The Germans on Venus
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THE GERMANS ON VENUS
Thirteen proto-science fiction tales by Alphonse Allais, Rémy de Gourmont, Jules Lermina, André Mas, Eugène Mouton, Louis Mullem, Charles Nodier, Restif de la Bretonne, Adrien Robert, X.B. Saintine, Marcel Schwob, Louis Ulbach & Théo Varlet
edited by Brian Stableford
cover by Gil Formosa
To the English, the sea; to the French, the land, to the Germans, the kingdom of the Heavens!
This is a second collection of 13 proto-science fiction tales and other scientific romances, penned between 1796 and 1921, translated and annotated by renowned science fiction writer and scholar Brian Stableford.
From cosmic journeys exploring Mars and Jupiter, examining the nature, languages and reproductive methods of various alien species, to the tale of a man who awakens 10,000 years in the future when the Moon has broken apart and rained debris upon the Earth and suspension bridges link the planets of the Solar System; from future war stories, the discovery of automata and telepathy, to speculations about the extraterrestrial origins of Life on Earth, the tales gathered here exemplify the manifest intention of writers from the 18th and 19th centuries to create a new genre of imaginative fiction.
The title piece, written in 1913, was the first-ever published item in a series of propagandistic works of fiction by rocket enthusiasts. It is remarkable for its description of space travel, and its attempt to design a hypothetical biosphere for another planet.
Contents:
Posthumous Correspondence (1796) by Restif de la Bretonne (excerpted from Postumous Correspondence)
Perfectibility (1833) by Charles Nodier
The Story of a Naiad (1864) by Louis Ulbach
Astronomical Journeys (1864) by X. B. Saintine
War in 1894 (1867) by Adrien Robert
The Origin of Life (1877) by Eugène Mouton
Quiet House (1885) by Jules Lermina
The Automaton (1892) by Rémy de Gourmont
The Future Terror (1891) by Marcel Schwob
A Rival of Edison (1909) by Louis Mullem
Erebium (1904) by Alphonse Allais
The Germans on Venus (1913) by André Mas
Telepathy (1921) by Théo Varlet
Introduction & Notes by Brian Stableford