SF authors born 1824-33: 1831

1. James B. Alexander

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James B. Alexander (1831-?)

American writer, from Minnesota.

* The Lunarian Professor and His Remarkable Revelations Concerning the Earth, the Moon and Mars Together With An Account of the Cruise of the Sally Ann (No publisher cited: Minneapolis, 1909). The narrator (Minnesota, circa 1892) meets a Lunarian — humanoid, with a large round head and eyes, plus six wings and six limbs — who has come to Earth via a kind of antigravity device. He describes life on the Moon (or rather, inside it), an advanced social-insect-like civilization. The Lunarians are altruistic and cooperative; all instinctively work, and the government provides them with all the necessities of life. Seems like a rip-off of Wells's First Men in the Moon. But Alexander's novel is also an imaginative (proto-Stapledonian) future history of the human race: By 1925, the Lunarian informs the narrator, the US will have adopted free silver and the single tax; cities will have spread enormously, and people will live in huge almost autonomous housing complexes [like PKD's con-apts]; and women's rights will have been granted, and the state will provide child-care. By 2000, the British Empire will have lost India; the US will have expanded to include the entire English-speaking world except England and Scotland; war will have been abolished, and a world government established; amazing flying machines, solar power, and synthetic food will have been invented. But that's just the beginning: By 2100, the Lunarians will have introduced a third, neuter sex to humankind; and by the 100th millennium, humans will have evolved into foetus-like creatured fed by machines through the umbilical cord. PS: We also learn that Martians are giant, semi-aquatic, intelligent starfish.

SF authors born 1824-33: 1830

1. Fenton Ash

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Fenton Ash (pseudonym of Francis Harry Atkins) (1840-1927)

British author, writer of juvenile fiction. Also wrote as Frank Aubrey.

* The Radium Seekers: Or, the Wonderful Black Nugget (Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons: London, 1905). Wilfrid Moray, the adopted son of a noted scientist, demonstrates to his friend Harry a metallic substance that has more lift than any gas. (One wonders: Has he found a chunk of Cavorite?) Supposedly it's a form of radium extracted from a large black nugget from South America; when strips of the metal (Moradium) are placed inside his coat, Wilfrid can fly. With a certain Dr. Vivian, the two attempt to locate more of the substance in Brazil... but they are attacked by submen, gigantic poisonous snakes, tree-climbing wolves, flying serpents (they turn out to be mechanical), and human-headed bird creatures (they turn out to be humans in flying costumes that utilize Moradium). They are befriended by Lyondrah, a mysterious elderly man living in the jungle. They discover a lost world, and futhermore discover that Lyondrah is the king of a city-state there... and Wilfrid is his son.

* A Son of the Stars (Young England, vol. 29, 1907-08, exact date not known). Bruce and Maurice, two young English boys herding sheep in Australia, rescue Prince Milona (Son of the Stars) from drowning. Milona had accompanied his father, King Amando, on an interplanetary flight from Mars. The boys accompany Milona home on his spaceship, the Ramaylia, built of a metal that attracts and repels forces, creating in effect antigravity. (Cavorite? Moradium? No: solaynium.) Mars has an advanced civilization and advanced technology, including individual flying apparatuses and electric rayguns. The boys help foil a plot against Amando by another Martian scientist-king, Faronda; and they prevent another scientist-king, Zandalla, from building a titanic airship of his own. They're sent home with riches, as a reward.

* A Trip to Mars (W. and R. Chambers: London and Edinburgh, 1909). Set on a South Sea island and Mars. While visiting an island with their scientist-guardian, Mr. Armeath, young Jack and Gerald witness an enormous, egg-shaped, semitransparent and luminous object hit the water. They rescue King Ivanta, of Mars, from drowning; and he takes them home with him, as a reward. The spaceship ("Aerostat"), we discover, is a gigantic living-machine, made of metal that allows sunlight to enter and warm the interior, complete with plant and animal life. (Hello, Silent Running and Sunshine.) As in A Son of the Stars, the boys are embroiled in political intrigue on Mars. Peace is restored after a huge air battle.