The Navigators of Space

Book excerpt: J.-H. Rosny Aine is the second most important figure in modern French science fiction after Jules Verne. Rosny, who was a member of the distinguished Goncourt literary academy, was also the first writer to straddle the line between mainstream literature and science fiction. Until now, Rosny has best been known to the English-speaking public for his prehistoric thriller, Quest for Fire. In The Xipehuz, men encounter inorganic aliens, with whom all forms of communication prove impossible. In Another World, a mutant whose vision is superior to that of ordinary men discovers that humans share the Earth with two other species, the invisible Moedigen and Vuren. In The Death of the Earth, Earth, in the far future, has become a desert, and the last descendents of humanity are slowly being replaced by a new species, the metal-based "Ferromagnetals." In The Navigators of Space, astronauts travel to Mars in a spaceship powered by artificial gravity and come in contact with a dying race that is gentle, peaceful, six-eyed and three-legged. This is a series of seven volumes, six of which are translated and annotated by Brian Stableford, devoted to presenting the classic works of this giant of French science fiction.