I enjoy literary nonfiction, and recently came across The Modern Myths: Adventures in the Machinery of the Popular Imagination by Philip Ball. Dr. Ball is a frequent contributor to Nature, and delving into modern myths is something of a departure from his usual wheelhouse, but I found the book engaging nonetheless.
One title by H.G. Wells he explored in the book was War of the Worlds, and how the entire concept of alien warfare has grown and matured since Wells’s book debuted in 1897. He also examined how the popular imagination fixates on a particular aspect of mythopoeic stories. For instance, Dracula now is always shown wearing a dark cape, but this was not always the case until Bela Lugosi’s film portrayal in the 1930s.
On an interesting rabbit trail based on this reading, we can see how science fiction can become obsolete. Science and knowledge in general is always expanding, and authors can only draw on current bodies of knowledge to extrapolate and imagine things in which their characters can engage.
One item in War of the Worlds that has not become obsolete is the death ray. This device was used by the Martians to extinguish life from the English countryside, in preparing the landscape for alien use.
Death rays continued to appear in early science fiction, notably Flash Gordon and Buck Rodgers. They may have shrunk to the size of a pistol in some instances, but grew planet-sized with the Death Star in the Star Wars franchise.
I think it’s safe to say that death rays, even allowing for modern incarnations, are hardly obsolete. So what are some things that early writers imagined but are no longer worthy of serious consideration?
Mode of transportation might be a good candidate in some cases. I’m thinking of A Trip to the Moon, the famous 1902 French film where scientists rode in a capsule shot out of a cannon. Obviously, rockets were a much more realistic means of getting there, but 1902 was a little early for that idea to percolate.
Other things that grow stale over time involve scientific knowledge, not just technology. For instance, in Wells’s day, people were convinced Mars had an advanced civilization thanks to apparent canals viewed through telescopes. These days, of course, we know its a barren landscape with little danger of invading Martian forces coming our way.
This is all an interesting exercise for those of us writing speculative fiction. Are certain elements in our story in danger of growing stale over time? Will scientific advances render our story elements obsolete? Should we worry more about the characters than the technology? Good questions, all.
Speaking of writers, I wanted to mention a fellow Substack science fiction author, Shari Lopatin. She is author of The Apollo Illusion and other works. Give her Substack site Rogue Writer a look.
Finally, I’m happy to announce a new box set, Star League Assassins Books 1-5. Grab it while it’s on sale for a limited time.
Dated Sci-fi and Other Challenges
It's interesting how advances in technology shift science fiction stories. In the early Victorian era, writers used the moon as a destination, but advances in telescope technology revealed the moon as an airless desert. In response, writers shifted to setting stories on Mars, especially once the "canals" were discovered. This lasted well into the 1950s, when the better writers began to use a more realistic setting on Mars. It actually wasn't until the space probes the 1960s that the true nature of the Red Planet was settled.