"Edmond Hamilton - The Godmen" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Edmond)

science fictional adventures appeared in the comic Mystery in Space, and superhero teams like the
Legion of Superheroes, whose euphonious comic book has been hailed for its strong, feminist slant (not
surprising considering he was married to tomboy and tough-guy novelist Leigh Brackett). And it was
Hamilton who was responsible for scripting the first-ever Superman-Batman team-up.

Most of this is a matter of public record. What few people seem to know, for as far as can be
determined the fact appears in no history of SF so far written, is that Hamilton was a genre pioneer in
another way. Most SF histories credit Robert A. Heinlein with the creation of the first future history (a
consistent idea of how things might turn out over several hundred or even thousand years against which a
number of stories are set). Heinlein first disclosed the existence of his future history in the March 1941
issue of Astounding, creating a sensation among both his readers and his fellow SF authors. Isaac
Asimov, for instance, would be at work on his future history, the famous Foundation saga, within a year.

Yet Hamilton's revelation, a year earlier that he had set the majority of his stories against a common
future background covering some two thousand centuries went almost unnoticed (perhaps because it
appeared in the less distinguished pulp magazine, Thrilling Wonder Stories). But the credit for being first
definitely belongs to Hamilton. The first story set in his future history, The Comet Doom, was published
in the issue of Amazing Stories that appeared on the newsstands in December 1926, while the initial
story in Heinlein's history did not appear until twelve years later in 1939. (Although every story in this
future history has not yet been identified, it is clear that most of his novels, and more than fifty short
stories and novelettes, belong to it including the novels mentioned above, his famed Captain Future
series, and the two novellas showcased here.)

A fuller description of this future history, and a selection of key stories showing its development across
centuries will appear in a forthcoming PageTurner Editions ebook. Hamilton himself did not title this
history, but we have chosen to call it тАЬThe Two Thousand Centuries.тАЭ However, in brief, Hamilton tells
us that: тАЬBy the end of the 20th Century, atomic-powered rockets guided by radar had reached the
Moon, Mars and Venus."

There followed:

The Era of Interplanetary Exploration and ColonizationтАФ1971-2011.

The Era of Interplanetary FrontiersтАФ2011-2247.

The Era of Interplanetary SecessionтАФ2247-2621.

The Era of Interstellar ExplorationтАФ2300-2621.

The Era of Interstellar ColonizationтАФ2621-62,339.

The Era of the FederationтАФ62,339-129,999.

The Era of the Star KingsтАФ130,000-202,115.

The Godmen and The Stars, My Brothers take place during the Era of Interstellar Exploration, of which
Hamilton writes: тАЬInterplanetary exploration and exploitation had increased rapidly. But the vast distances
to other stars remained unconquerable until late in the 22nd Century, when three great inventions made
interstellar travel possible. Using these inventions to build starships, mankind took at once to interstellar
space. Alpha Centauri, Sirius and Altair were quickly visited."