A fascinating graphic tracing the evolution of science fiction has cropped up via one of my favorite blogs, Strange Maps. Throughout my life I've gone through phases with specific sci-fi authors (Poe, Wells, Lovecraft, Bradbury), but never really with the genre as a whole. This map, however, does a fascinating job placing some of the familiar names and classic works in their cultural context. Through its Jules Verne-ish tentacles, it traces the separate threads of art, mythology, philosophy and science and how developments in each played into the growth of the literature (and, as a consequence, film as well). You could spend an hour or more poring over the map and still find interesting new avenues and intersections. If nothing else, it provides a cheat sheet of necessary reading.
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