French Literature Reviews - 2026

A. Roberts, The History of Science Fiction
Other Literary Studies

ROBERTS, Adam, The History of Science Fiction, New York, Palgrave Macmillan (Palgrave Histories of Literature), 2007, 368 pp.
ISBN 0-230-54691-9

SUMMARY

The first comprehensive critical history of SF for thirty years, this book traces the origin and development of science fiction from Ancient Greece, via its rebirth in the seventeenth century, up to the present day. Concentrating on literary SF and (in the later chapters) cinema and TV, it also discusses the myriad forms this genre takes in the contemporary world, including a chapter on graphic novels, SF pop music, visual art and ufology. The author is ideally placed to write it: both an academic literary critic and also an acclaimed creative writer of science fiction, with five novels and many short stories to his credit. Written in lively, accessible prose, this study is specifically designed to bridge the worlds of academic criticism and SF fandom.

The History of Science Fiction argues that, even today, this flourishing cultural idiom is shaped by the forces that determined its rise to prominence in the 1600s: the dialogue between Protestant and Catholic worldviews, the emerging technologies of the industrial age, and the cultural anxieties and excitements of a rapidly changing world.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction: Defining SF

* Origins

* The Seventeenth Century

* The Eighteenth Century

* Early Nineteenth Century

* Late Nineteenth Century

* Wells and Verne

* Early Twentieth Century I: 'Pulp'

* Early Twentieth Century II: 'High-brow'

* Golden Age SF, 1940-1960

* 1960s Counter-Culture

* 'New Wave' SF, 1960s and 1970s

* Cyberpunk and the 1980s

* Visual SF 1967-2000

* Non-Anglo-American SF

* SF in the 1990s

* Coda: The current state of the genre

* Index

BIOGRAPHY

Adam Roberts is Reader in Nineteenth-Century Literature, Royal Holloway, University of London.

Adam Roberts approaches science fiction not merely as a modern phenomenon, but as a robust cultural idiom with deep roots in earlier intellectual and religious history. By examining how theological debates, industrial technologies, and societal shifts shaped early imaginative writing, the book provides a structured overview of genre evolution. The chronological framework moves from foundational origins through the pulp era, the Golden Age, and the New Wave of the 1960s and 1970s, before arriving at contemporary multimedia expressions including graphic novels and cyberpunk.

This study bridges traditional academic scholarship and broader readership interests, making it a valuable resource for students of literature, genre theorists, and enthusiasts of speculative fiction alike. The author's dual background as an academic critic and practicing novelist informs an accessible approach to complex literary movements. Readers seeking to understand the historical trajectory of speculative literature, alongside its expansion into cinema, television, and visual arts, will find this volume a reliable and engaging guide.