great Old Subject”, Chapter 10, William Wilson, 1851
[iv] “How Science Fiction Got Its Name,” Sam Moskowitz, the February 1957 issue of the magazine Fantasy and Science Fiction
[v] How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy, Writer’s Digest Books, 1990, p. 17
[vi] The Essential Ellison: A 50 Year Retrospective. It’s in there somewhere. I’m not going to look. Have you seen how thick that book is? You could choke a camel with it!
