SCIENCE FICTION TIMELINE
Originally created by the team at ArtScience Museum Singapore, this timeline explores the development of science fiction from the 19th century to the present day. Here, the narrative has been expanded with speculative fiction books by First Nations authors, compiled and introduced by expert advisor Dr. Mykaela Saunders. We invite you to immerse yourself in the books and films provided for as little or as long as you like, travelling through these portals to imaginative worlds.
2010s - present
The Swan Book
Alexis Wright, Giramondo, 2013
‘Water’, from Heat and Light
Ellen van Neerven, UQP, 2014
Ghost Bird
Lisa Fuller (UQP)
Firelight
John Morrissey, Text, 2023
Unlimited Futures: Speculative, Visionary Blak+Black Fiction
Edited by Ellen van Neerven and Rafief Ismael, Fremantle Press, 2022
Walking the Clouds: an anthology of Indigenous science fiction
Edited by Grace L Dillon, University of Arizona Press, 2012
So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasy
Edited by Nalo Hopkinson & Uppinder Mehan, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2004
Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements
Edited by adrienne maree brown & Walidah Imarisha, AK Press, 2015
Everything Everywhere All at Once
A24, 2022
Arrival
Paramount Pictures, Xenolinguistics, LLC, 2016
Ex Machina
Universal City Studios Productions L.L.L.P. 2014
Her
Untitled Rick Howard Company LLC, 2013
Ready Player One
Random House Publishing Group, 2012
Cover illustration by WHISKYTREE INC., cover design by Jim Massey
"Ready Player One by Ernest Cline" by asmodejs is marked with Public Domain Mark 1.0.
Folding Beijing
Zhejiang Education Press, 2023
Annihilation
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014
Cover design by Charlotte Strick, illustration by Eric Nyquist
The Black Tide of Heaven
Tor, 2017
Cover illustration by Yuko Shimizu
Clone
Zubaan, 2018
Cover illustration by Sukruti Anah Stanley
2000s
Cloverfield
Paramount Pictures Corporation, 2008
War of the Worlds
Paramount Pictures Corporation & DreamWorks LLC, 2005
Sunshine
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation & Dune Entertainment, LLC, 2007
The Host
Chungeorahm Film, 2006
Altered Carbon
Del Rey, 2003
Cover illustration based on a photograph by Lynn Saville/Photonica, cover design by David Stevenson
"Richard K. Morgan - Altered Carbon" by RA.AZ is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Never Let Me Go
Knopf Doubleday, 2006
The Three-Body Problem
Tor, 2014
Cover illustration by Stephan Martiniere
The Shadow Speaker
DAW Books, 2023
Cover illustration by Greg Ruth
The Windup Girl
Night Shade Books, 2009
Cover illustration by Raphael Lacoste
"windup girl" by cdrummbks is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
1990s
Kadaitcha Sung
Sam Watson, 1990
Land of The Golden Clouds,
Archie Weller, 1998
Ghost in the Shell
Kodansha, Bandai Visual, Manga Entertainment, Production I.G., 1995
The Matrix
WV Films, LLC., 1999
Cowboy Bebop
S1, E19
Sunrise, Bandai Visual, 1999
Battle Angel Alita
Volume 1
Kodansha Comics, 2017
Cover illustration by Yukito Kishiro
Snow Crash
Bantam Spectra, 1992
Cover illustration by Bruce Jensen
"Neal Stephenson - Snow Crash" by RA.AZ is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Red Mars
Spectra Books, 1993
Cover illustration by Don Dixon
The Calcutta Chromosome
Picador, 1995
Butterfly War
Duty Free Area, pages 43–60
Book Story, 2013
1980s
Akira
Akira Committee Company Ltd., 1988
Blade Runner
The Blade Runner Partnership, 1982
Crazy Thunder Road
Toei Central Films, 1980
Sun Wukong Wreaks Havoc in the Atomic World
Children's Publishing House, 1980
Cover illustration by Yan Shanchun
Star Sapphire
Times Books International, 1985
Cyberpunk
Amazing Science Fiction Stories, Volume 57, Number 4
Experimenter Publishing, November 1983
“Cyberpunk, by Bruce Bethke” is distributed online as shareware.
Neuromancer
Ace, 1984
Cover illustration by James Warhola
The Handmaid’s Tale
Seal Books, 1986
Cover illustration by Fred Marcellino
"The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood" by Make It Old is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
1970s
Solaris
Mosfilm Studios, 1972
Space is the Place
North American Star System, 1974
Alien
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., 1979
The Female Man
W.H. Allen & Co., 1977
Cover illustration by Peter Andrew Jones
Houston, Houston, Do You Read?
Science Fiction Book Club, 1996
Cover illustration by Bob Eggleton
The World of Women and Women
Hayakawa Publishing, 1978
Singapore Science Fiction Short Story Competition
Singapore Science Center, 1979
Kindred
Doubleday, 1979
Cover illustrated by Larry Schwinger
1960s
Astro Boy
Tezuka Productions, 1963 – 1966
2001: A Space Odyssey
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., 1968
The Twilight Zone
CBS Inc., 1959 – 1964
A Wrinkle in Time
Laurel Leaf, 1976
Cover illustrated by Richard Bober
The Drowned World
Berkley Medallion, 1962
Cover illustrated by Richard Powers
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
Kadokawa Shoten, 2012
Cover illustration by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto
Dune
New English Library, 1984
Cover illustration by Dino De Laurentiis Corporation
"Dune" by coconinoco is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
The Left Hand of Darkness
Ace Books, 1978
Cover illustration by Alex Ebel
"left hand of darkness" by cdrummbks is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
1950s
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Allied Artists Pictures Corp., 1956
Warning from Space
Kadokawa Corporation, 1956
Forbidden Planet
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., 1956
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Universal Pictures Co., Inc., 1954
I, Robot
Digit Books, 1958
"I, ROBOT by 'Issac' Asimov. Digit 1958, 158 pages." by Jim Linwood is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
The Day of the Triffids
Penguin, 1985
Cover illustration by Andy Bridge, Marcel Mattin
"John Wyndham - The Day of the Triffids" by RA.AZ is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Tungga and the Flying Saucer
Malayan Indonesian Book and Magazine Store, 1953
Cover illustration by Naz Achnas
Twenty-Eleven
Aaj Publications, 1999.
Cover illustration by Ali Raza
Inter Ice Age 4
Kodansha, 1959
Cover illustration by Abe Machi
1940s
Frankenstein
Universal Pictures Corp., 1931
Bride of Frankenstein
Universal Pictures Corp., 1935
Things to Come
London Film Productions, Ltd., 1936
Mars Corps
Tokyo Nichinichi Shimbun, 1940
Cover illustration by Kenji Iizuka
Microcosmic God
North Atlantic, 2011
Cover illustration by Jacek Yerka, cover and book design by Paula Morrison
With Folded Hands
Astounding Science Fiction #39, July 1947
Street & Smith, 1947
Cover illustration by William Timmins
Sixth Column
Gnome Press, 1949
Cover illustrations by Edd Cartier
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Published by Penguin, 1975
Cover photograph by Humphrey Sutton
"Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell" by johnrobertshepherd is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
1930s
Metropolis
Universum Film A.G. (UFA), 1927
Algol: Tragedy of Power
Deutsche Lichtbild-Gesellschaft e.V. (DLG), 1920
Aelita, Queen of Mars
Mezhrabpom-Rus, 1924
Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future
Penguin Books, 1987
Cover Illustration by Allan Craddock
"BKTG17253" by Herzbube is licensed under CC-BY 4.0.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science
January 1930, Volume 1, Number 1
W. M. Clayton, 1930
Cover illustration by Hans Waldemar Wessolowski
“Astounding Stories, January 1930” is in the public domain.
Brave New World
Chatto & Windus, 1932
Cover illustration by Leslie Holland
Out of the Silent Planet
Avon Publishing Co., 1949
Cover illustration by Ann Cantor
"out of the silent planet" by cdrummbks is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Under the North Pole
Cultural Life Publishing House, 1940
1920s
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Thanhouser Film Corporation, 1912
We
Bantam Books, 1972
"WE by Yevgeny Zamyatin. Bantam (1972). 234 pages." by Jim Linwood is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
A. I. Laborer
Gaebyeok No. 56
Gaebyeoksa, 1925
"Gaebyeok Tongwon No. 56" is licensed under Type 1 in Gongnuri.
Amazing Stories #1
April 1926, Volume 1, Number 1
Experimenter Publishing, 1926
Cover illustration by Frank R. Paul
“Amazing Stories, April 1926. Volume 1, Number 1” is in the public domain.
The Colour Out of Space
Amazing Stories, September 1927, Volume 2, Number 6
Experimenter Publishing, 1927
Illustration by J. M. de Arago
“Title page for H.P. Lovecraft's "The Colour Out of Space" as it appeared in Amazing Stories, September 1927, p. 556.” Is in the public domain.
The Invisible Bubble
Amazing Stories, September 1928, Volume 3, Number 6
Experimenter Publishing, 1928
Illustration by Frank R. Paul
1910s
A Trip to the Moon
Star Film Company, 1902
New China
Published by Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1991.
The Lost World
Pan Books, 1952
"Pan 100 (1953)" by jhcrawshaw is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Darkness and Dawn
Dover Publications, 2015
Liquid Sunshine
Moscow Book Publishing House, 1917
Cover illustration by Mikhail Solomonov
Courtesy of https://fantlab.ru/edition320876.
Herland
Pantheon Books, 1979
Cover illustration by Louise Fili, Joan Hall
1900s
The Purple Cloud
Famous Fantastic Mysteries, Volume 10, Number 5, June 1949
Popular Publications, 1949
Cover illustration by Lawrence Sterne Stevens
“Famous Fantastic Mysteries, June 1949” is in the public domain.
The Stone of NǚWa
Toronto Book Garden, 2021
Sultana’s Dream
The Feminist Press at CUNY, 1988
The Iron Heel
Penguin Classics, 2007
Cover illustration by John French Sloan
Beatrice the Sixteenth
Mint Editions, 2023
Late 1800s
From the Earth to the Moon: A Direct Route in 97 Hours, 20 Minutes
Scribner, Armstrong & Company, 1874
Cover illustration by Émile-Antoine Bayard, Alphonse-Marie de Neuville
“From the Earth to the Moon Jules Verne” is in the public domain.
Erewhon
Trübner and Ballantyne, 1872
“Erewhon First ed cover” is in the public domain.
Mizora
Syracuse University Press, 2000
The Time Machine
Two Complete Science Adventure Books, Winter 1951, Volume 1, Number 4
Wings Publishing, 1951
Cover illustration by Allen Anderson
“Cover, Two Complete Science Adventure Books, Winter 1951” is in the public domain.
Story of the Missing One
Panjeree Publications, 2019
Early 1800s
Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus
Colburn and Bently, 1831
Illustration by Theodor von Holst
“Inside cover art from the 1831 edition of Frankenstein” is in the public domain.
The Mummy!: A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century
Colburn, 1828
“The Mummy! title page to the 1828 second edition” is in the public domain.
A Journal of 48 Hours of the Year 1945
Shambhabi – The Third Eye Imprint, 2014
Cover illustration by Tamojit Bhattacharya
The forebears of Kalimeros: Alexander, son of Philip of Macedon
Leo, 2017