Science fiction. (Oh, I desperately want the next two words to be 'Double Feature,' but no... )
The term sci-fi was coined by Famous Monsters magazine publisher Forrest J. Ackerman (lovingly remembered as 'The Ackermonster,' to go along with the new term for musical equipment, referred to as 'hi-fi,' but in reality science fiction goes back a long way, to the days of Georg Melies, H.G. Wells and others.

True science fiction goes back to at least the eighteenth century, when Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels (1726) was published as one of the first works of science-related fantasy works. Some have claimed that Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was the first true example of that genre. More samples of the fantastic science story appeared throughout the nineteenth century and into the twentieth.

Toward the end of the nineteenth century, themes of alien invasion such as H. G. Wells' The War of the Worlds (1898) became popular. This story, which describes an invasion of Earth by Martian fighting machines, has become the seed for virtually every other alien invasion story, from Orson Welles' adaptation of the original story into a radio play which depicted an invasion of New Jersey, to films such as Independence Day and Battle For Los Angeles.

The twentieth century saw a blossoming of science fiction, both in literature and film. The idea of anthologies of SF stories (such as the one you're now reading) became popular. Among the earliest was Astounding Science Fiction, edited by John W. Campbell. A group of writers called the Futurians formed around Campbell's influence in New York City, including Isaac Asimov, Frederik Pohl, James Blish, and others. Other SF writers during this period of time included Robert A. Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, and A. E. van Vogt. Writers operating outside Campbell's sphere of influence included Ray Bradbury and Stanis?aw Lem.

This period is commonly referred to as the Golden Age of Science Fiction, characterized by so-called 'hard' SF stories celebrating technology and scientific achievement. This lasted until after World War II, when it seemed as though some real life creations exceeded those of writers' imaginations. Anthology magazines became even more popular, such as Galaxy, Amazing Stories, and Saturn, and many young writers who were influenced by these began writing stories which were less technologically oriented and more about what it would be like to be living in space or on another planet. the hard sciences and more on the social sciences.

In more recent years, it seems that SF novels, film and even television shows have become increasingly popular, with a huge volume of books, film series such as The Hunger Games series, and the various incarnations of Stargate. It's been a very good time for science fiction fans.

And now comes our little offering. There's a variety of themes represented here; an encounter with a cybernetically enhanced human (a cyborg), a boy who just wants to leave the farm and go to the big city -- that is, he's tired of the little moon he's lived on his entire life and wants to see the rest of the universe -- time travel, alien invasion, all the usual. But these are stories from our perspective, from our point of view. Please enjoy them.

This is the latest in a series of short anthologies from Five59.com which includes the annual 13 BITES horror collection, SUMMER DREAMS and WINTER TALES, and they keep coming every four months or so. Visit us at Facebook.com/Five59 for information on how to submit your short stories.

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• Literature & FictionShort Stories

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