The idea of colonizing the other worlds of our solar system has had an uncertain history because the optimism of sf writers has constantly been subverted and contradicted by the discoveries ofAstronomy. The attractions of the idea have, however, always overridden cautionary pessimism, and the reluctant acceptance of the inhospitability of local planets has served only to increase interest in colonizing the worlds of other stars (seeGalactic Empires).

The example of the British Empire was insufficient to inspire many early UK sf writers to speculate about its extension into space. The most important of those who did was AndrewBlair, whoseAnnals of the Twenty-Ninth Century (1874) was the most extravagant of earlyFuture Histories. H GWells used the example of the UK's colonial history as an analogy for the Martians' conduct inThe War of the Worlds (April-December 1897Pearson's;1898) but never considered the idea of mankind's colonizingMars, although Robert WCole did inThe Struggle for Empire (1900). Later writers ofScientific Romance were almost completely uninterested in the conquest of space; both J B SHaldane in "The Last Judgement" (inPossible Worlds, coll1927) and OlafStapledon inLast and First Men (1930) imagined mankind migrating to other worlds but only under extreme duress, as Earth became uninhabitable. The avoidance of the notion may be connected with a sense of shame about the methods employed in colonizing terrestrial lands; the parallel which Wells drew between the European invasion of Tasmania and the Martian invasion of Earth is a harsh one, and the brutality of thePolitics of colonization has always been a key issue in sf stories, even in the USPulp-magazine sf that made the conquest of space its central myth. Early cautionary allegories include EdmondHamilton's "A Conquest of Two Worlds" (February 1932Wonder Stories) and Robert AHeinlein's grim "Logic of Empire" (March 1941Astounding), although it was not until the 1950s that such lurid polemics as AvramDavidson's "Now Let Us Sleep" (September 1957Venture) and RobertSilverberg'sInvaders from Earth (1958 dos) could be published, and not until the 1970s that mature and effective moral tales like Silverberg'sDownward to the Earth (1970) and Ursula KLe Guin'sThe Word for World Is Forest (inAgain, Dangerous Visions, anth1972, ed HarlanEllison;1976) became commonplace. These stories of genocide,Slavery and exploitation are the harshest critiques of human behaviour found in US sf; they often embody a strong sense of guilt regarding the fate of the inhabitants of pre-Columbian North America. MikeResnick's bitter study of spoliation inParadise (1989) is an effective transfiguration of the history of Kenya.

Political issues are at the heart of another recurrent colonization theme, which deals with the relationship between colonies and the mother world. Here history provides – at least for US writers – much more attractive parallels, and the War of Independence has frequently been refought, from the earlyThe Birth of a New Republic (Winter 1931Amazing Stories Quarterly;1981 chap) by Miles JBreuer and JackWilliamson to IsaacAsimov's "The Martian Way" (November 1952Galaxy), Robert AHeinlein'sThe Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (December 1965-April 1966If;1966) and PoulAnderson'sTales of the Flying Mountains (April 1963-September 1965Analog as by Winston P Sanders; fixup1970). UK writers have been less enthusiastic about the notion of colonial defection, and sometimes develop images of a very uneasy relationship between Earth and its colonies; examples include Arthur CClarke'sThe Songs of Distant Earth (June 1958If; much exp1986) and Paul JMcAuley'sOf the Fall (1989; vtSecret Harmonies).

The pioneer spirit is something much celebrated in sf at all levels. The mythology of the conquest of the Old West is often transcribed into sf so literally that even the covered wagon is retained.Amazing Stories once published a novel – "Outlaw in the Sky" (February 1953Amazing) by Guy Archette (Chester SGeier) – in which only half a dozen words had been modified in making the transposition from Western to sf; a more recent example is the "pioneer" sequence of Heinlein'sTime Enough for Love (1973). Celebrations of the heroism of colonists fighting tremendous odds to tame hostile environments include HenryKuttner'sFury (May-July 1947Astounding as Lawrence O'Donnell;1950; vtDestination Infinity1956), Walter MMiller Jr's "Crucifixus Etiam" (February 1953Astounding), E CTubb'sAlien Dust (1955) and HarryHarrison'sDeathworld (1960). It is often difficult to offer a convincing motivation for the colonists, and so various reasons are commonly devised to compel colonization, as inThe Survivors (1958; vtSpace Prison1960) by TomGodwin,Orbit Unlimited (coll1961) by Poul Anderson,Mutiny in Space (1964) by Avram Davidson,Castaways' World (1963 dos; rev vtPolymath1974) by JohnBrunner andFarewell, Earth's Bliss (1966) by D GCompton (see alsoPrisons). A frequent subtheme deals with native populations that resist colonization, sometimes consciously and sometimes by virtue of the fact that theEcology of the planet has no suitable niche for the colonists. Many stories by Poul Anderson fall into this category, as do "'You'll Never Go Home Again!'" (July 1951Fantastic Adventures; vt "Beachhead" inBeachheads in Space, anth1952, ed AugustDerleth), "Drop Dead" (July 1956Galaxy) by Clifford DSimak and "Colony" (June 1953Galaxy) by Philip KDick.

One of the most significant uses which sf writers have found for human colonies on alien worlds is in building distorted societies, sometimes forSatire and sometimes forThought Experiments inSociology. Notable satirical exercises includeSearch the Sky (1954) by FrederikPohl and C MKornbluth,The Perfect Planet (1962) by Evelyn ESmith,A Planet for Texans (1958) by H BeamPiper and John JMcGuire, and many short stories by Eric FrankRussell, including the justly celebrated "... And Then There Were None" (June 1951Astounding). More straightforward sociological treatments include Poul Anderson'sVirgin Planet (1959), JohnJakes'sMask of Chaos (1970), Harry Harrison'sPlanet of the Damned (1962; vtSense of Obligation1967) and such remarkable novels asThe Left Hand of Darkness (1969) by Ursula K Le Guin,The Fifth Head of Cerberus (fixup1972) by GeneWolfe andAnd Chaos Died (1970) by JoannaRuss. In many of these stories the colonies are isolated worlds within aGalactic Empire. The notion of an extended chain of remote colony worlds is used in A BertramChandler'sRim Worlds novels and MurrayLeinster'sMed Ship stories.

Two fundamental classes of colonization story can be easily distinguished: the "romantic" and the "realistic". The first derives from a tradition which makes much of the exotic qualities of alien environments. Here the alien worlds are exotic Earths, little different from the distant lands of travellers' tales. Human and humanoid alien co-exist. The politics of exploitation is not the focal point of the story but may serve to turn the wheels of the plot as the hero, alienated from his or her own kind, champions the downtrodden natives against the horrors of vulgar commercialism. Women writers have been particularly prolific in this vein: LeighBrackett often used it, as did Marion ZimmerBradley in herDarkover novels. AnneMcCaffrey'sPern novels likewise belong to the romantic school, and JackVance has written many novels featuring a less stylized romanticism. Some of the most impressive works in the romantic vein are CordwainerSmith's stories of Old North Australia and hisQuest of the Three Worlds (fixup1966). Other stories of the romantic persuasion often emphasize quasimystical processes of adaptation to the alien environment: a reharmonization of mankind and nature that often covertly echoes the Eden myth (seeEcology;Life on Other Worlds;Pastoral). A simple example isOutpost Mars (1952; rev vtSin in Space1961) by Cyril Judd (C MKornbluth and JudithMerril); a more complex one isEight Keys to Eden (1960) by MarkClifton. The archetype of the species is RayBradbury's "The Million Year Picnic" (Summer 1946Planet Stories). The image of a lost Eden plays an important part in many of the otherwise realistic colonization novels of Michael GConey, tingeing them with a peculiar nostalgia; examples includeMirror Image (1972),Syzygy (1973) andBrontomek! (1976).

The "realistic" school, whose authors concentrate on blood, sweat and tears rather than glamorous exotica, developed in the post-World War Two era, although Edmond Hamilton's archetypal "What's it Like out There?" (December 1952Thrilling Wonder) was written in the 1930s. This school won its early successes outside the sf magazines, being extensively developed by Heinlein and Arthur C Clarke in stories published in general-fiction magazines and in (often juvenile) novels. Heinlein's contributions includeRed Planet (1949),Farmer in the Sky (August-November 1950Boys' Life as "Satellite Scout"; exp1950) and many of the stories inThe Green Hills of Earth (coll1951). Clarke's include theVenture to the Moon series of vignettes in the LondonEvening Standard and the novelsThe Sands of Mars (1951) andEarthlight (August 1951Thrilling Wonder;1955). PatrickMoore's series of juveniles, includingDomes of Mars (1956) andVoices of Mars (1957), also belongs to this tradition. These juvenile novels take great pains to achieve some kind of authenticity, but "realism" in the magazines was much more a matter of literary posturing, consisting mainly of ultra-tough novels with a strong seasoning of cynicism:Police Your Planet (March-September 1953Science Fiction Adventures as by Erik van Lhin; cut1956 as by Erik van Lhin; rev1975) by Lesterdel Rey is a cardinal example. Realistic treatment of colonization methods remains a common theme in sf; it plays a subsidiary but important role in, for example,Mindbridge (1976) by JoeHaldeman andGateway (1977) by Frederik Pohl. The realistic school has suffered somewhat where it has conscientiously remained within the boundaries of a solar system whose hostility has become increasingly apparent, but it has been saved from extinction not only by the idea of domed colonies with self-enclosed ecologies but also by the notion ofTerraforming, significantly treated in such works as Kim StanleyRobinson'sRed Mars (1992), PamelaSargent'sVenus of Dreams (1986) andVenus of Shadows (1988), and IanMcDonald'sDesolation Road (1988), which features a remarkable juxtaposition of the ultra-romantic and cynically realistic modes. Other writers have favoured the idea that colonists need not bother with worlds at all; KonstantinTsiolkovsky, the pioneer ofRocket research, proposed that we might build artificial satellites to contain orbital colonies, and this notion ofSpace Habitats has been sophisticated in recent times by such nonfiction writers as Gerard KO'Neill. Sf stories displaying such ideas include a series of novels by Mack Reynolds begun withLagrange Five (1979; later novels in the series are ed DeanIng), Lois McMasterBujold'sFalling Free (December 1987-February 1988Analog;1988), and the satellite-tv soap operaJupiter Moon (1990).

Terraforming adapts worlds to colonists, but one might logically expect it to be much easier to adapt colonists to worlds. Relatively little attention has been given to this approach. Biological-engineering methods were applied to the business of colonization by JamesBlish in the stories making upThe Seedling Stars (fixup1957) (seePantropy) and by Poul Anderson in "Call Me Joe" (April 1957Astounding), and were investigated in more detail by Frederik Pohl inMan Plus (1976), but increasing interest inGenetic Engineering has only lately begun to bring forth prolific speculation in this vein.

Tales centred on interstellar colonies continue to appear in the twenty-first century: examples include AllenSteele'sCoyote sequence beginning withCoyote (fixup2002); J BrianClarke'sAlphanauts (fixup2006); PatrickNess's powerfulYoung Adult trilogyChaos Walking, opening withThe Knife of Never Letting Go (2008); BrianHerbert's and Kevin JAnderson'sHellhole (2010); and ChrisBeckett'sDark Eden (2012). The theme is also central to the BBCTelevision seriesOutcasts (2010).

Theme anthologies concerning colonization includeThe Petrified Planet (anth1952) edited anon by FletcherPratt andMedea: Harlan's World (anth1985) edited by HarlanEllison. [BS/DRL]

see also:Generation Starships;Living Worlds.

previous versions of this entry

• Internet Archive