Percy Greg (1836–1889)

A science fiction novel published in 1880, which has been cited for being the first such novel to attempt to give the nuts and bolts of an alien language: unfortunately Percy Greg did not stop there, but supplied the nuts and bolts of many other things as well, making his novel a bit of a trial to read. It was published in two volumes and while it might have kept Victorian audiences entertained it only sparked occasionally into life for me. There is also the depiction of the child-like women, which just about stays the right side of being creepy.

It is a story of one man's solo flight to the planet Mars which was discovered from papers found in a crater on a Pacific island. It is told in the first person and seems to be dated 1830. The hero of this tale finds a Martian civilisation more advanced than that on earth, but he has the advantage of being a foot taller than the average and also posses strength and agility because of gravitational differences. The interest shown in his space flight makes him welcome as a guest in a rich man's house, he learns the language, marries one of the daughters and then discovers there is an underground movement to re-introduce religion into society. He becomes a leading member of the new movement, who are planning some sort of coup. Mars has a monarch who becomes fascinated with the spaceman and grants him a palace and a harem of his own.

Percy Greg spends many words creating a Martian society, based around women being virtual slaves to the men. Because of his size the spaceman sees the women as child-like creatures and treats them accordingly, trying to control their petulant and wilful behaviour, even his favourite wife he refers to as "child." My issues with this novel were the prosaic descriptions and the sometimes turgid explanations of Martian speech and manners. In their original form each of these volumes ran to nearly 300 pages and I found it hard work to keep my eyes on the page. There is an interesting story and it is an early example of world building, but two stars from me.… (more)

Although very dated now -- the book was written in the 19th Century, after all! -- this work stands up well against most SF through the end of 1920s at least. In fictional technology and sociology, it is well ahead of its time. A fascinating work, possibly a bit slow for the modern reader but worth the effort.

More about Percy Greg -- an interesting character in his own right, not too unlike some modern SF writers in following very much his own path -- can be found at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percy_Greg… (more)