A press release from Stephanie Elliott of Wesleyan University Press:
J.-H. Rosny aine was the first writer to conceive of and write about aliens and alternate life forms, a vital contribution to the science fiction genre. His fascination with evolutionary scenarios and long historical vistas—from first man to last man—are important precursors to the myriad cosmic epics of modern fiction.
Although Rosny’s work is well-known in Europe, and crucial for the understanding of the science fiction genre, it remains virtually unknown in the English-speaking world. Three Science Fiction Novellas: From Prehistory to the End of Mankind, translated by Daniele Chatelaine and George Slusser, brings three of Rosny’s works to English readers for the first time. “The Xipehuz” is a prehistoric tale in which the human species battles strange geometric alien life forms. “Another World” is the story of a mysterious being who does not live in the same acoustic and temporal world as humans. “The Death of the Earth” is a scientifically uncompromising Last Man story.
In addition to the stories, Three Science Fiction Novellas includes a rich introductory essay that explains Rosny’s place in the science fiction canon, as well as his groundbreaking use of evolutionary theory in constructing his narratives. It could be argued that Rosny was the first to use “hard” science in his science fiction writing. Making him, perhaps, the father of “hard” science fiction.
J.-H. Rosny aine, or Joseph-Henri Boex (1856-1940), was born in Belgium and wrote prolifically and in a variety of genres: science fiction, fantastic and supernatural tales, prehistoric novels of the “lost race” variety (from which the film The Quest for Fire was made), and a series of realistic narratives in the tradition of Emile Zola’s naturalistic novel. Daniele Chatelain is a professor of French at the University of Redlands, and author of Perceiving and Telling: A Study of Iterative Discourse. George Slusser is a professor of comparative literature and curator of the Eaton Collection at the University of California, Riverside. Chatelain and Slusser’s copublications include the translation of Balzac’s The Centenarian and the edited volume Transformations of Utopia: Changing Views of the Perfect Society.