Science has changed a lot since the 1940s. So has science fiction. Books written about the marvels of the future can sound very silly to the people who are actually living there. That’s why it is so impressive when a science-fiction book stands the test of time – if not in contemporary details, at least good writing. A book that is still as engrossing and imaginative as it was sixty years ago, despite increases in space exploration, computers and biological sciences, is a treasure.
Apocalyptic sci-fi is a science fiction sub-genre that usually describes a catastrophic world event decimating the human population, and then chronicles the survivor’s attempt to live in a changed world, usually while battling a horrific threat, whether it be mutants, cultists, or unspeakably evil men. 1949′s Earth Abides, by George R. Stewart, is an early take on the end of the world. What makes it stand apart from most other apocalyptic sci-fi is how gentle it is. The plague survivors of the story are kind to one another, resources are plenty, and threats are realistic. What happens when the world ends with a sigh instead of a bang?
Robert Heinlein’s 1956 The Door Into Summer is a fun time-travel romp, full of wisecracks, double-crossing, robot housemaids and a ginger ale-sipping cat named Petronius the Arbiter. The story follows brilliant inventor Daniel Boone Davis and his cat “Pete” as he traverses back and forth across the 20th century to get revenge on the girlfriend who wronged him, become a millionaire, and wait for the Girl Scout he’s fated to marry to grow up. The science is just vague enough to work for modern audiences, and the ride is fun enough that a reader won’t be too tempted to get hung up on the details.
Poul Anderson’s 1954 novel, Brain Wave, explores the question of what would happen if every creature on earth with a brain suddenly had their intelligence increase by 500%. In the story, ancient Earth was trapped in a magnetic wave that hindered the evolution of its creatures. When that wave departs, intelligence is no longer stunted. Animals become as intelligent as primitive humans, and regular humans achieve godlike brilliance. The trappings of our “stunted” world, such as money and government, fall away. The results, however, are far from paradise.
Enoch Wallace is a Civil War veteran with a special duty in Clifford D. Simak’s 1963 Way Station. He is chosen by an alien race to be the guardian of their way station, facilitating their interplanetary travel. In return, they freeze both Enoch and his home in time, an arrangement that lasts over a century before the American government becomes suspicious of the never-changing Enoch. When an alien body buried in Enoch’s backyard goes missing, consequences for Enoch and all of planet Earth could be dire.
One man sets out to avert The Dark Ages in L. Sprague de Camp‘s 1939 classic, Lest Darkness Fall. With a lightning strike at the Roman Pantheon, Archaeologist Martin Padway is transported back in time to 535 AD. There, he uses his modern knowledge to insinuate himself in Roman culture, starting with the construction of a copper still, and ending with stable Italo-Gothic empire and the end of serfdom.
These stories survive heartily in a genre where a book written five years ago can be laughably obsolete. They do this by sharing tight, brilliant stories exploring exciting questions about a world outside of our own.
