I’ve been thinking about the stories I’ve written (5 published, 2 unpublished) and have realized that there are multiple writers who have influenced me in this genre. Today I want to discuss just a couple of what I’ll refer to as the ancients — Jules Verne and Robert Louis Stevenson. Stevenson? #syfy ?
Okay, Robert Louis Stevenson wasn’t really a science fiction writer, although he did write “The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde”. That could qualify on a technicality, but usually when I think of science fiction I’m thinking about futuristic adventures in outer space. And there was the keyword, #adventure. In the realm of science fiction dystopian fiction seems to be most popular right now with military science fiction close behind. My stories, published and unpublished focus on adventure and character development. So, I have to include Stevenson for such stories as #Kidnapped, and #TreasureIsland.
Jules Verne is another writer who focuses on adventure with such great works as Journey to the Center of the Earth, Mysterious Island. 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, Around the World in 80 Days, and In Search of the Castaways. It is hard not to get drawn into the worlds and characters he creates.
So again thinking and reflecting, I have always stated that I write in the shadow of Robert Heinlein and his juvenile science fiction in particular. But Stevenson and Verne as as much an influence as my favorite 20th century writer Robert Heinlein… more on him in another post.
Ray Bradbury stated quite accurately that “We are all, in one way or another the children of Jules Verne. I believe that is quite true with respect to science fiction in particular.