AboutSue Kayton Expertise Engineer who has read thousands of science fiction books and short stories. Can recommend stories on specific subjects and comment on technical feasibility. Especially good at older out-of-print books and authors.
Expert: Sue Kayton Date: 2/25/2008 Subject: Generational ships
Question I read several books in the 60's dealing with the subject of generational ships. Usually the inhabitants had no idea they were passengers in a ship and the story involved the discovery that they were indeed in a ship. I have no idea who the authors were, or even when the books were written. All I know for sure is that I read them in the late 60's and would love to read them again. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Answer Sorry - i didn't read those books, but there's a well-known novella which was the first SF story to introduce generational startships. It is titled Universe by Robert Heinlein. This novella appears in many anthologies. Universe was written in May 1941.
He wrote a bunch of sequels to Universe, which were collected into the anthology Orphas of the Sky (1963), all dealing with generational starships
You can find Universe in these anthologies and magazines:
published in Astounding SF May 1941; collected into Orphans of the Sky (1963)]. Anthology appearance in: Best of Science Fiction (ed. Groff Conklin, Crown, 1946); Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. II: A (ed. Ben Bova, Doubleday, 1973); Off The Main Sequence: The Other Science Fiction of Robert Heinlein (ed. Andrew Wheeler; introductions by Greg Bear and Michael Cassutt: SFBC, October 2005)
The Science Fiction Hall of Fame series is excellent - start with Volume I and read them all!
