News From The Moon

NEWS FROM THE MOONNine proto-science fiction tales byGeorges Eekhoud, Stéphane Mallarmé, Guy de Maupassant, Louis-Sébastien Mercier, Eugène Mouton, Fernand Noat, Jean Richepin, Adrien Robert & Albert Robidaedited by Brian Stablefordcover by Gil Formosa"Ah, if I had my apes, the pirates wouldn't hold on for long!" Farandoul said."I can save you," said a firm voice,which suddenly emerged from the depths of the tunnel.Farandoul drew his revolver."Fear not, I'm a friend," the voice added. "I am Captain Nemo, and I will save you."Captain Nemo Meets The King of the ApesThis collection of nine proto-science fiction tales, translated and edited by renowned science fiction writer and scholar Brian Stableford, ranges from Louis-Sébastien Mercier's 1768 opening tale, in which the hero communicates with the dead through a beam that anticipates a modern-day laser, to an 1887 story by Guy de Maupassant that speculates on Martian life. In between, we have tales of a heart transplant, a device that can see through time and an alien dragon.The book also includes Albert Robida's classic novella "The Monkey King" in which Saturnin Farandoul, shipwrecked as a baby and raised by apes on a Pacific Island, visits the Mysterious Island and joins forces with Captain Nemo to battle the savage pirate hordes of Bora-Bora.The stories gathered here exemplify the manifest intention of writers from the 18th and early 19th centuries to create a new genre of modern, imaginative fiction, distinctively different from the Utopias and occult romances typical of the times. This edition includes a historical introduction and notes by Stableford.Contents:News from the Moon (1768) by Louis-Sébastien MercierThe Embalmed Hand (1867) by Adrien RobertThe Future Phenomenon (1866) by Stéphane MallarméThe Metaphysical Machine (1877) by Jules RichepinThe Monkey King (1879) by Albert Robida (excerpt from The Adventures of Saturnin Farandoul)The Historioscope (1883) by Eugène MoutonTony Wandel's Heart (1884) by Georges EekhoudMartian Mankind (1887) by Guy de MaupassantThe Red Triangle (1902) by Fernand NoatIntroduction & Notes by Brian Stableford