The Halstead Treasury of Ancient Science Fiction(ed.) M. Richardson. Halstead Press, 2001. ISBN: 1875684646 [Book review]

In light of the commonly held view that science fiction is a literary genre which arose within the nineteenth century context of the Industrial Revolution – and here we should note that the term 'science fiction' itself was not in use until the 1920's - is it tenable to posit the existence of a so-called 'ancient' science fiction? 'Yes' is the emphatic answer given to this question by Matthew Richardson, the editor of the Halstead Treasury of Ancient Science Fiction, a collection of tales which ranges from the Atlantis myth as it appears in Plato's Timaeus and Critias, through seminal classical authors like Lucian and Cicero, to ancient Asian and Arabic myths.