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Saturn has made appearances in fiction since the 1752 novelMicromégas byVoltaire. In the earliest depictions, it was portrayed as having a solid surface rather thanits actual gaseous composition. In many of these works, the planet is inhabited byaliens that are usually portrayed as being more advanced than humans. In modernscience fiction, theSaturnian atmosphere sometimes hostsfloating settlements. The planet is occasionally visited by humans andits rings are sometimesmined for resources.
Themoons of Saturn have been depicted in a large number of stories, especiallyTitan with itsEarth-like environment suggesting the possibility ofcolonization by humans and alien lifeforms living there. A recurring theme has been depicting Titanian lifeforms as slug-like.
In all of these stories, one can discern no general image of the planet, except for the usual tendency to suspect its inhabitants are more advanced than humans.
For a long time, Saturn was incorrectly believed to be asolid planet capable of hosting life on its surface.[2] The earliest depiction of Saturn in fiction was in the 1752 novelMicromégas byVoltaire, wherein analien fromSirius visits the planet and meets one of its inhabitants before both travel to Earth.[3][4][5] The inhabitants of Saturn have been portrayed in several different works since then, such as inHumphry Davy's 1830 novelConsolations in Travel and the anonymously published 1873 novelA Narrative of the Travels and Adventures of Paul Aermont among the Planets.[2][4][6] They are occasionally portrayed as warlike yet benevolent, as in the 1935 short story "The Fall of Mercury" byLeslie F. Stone where they aid humanity in a war againstMercury and the 1933 short story "The Men without Shadows" byStanton A. Coblentz where they come to Earth as conquerors in order to turn it into autopia.[2][7] In other works, they are evil, such as inClifton B. Kruse's 1935 short story "Menace from Saturn" and its 1936 sequel "The Drums".[2] In the 1890 novelThe Auroraphone byCyrus Cole Saturnians face arobot uprising, and in the 1900 novelThe Kite Trust byLebbeus H. Rogers they built theEgyptian pyramids.[2][5][8]
Saturnians are typically depicted as more advanced than the people of Earth,[2] including in the 1886 novelA Romance of Two Worlds byMarie Corelli and the 1894 novelA Journey in Other Worlds byJohn Jacob Astor IV; in both stories they resolvetheological questions.[4][5][9] Exceptions to this general trend include the 1886 novelAleriel, or A Voyage to Other Worlds byW. S. Lach-Szyrma where the planet'secosphere is dominated byfungi andinvertebrates and the 1901 novelA Honeymoon in Space byGeorge Griffith where it is populated by seaweed, reptiles, and primitivehumanoids.[5][10] Saturn is also sometimes portrayed as devoid of life, as in the 1936 short story "Mad Robot" byRaymond Z. Gallun.[2] Humanity takes refuge on Saturn in the 1935 short story "Earth Rehabilitators, Consolidated" byHenry J. Kostkos,[5] and the first crewed voyage to Saturn by humans is depicted in the 1941 short story "Man of the Stars" bySam Moskowitz.[2]
Once it was established that Saturn is agaseous planet, most works depicting such an environment were instead set onJupiter.[2] Nevertheless, Saturn remains a popular setting in modernscience fiction for several reasons includingits atmosphere being abundant with sought-afterhelium-3 andits magnetosphere not producing as intense radiation asthat of Jupiter.[1] Humans live infloating cities in Saturn's atmosphere in the 1976 novelFloating Worlds byCecelia Holland and the 1991 novelThe Clouds of Saturn byMichael McCollum.[3][4] A voyage into the atmosphere is depicted in the 1985 short story "Dreadsong" byRoger Zelazny,[5] and aliens are depicted as living in the atmosphere in the 1997 novelSaturn Rukh byRobert L. Forward.[3] In the 1996–1999The Night's Dawn Trilogy byPeter F. Hamilton, Saturn is a place wherebiological spaceships are created.[1] Both Saturn and its largest moon Titan are visited inBen Bova'sGrand Tour series in the 2003 novelSaturn and the 2006 novelTitan, respectively.[1][4]
In cinema, Saturn is visited by means of a recoveredalien spacecraft in the 1968 filmThe Bamboo Saucer,[4][11] serves as the destination for anature reserve containingpost-apocalyptic Earth's remaining plant life in the 1972 filmSilent Running,[1][12] and is devoured byGalactus in the 2007 filmFantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.[1] The planet has also been featured in severalcomic books; theDC heroJemm is from Saturn, and the evilKronans inMarvel'sThor comics have a base there.[2] Saturn appears as a major location in therole-playing gamesJovian Chronicles,Transhuman Space, andEclipse Phase, as well as the video gamesSystem Shock andDead Space 2.[1]
Therings of Saturn aremined for resources in several works; they are a source of ice inIsaac Asimov's 1952 short story "The Martian Way" and the 1981 short story "The Iceworm Special" byJoe Martino, and provide raw material for a weapon in the 1935 short story "Menace from Saturn" by Clifton B. Kruse.[4][5] One of the rings is painted red by a religious group in the 1977 short story "Equinoctial" byJohn Varley, while another faction seeks to undo the colour change.[4][13] In Asimov's 1986 novelFoundation and Earth, the rings allow for positive identification of theSolar System in thefar future.[4] Owing to the aesthetic appearance of the rings, the vicinity of Saturn is a popular setting for spacecraft in visual media.[1]
Saturn's moons, especiallyTitan, have generally received more attention from writers than the planet itself.[2][4][5] The satellite system hides alarge circular sentientartificial world in John Varley's 1979–1984Gaea trilogy that begins with the novelTitan.[4][5][14][15]
As a comparativelyEarth-like world, Titan has attracted attention from writers as a place that could becolonized by humans and inhabited by extraterrestrial life.[5] Early depictions of native inhabitants of the moon appear in the form of giantprotozoa inBob Olsen's 1932 short story "Captain Brink of the Space Marines" and enormous thinking spiders inEdwin K. Sloat's 1932 short story "Loot of the Void".[2][5]Stanley G. Weinbaum's 1935 short story "Flight on Titan" featurestelepathicthreadworms, the first appearance of what would later become a recurring image of Titanian life as similar to terrestrial slugs.[2][4][5][14][16] The 1941 novelSojarr of Titan byManly Wade Wellman tells the tale of a human child who grows up orphaned on Titan, inspired byEdgar Rice Burroughs'Tarzan books.[2][17][18]
Titan became more popular as a setting for science fiction stories in the 1950s as advances inplanetary science revealed the harsh conditions ofMars andVenus.[14] The 1951 novelThe Puppet Masters byRobert A. Heinlein tells the story of analien invasion by parasiticmind-controlling "slugs" from Titan that can be defeated only by a plague from thejungles of Venus,[14] and slug-like aliens from Titan exert indirect influence on humans on Earth by having them play games in the 1963 novelThe Game-Players of Titan byPhilip K. Dick.[2][14] Thecolonization of Titan is depicted in the 1954 novelTrouble on Titan byAlan E. Nourse,[3][4][5] the 1961 short story "Saturn Rising" byArthur C. Clarke depicts efforts to attracttourists to the moon,[2][5] and the 1975 novelImperial Earth by Clarke portrays aclone who lives on a Titan colony and journeys to Earth.[2][4][19] The 1959 novelThe Sirens of Titan byKurt Vonnegut is asatire wherein humans are manipulated into journeying to Titan to aid aTralfamadorian stranded there,[2][20][21] and the moon is inhabited by an alien lifeform who travelled to theSolar System to communicate with the Sun in the 1977 novelIf the Stars are Gods byGregory Benford andGordon Eklund.[4][5][22]
Theflybys of the Saturnian system by theVoyager probes in 1980 and 1981 revealed thatTitan's atmosphere—already known to be thick andmethane-rich—was opaque, preventing any observations of (or indeed,from) the surface. Following this, science fiction writers' interest waned, and Titan was more often portrayed as one location among many in theouter Solar System rather than being the primary focus.[14] Theterraforming of Titan appears as a background element in stories such asKim Stanley Robinson's 1985 novelThe Memory of Whiteness and his 1996 novelBlue Mars, while a previously terraformed Titan that has reverted to its natural state appears inStephen Baxter's 1994 novelRing.[14] A voyage to Titan is portrayed in the 1997hard science fiction novelTitan by Baxter.[1][3][4]
Tethys is inhabited byintelligent life in the 1934 short story "A Matter of Size" byHarry Bates.[2]Rhea is colonized by humans in the 1956 novelThe Stars My Destination byAlfred Bester.[4] The 1954 novelThe Secret of Saturn's Rings byDonald A. Wollheim and the 1958 novelLucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn by Isaac Asimov are both set partially onMimas.[2]Iapetus is the site of an alien artefact in Arthur C. Clarke's 1968 novel2001: A Space Odyssey (the film version from the same year instead uses Jupiter), a voyage to the moon is depicted inPoul Anderson's 1981 short story "The Saturn Game", andfirst contact with an alien species happens there in the 1986 novelSaturnalia byGrant Callin.[2][4][23] In the 2005 novelPushing Ice byAlastair Reynolds,Janus is revealed to be an alien spacecraft.[1] Following the discovery ofliquid water beneath the surface ofEnceladus, the moon featured in the 2016 short story "The Water Walls of Enceladus" byMercurio D. Rivera.[2]
The earliest fiction featuring Saturn is probably Voltaire'sMicromégas (1750). Much later, Saturn is central in Poul Anderson's "The Saturn Game" (1981) and Michael A. McCollum'sThe Clouds of Saturn (1991), where human cities float in Saturn's atmosphere. The planet's atmosphere is also the home of the two-brained, four-kilometer-wide creatures of Robert F. Forward'sSaturn Rukh (1997). Saturn's largest satellite, Titan—interesting because of its thick atmosphere—is colonized in Alan E Nourse's 1954 juvenile novel,Trouble on Titan, while Stephen Baxter'sTitan (1997) is about a space mission to the satellite.
one army of plant-human symbiotes are painting the rings of Saturn red, as a triumphant monument to human energy, while another as eagerly removes the paint
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