The History of Science Fiction

It is an enormous effort to review a graphic novel about the History of science fiction, the same way it must have been a titanic endeavour for Xavier Dollo and Djibril Morissette-Phan, not only to investigate and highlight, but to put into a somehow coherent story all the information regarding a subject that continues to expand. Let me explain myself: This graphic novel could have been just separated into independent chapters and then put together, but the authors managed to link every single detail, data and moment in a fascinating way.
There are certain parts that feel heavier than others, moments when the reader receives so much information they just need to breathe, stop reading and take in everything they just learnt, but I do not feel this is something that could be reviewed as negative, but simply as the perfect description of what this title is: a massive encyclopaedia to which one should refer to when exploring certain passages of the History of science fiction, a basic in any documentation bibliography list, a book to come back to when in need of specific titles or data.
One of the highlights are, in fact, the different lists the reader can find throughout the book, such as basic bibliographies of great authors such as Robert A. Heinlein or Ursula K. Le Guin; lists regarding comic books, with examples such as Twelve comics to help you discover science fiction or thirty-nine(!) representative science-fiction graphic novels; Ten science-fiction novels to initiate your children; and a long etc. I found myself constantly taking notes and expanding my ever-growing to-read list.

I am not sure if visual history books are a new trend or if I am late to discovering these, but I am loving it!

What a great way to go through time and talk about the various phases of science-fiction, through literature and other media. Following conversations between some of the most influential authors and thinkers of their time.

Reading this also showed me how inspiration can come from such a variety of backgrounds and interest! You don’t have to understand science to write science-fiction, just be passionate and inquisitive about things, whether is be space, technology, society, and everything else.

As much as I was thrilled to recognize a lot of the easter eggs and memorabilia represented through these pages, I felt slightly ashamed calling myself a sci-fi fan when I now realize how few of the classics I have actually read. But this is the opportunity to make myself a beautiful reading list from all the science-fiction classics across multiple sub-genres!

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the author, the publishers and the NetGalley team for providing me with an Advanced copy. I cherished this opportunity to read it in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Humanoids, Inc. for an advanced copy of this graphic novel reference book.

In the graphic novel The History of Science Fiction: A Graphic Novel Adventure written by Xavier Dollo with art by Djibril Morissette-Phan, newbies and hardcore science fiction fans have been given an extraordinary gift. Covering the first appearances of speculative fiction in literature and traveling thousands of years into the future, a a future created by visionary authors whose tales we still read. This book tries to encapsulate everything that makes science fiction the art form that it is. For its length the pair succeed, covering books, film, ideas, authors, international science fiction, movements and the importance of women to the field.

The art is perfect for the book, vaguely European in the best Heavy Metal style, not flashy, and full of fun Easter eggs and information. The writing is informative, sometimes a little information dumping so, but that can easily be forgiven considering the medium and how much data and facts they are trying to share. The narrative never lags, just as the reader is thinking, or enough about Grandmasters I want to learn more about.., a new section begins. In addition there are lists featuring best works in manga, graphic novels, stories, novels, movies, and the like that is bound to cause arguments from jaded fans, but be great jumping off points for new readers to the field.

I do hope this is Volume 1 of a ongoing series. There is a brief mention of modern science fiction, and little on science fiction outside of America and England, which would be perfect for a second even third volume. Again that is just a minor quibble. A hugely enjoyable resource, beautiful to look at, with the ability to expand the mind no matter what level of fandom.

A comprehensive look at the history of science fiction through an appropriately sci-fi lens of its own - a robot museum of robots. Built on the biographies of those who came before contemporary authors, literally going back to 2 A.D. with Lucian of Samosata, it provides a veritable whose who of authors with works you may have skipped over. The bulk of the authors in this volume are British, so naturally a TARDIS is employed to help ease narrative shifts.

As a comic book fan, I personally enjoyed the inclusion and weaving into he narrative of the place of recent major series like "Y: The Last Man", "The Manhattan Projects", and even the recently finished "Sex Criminals" alongside classics like "Watchmen."

The closing moments of the book, after reflecting on where the genre has come from Mary Shelly's ghost story bet to today, reflects on the fact that there is no one contemporary definition of Science Fiction today, and that like all art forms there are schools that have their benefits and detriments to one another. But it's all science fiction. There's no one exact definition of it. Well, except for the one Deep Thought has. But we all know that correct answer already.

This was a great book! It was an interesting history of science fiction written in a style that would really appeal to science fiction fans and booklovers alike. The illustrations were captivating and I think this would make a great addition to any library!

I absolutely loved this book! It’s a bit text heavy - but honestly, I loved that. There is a wealth of information in it. I made a list of books that I want to read while I was reading it, and ending up reading two other books mentioned that really caught my eye (one by Asimov and one by Simak) at the same time as reading this book. It was really fun having different authors guiding the story along and acting as narrators. The illustrations are very well done and helped very much to support the text!

This is definitely something I want on my bookshelf, and will be buying it when it comes out!

<i>Thanks to NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Date finished: 2/11/2021
Date published/released: 23rd November 2021

4.5⭐
📱

Thank you to Netgalley for approving this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

As an avid science fiction reader, I was very interested by this one.
This is a graphic novel story featuring 2 robot characters who enter a museum of science fiction to learn more about their history and origins.

I was absolutely fascinated to find out the history of science fiction, as well as the origins and influences of my favourite sci-fi genre (space opera),also my favourite sci-fi books, movies and tv shows.

I loved how big of a role Doctor Who played in this. The sci-fi authors mentioned used the TARDIS to get around the different time periods, as well as traveling from America to England and back again. I also loved the recommendations throughout the book for each subgenre of science fiction.

The only real negative to this one, it wasn't the easiest thing to read off my phone.

This is one of the most dangerous books I have ever read... dangerous for my pocketbook and shelf-space.
This enemy illustrated and written graphic novel literally walks you through the history of Sci-Fi by presenting it to and thrive the hearts of science fiction history. Tons of name dropping (authors and titles) that left me constantly adding to my books to read list. I thought I was fairly well read in science fiction, but I will be years in reading through just the books that are mentioned in this work that I haven't read before.
The only criticism I have is that it is very western & English in nature. There is little to no mention of authors in the science fiction genre that wrote in other languages or other cultures. Is it that science fiction is inherently an English language genre? I think not, and adding those author would be the only thing that would make this book even more interesting (though many times longer).
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

The History of Science Fiction was one of those reads where I needed a pen and paper (or some electronic alternative). I took notes, yes. Lots of it.

This graphic novel is a deep dive into the history of sci-fi. Before I read this, I knew some sci-fi history, but there were many facts that I didn’t know. There is a lot of info on early days that I wasn’t familiar with. But I must warn you that this is not a lightweight read. It’s quite dense and full of information. So it’s not suitable for all readers and occasions. I would say this graphic novel is best for true sci-fi fans because it contains a lot of facts about classic sci-fi writers. Some passages are very dense with information, and therefore a bit difficult to read.

I appreciate all the lists of books, movies, TV series, mangas, graphic novels, etc. I will definitely look for some of these works in the future and try to place them somewhere on my huge To Read List.

Thanks to Humanoids, Inc. for the ARC and the opportunity to read this! All opinions are my own.