
One of the earliest science fiction books was written by a 1660s duchess (2016) - Hooke
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/one-of-the-earliest-science-fiction-books-was-written-in-the-1600s-by-a-duchess
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mseepgood
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_True_Story](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_True_Story)

> A True Story is a novel written in the second century AD by Lucian of
> Samosata. [...] It is the earliest known work of fiction to include travel
> to outer space, alien lifeforms, and interplanetary warfare. As such, A True
> Story has been described as "the first known text that could be called
> science fiction".

~~~
flobosg
This is a nice overview of early science fiction:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_science_fiction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_science_fiction)

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tjalfi
Margaret Cavendish's book, The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing-
World, is available from Project Gutenberg at [0].

[0]
[http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51783](http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/51783)

~~~
lapetitejort
Yet another reference from The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (first
referenced in Black Dossier) that passed me by. Alan Moore certainly knows how
to dig deep into literature.

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mrlonglong
Wow, she just described a jet engine, nearly 400 years before it invented in
the late 1930s.

~~~
WalterBright
More accurately, the turbo-jet engine was invented in the 1930's
(independently by Ohain and Whittle). The turbo-jet has a compressor stage
driven by a turbine in the exhaust stream.

Prior jet engines were rocket engines, which go back to the ancient Chinese.

A ram-jet eliminates the turbine entirely, relying on aerodynamic forces to
provide the compression. Of course, the engine needs to be moving very fast
for this to work.

Fun fact: Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory was named "jet" instead of
"rocket" out of concern that the neighbors would be afraid of rockets. Of
course, rocket engines were what they were developing, not turbo-jets.

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082349872349872
"She becomes their Empress, and with her otherworldly subjects, she explores
natural wonders and questions their observations using science."

Not only early SF but also an early Mary Sue?

~~~
simplertms
For the uninitiated to fanfiction terminology Mary Sue refers to a character
who is so perfect and competent that it becomes absurd. I believe the name was
given to a parody fiction written for the Trekkie universe -- ah and wikipedia
confirms
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue))

Also this gem, an excerpt from the fanfiction: "Gee, golly, gosh, gloriosky,"
thought Mary Sue as she stepped on the bridge of the Enterprise. "Here I am,
the youngest lieutenant in the fleet - only fifteen and a half years old."
Captain Kirk came up to her.

"Oh, Lieutenant, I love you madly. Will you come to bed with me?" "Captain! I
am not that kind of girl!" "You're right, and I respect you for it. Here, take
over the ship for a minute while I go get some coffee for us." Mr. Spock came
onto the bridge. "What are you doing in the command seat, Lieutenant?" "The
Captain told me to." "Flawlessly logical. I admire your mind."

~~~
nilram
I was very interested when I learned my high school English teacher was
writing a novel and I expressed my admiration. “Oh, everyone’s writing a
novel,“ he replied. I asked him how it was going and he said he’d had this
character who was just too good and was taking over the book. “So,” he said,
“I killed him.”

