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Griffith, George

Entry updated 31 March 2025. Tagged: Author.

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Pseudonym of UK traveller, journalist, poet and author born George Chetwynd Griffith-Jones (1857-1906), the son of a clergyman and one of the most influential sf writers of his time; active as a poet in the 1880s, his first book beingPoems (coll1883 chap) as by Lara; he legally became George Griffith in 1894. He appeared frequently in the pre-sfMagazines andPulp magazines, particularlyPearson's Weekly andPearson's Magazine, writing as Griffith; he also wrote as Levin Carnac, Lara [see above], and Stanton Morich. He was instrumental in the transformation of theFuture War novel to a more sensational form, capitalizing on contemporary political anxiety; and he helped make up a literary coterie, including WilliamLe Queux, M PShiel and LouisTracy, which specialized in the genre.

Griffith first established himself with theAngel of the Revolution sequence ofScientific Romances, comprisingThe Angel of the Revolution: A Tale of the Coming Terror (21 January-14 October 1893Pearson's Weekly; cut1893) andOlga Romanoff: Or, the Syren of the Skies: A Sequel to "The Angel of the Revolution" (23 December 1893-August 1894Pearson's Weekly as "The Syren of the Skies"; rev1894). In the first volume a revolutionary organization called The Brotherhood of Freedom which – equipped both with aerial battleships (seeAirships) that have been armed with advancedWeapons and a newPower Source, and high-flyingBalloons that are used to bomb Britain –mounts a sustainedInvasion of Europe, and imposes socialist reforms upon the entire world. ThePax Aeronautica they have created is destined to last more than a century. Their leader, whose name is Natas [ie Satan], and who has dominated events from his armoured airshipAriel, is a vulgarized intensification of thetopos of the ByronicAntihero first made popular by JulesVerne with his creation ofCaptain Nemo, a figure he himself apotheosized in the eponymousRobur the Conqueror (1886).

The sequel, set at the end of this period of enforced peace, describes the upheaval which transforms thisUtopian state to one of total anarchy, a transformation engineered by the eponymous Olga Romanoff, aShe figure with occult knowledge of mesmerism (seeHypnosis) who replaces the first angel, the daughter of Natas from the previous book. Joining forces with Islam, which had suffered defeat in the previous volume, she conducts a ruinous war with the Brotherhood, now known as Aerians, only to be interrupted by aComet which gasses the entire planet, fatally to her. The Aerians, who have hidden deepUnderground, then inherit the earth. Both are remarkable if hyperbolic examples of theFuture War narrative, though a far cry from the timidities of theBattle of Dorking tale. Over and above their foresight regarding battle tactics in air warfare and for their anticipation of radar, sonar and nuclear weapons, they include further elements as well which would only later become commonplace, notably the struggle by international cartels for world domination and the apocalyptic visions of Armageddon on Earth and ofDisaster from the heavens byComet.

Variously sorted, though not often with the energy ofAngel of the Revolution, these elements can be found also inThe Outlaws of the Air (4 September 1894-23 May 1895Short Stories; rev1895), which features a different Brotherhood, a differentUtopia, this time confined to anIsland, aShe figure, and an eventualPax Aeronautica; inThe Great Pirate Syndicate (19 February-23 July 1898Pick-Me-Up; rev1899) a cabal of English capitalists creates an aerial fleet of "pirates" to subdue the planet, Jews being selected out as noxious (seeRace in SF); inThe Lake of Gold: A Narrative of the Anglo-American Conquest of Europe (December 1902-July 1903Argosy;1903), a group of American industrialists, financed by the eponymous lake at the heart of a South American volcanic crater, bring about an equitable balance between capital and workers in America, though they must mount anInvasion of Europe to gain the same goal there; very similarly,The World Masters (1903) features the American use of a disintegratorRay to force the warmongering countries of Europe to the bargaining table;The Stolen Submarine: A Tale of the Russo-Japanese War (1904) features an array ofInventions, includingAirships using a newPower Source, but barely edges into theNear Future; inThe Great Weather Syndicate (1906) Americans and English entrepreneurs combine to use theInvention ofWeather Control is used to control Europe;The World Peril of 1910 (first version Christmas 1897Pearson's Weekly as "The Great Crelling Comet";1907), much in theBattle of Dorking mode, pits the countries of Europe together, withInventions adding to the turmoil; and inThe Lord of Labour (1911) a million-strong private army is pitted against aDeath Ray in German hands, but the latter are defeated by aerial drones.

From early in his career Griffith was overshadowed by H GWells, a fact which caused him to diversify his work in search of critical acclaim. Such praise never came, although he produced notable examples of several themes, usually borrowed more conspicuously from earlier texts than was the custom then:Immortality features inValdar the Oft-Born: A Saga of Seven Ages (2 February-24 August 1895Pearson's Weekly; rev1895), a drama of reincarnation very clearly indebted to Edwin LesterArnold'sThe Wonderful Adventures of Phra the Phoenician (1890),Captain Ishmael (1901), an early example of theParallel-Worlds theme;A Honeymoon in Space (January-July 1900Pearson's as "Stories of Other Worlds"; exp1901), whose young marrieds make aFantastic Voyage viaSpace Flight to theMoon,Venus,Mars, Ganymede (seeJupiter) and further (seeOuter Planets), each of these worlds, arrayed in anArchipelago sequence, providing them with feeble versions of contrasting ideal societies; andCaptain Ishmael: A Saga of the South Seas (1901), in which a doomed immortal meets theWandering Jew again and again, and in the eighteenth century invents explosive shells: but this may have happened in aParallel World.

Other novels were more routine, includingThe Romance of Golden Star (1 September-21 December 1895Short Stories as "Golden Star"; rev1897), set partly in aLost World and involving the revival of Incans fromSuspended Animation who then successfully take back South America from its conquerors (seeImperialism);The Virgin of the Sun (1898), a nonfantastic tale about the conquest of Peru;Denver's Double: A Story of Inverted Identities (1901), whereDoppelganger appearances andIdentity Transfers take on a criminal coloration;The White Witch of Mayfair (1902), which again features aShe figure adept atHypnosis;Religion features inThe Missionary (1902);A Criminal Croesus (1904) is aLost-World tale set deepUnderground; the criminal antagonist ofA Mayfair Magician: A Romance of Criminal Science (1905) involves a kind ofTelepathicIdentity Exchange; andThe Mummy and Miss Nitocris: A Phantasy of the Fourth Dimension (fixup1906) brings its cast, confusedly, into the fourthDimension, and elsewhere.

Griffith's influence on contemporary UK sf was extensive, from E DouglasFawcett'sHartmann the Anarchist (June-September 1893The English Illustrated Magazine;1893) through to CyrilSeymour'sComet Chaos (1906) and JohnMastin'sThe Stolen Planet (1906), and can still be seen today, as in MichaelMoorcock's nineteenth-century pastiches. (Since Griffith's anti-US stance precluded US publication of almost all of his works, his influence there has been negligible.) Several of his novels have been reprinted in recent times, as well as a collection of unreprinted stories,The Raid of "Le Vengeur" (coll1974) edited by GeorgeLocke. There has fortunately been little republication of Griffith's late works – some are not mentioned here but see Checklist below – which may allow the bounteous if uneasy energy of his first tales to gain their proper place in theHistory of SF. [JE/JC]

see also:Edisonade;End of the World;Forgotten Futures;Mercury;Nuclear Energy;Politics;Proto SF;Technology;Transportation.

George Chetwynd Griffith

born Plymouth, Devon: 20 August 1857

died Port Erin, Isle of Man: 4 June 1906

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