Neptune in fiction

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Refer to caption
"A City on Neptune" by Frank R. Paul. Back cover of Amazing Stories, March 1941.

rocky planet rather than as having its actual gaseous composition; later works rectified this error. Extraterrestrial life on Neptune is uncommon in fiction, though the exceptions have ranged from humanoids to gaseous lifeforms. Neptune's largest moon Triton
has also appeared in fiction, especially in the late 20th century onwards.

Neptune

environmental conditions of the planet made it unappealing for writers to use it as a setting.[2]

Early depictions

The first time Neptune was mentioned in a work of fiction—then called "Leverrier's planet" after astronomer Urbain Le Verrier whose orbital calculations led to the planet's discovery—was in the 1848 novel The Triumphs of Woman by Charles Rowcroft where an inhabitant of the planet visits Earth.[9] Neptune was usually omitted in the subgenre of works visiting multiple locations in the Solar System that appeared in this time, though it did make some indirect appearances in works not otherwise set there.[9] Supernatural communication with its inhabitants appears in Marie Corelli's 1892 novel The Soul of Lilith.[9][10] In the 1897 short story "The Star" by H. G. Wells, an impact event causes Neptune to turn into a star and puts it on a collision course with Earth.[9][11] In Robert William Cole's 1900 novel The Struggle for Empire: A Story of the Year 2236, described by science fiction scholar E. F. Bleiler as the first space opera and by Westfahl as the first appearance of a galactic empire, the vicinity of Neptune is the site of a battle between the British Empire that has come to rule the Solar System and the forces of a rival empire centered on Sirius.[9][12][13]

Wonder Stories Quarterly
, Summer 1930

Early works incorrectly depicted Neptune as a

Miles J. Breuer, where the planet is covered in ice.[3][9] It also appears in the 1930 short story "The Monsters of Neptune" by Henrik Dahl Juve, this time with a tropical climate.[2] Alien life on Neptune, while uncommon,[14] appears in some stories;[2] "A Baby on Neptune" features gaseous lifeforms and "The Monsters of Neptune" grotesque creatures, while Neptune in the 1932 novel The Vanguard to Neptune by J. M. Walsh is populated by humanoids.[2][3] In the 1930 short story "The Universe Wreckers" by Edmond Hamilton, the former inhabitants of Neptune have left the planet for its moon Triton due to environmental changes.[9][15] The concept of Neptune turning into a star from "The Star" was reused in the 1932 short story "Raiders of the Universes" by Donald Wandrei, although in this case it then proceeds to leave the Solar System rather than heading towards its center.[9][16]

The most significant appearance of Neptune in fiction in this era is in the 1930 novel

pulp science fiction grew more sophisticated".[9]

Later depictions

[Gardner Dozois] didn't mind that there were elephants on Neptune, or that they breathed oxygen, or that they could speak English, or that they could forage and find food—but it bothered the hell out of him that I'd given Neptune a solid surface when everyone knows it's a gas giant, so I had to insert a sentence explaining that.

Mike Resnick, on selling the 2002 short story "The Elephants on Neptune" to Asimov's Science Fiction[18]

Once more became known about Neptune through advances in

world ship,[1] and in the 1997 film Event Horizon the titular spacecraft is adrift in Neptunian orbit.[4] The planet also appears in Jack Williamson's 1985 short story "At the Human Limit", Gregory Feeley's 1986 short story "Neptune's Reach", the adventures of comic book superhero Superman, the television series Doctor Who, and the video game Descent.[4][8][9]

Triton

Neptune's largest moon

exobiological expedition to Neptune.[9][20][21] In the 1994 novel Neptune Crossing by Jeffrey Carver, an alien on Triton helps humanity avert an impact event.[8]

See also

A photomontage of the eight planets and the MoonNeptune in fictionUranus in fictionSaturn in fictionJupiter in fictionMars in fictionEarth in science fictionMoon in science fictionVenus in fictionMercury in fiction
Clicking on a planet leads to the article about its depiction in fiction.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Langford, David; Stableford, Brian (2021). "Outer Planets". In Clute, John; Langford, David; Sleight, Graham (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (4th ed.). Retrieved 2021-11-04. Neptune, like Uranus, makes only relatively rare sf appearances except as part of a Grand Tour.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4408-6617-3
    . since these worlds have reasonably been viewed as cold and inhospitable, they have generally been underutilized as settings for science fiction stories.
  3. ^
    OCLC 2984418
    . Neptune has been largely overlooked in the genre
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-3-642-55343-1
    .
  5. ISBN 978-0-87338-416-2
    .
  6. ISBN 978-0-87338-604-3
    .
  7. ISBN 978-1-4766-8659-2
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-0-313-32951-7
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-0-415-97460-8
    .
  10. ISBN 978-0-87338-416-2
    .
  11. ISBN 978-0-87338-416-2
    .
  12. ISBN 978-0-87338-416-2
    .
  13. ISBN 978-1-4408-6617-3
    .
  14. ^
    ISBN 978-0-684-84958-4
    . Very few alternativersal versions of Neptune—even among those reported in the earliest days of imaginative exploration—feature an active ecosphere, the principal exceptions being located in two notable alternativerses in which Neptune became a significant refuge for human life following the expansion of the senescent sun.
  15. ISBN 978-0-87338-604-3
    .
  16. ISBN 978-0-87338-604-3
    .
  17. ^ Ashley, Mike; Clute, John (2022). "Stapledon, Olaf". In Clute, John; Langford, David; Sleight, Graham (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (4th ed.). Retrieved 2023-04-30.
  18. ISBN 978-1-59224-019-7
    .
  19. ^ Nicholls, Peter (2023). "Delany, Samuel R". In Clute, John; Langford, David; Sleight, Graham (eds.). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (4th ed.). Retrieved 2023-12-26.
  20. ^ Fraknoi, Andrew (January 2024). "Science Fiction Stories with Good Astronomy & Physics: A Topical Index" (PDF). Astronomical Society of the Pacific (7.3 ed.). p. 13. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-02-10. Retrieved 2024-03-16.
  21. ISSN 0198-6686
    .
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