Book Review:
The Halstead Treasury of
Ancient Science Fiction

Edited with commentaries by Matthew Richardson
Published by Halstead Press, Australia, ©2001.
ISBN 1-875684-64-6

Reviewed by Adrian Gaetano.

This book is a culture shock of the most pleasant kind - because it presents science fiction concepts that are familiar to modern readers: robots, space flight, aliens. The surprise occurs when you realise not only the age of some of the material but exactly how familiar it all is.

Stories include those from ancient Rome and medieval Japan. Authors include Cicero and Plato. Yet their creations all marry together as easily as those within a modern anthology.

The first story is perhaps the most surprising - all the more so, because it is one of the world's oldest surviving science fiction stories, and is known throughout modern society. Plato wrote "Timaeus" and "Critias" around 400BC. His mention of Atlantis is often regarded today as fact, but he was apparently presenting a fictional discourse about society.

Lucian was a Syrian who lived two centuries later. In his ironically titled story, "True Story", he lampoons Plato's utopian visions in an adventure which predates "Gulliver's Travels" by millennia. His explorer seeks brave new worlds in battles and adventures worthy of the most seasoned starship captain. Of particular interest is his trip to the Moon, meeting an all-male race: "Their marriages are man and man, and they are completely unaware of the word 'woman'..." He briefly discusses their methods of single-sex procreation and cloning to reproduce their species. Mythical and historical figures intermix in this story.

Other material in the collection includes a mechanical/robot horse from " The 1001 Nights", a medieval Japanese story about visitation by aliens, and an ancient Chinese astronomer's poem mentioning black holes and meteors.

The tone and style of each entry is as varied and different as its background and era. Challenging and compelling reading.