THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
ALBERT ROBIDA
"Although largely forgotten now, the French writer Albert Robida was a pioneer of science fiction. ...(H)is 1882 roman d'anticipation The Twentieth Century (is) a funny, sometimes cynical, frequently prophetic soap opera about a young woman who embarks upon a career search in the future worlds of 1952, gets caught up in a revolutionary struggle, and winds up having a brand-new continent named after her...."Joshua Glenn, Boston Sunday Globe
Humorous, illustrated novel by the father of science fiction illustration.
The Twentieth Centurya unique blend of objets dart and pulp fiction, science fiction and satirewas initially published in 1882 to great acclaim. Abundantly illustrated by the author, the story presents a panorama of society in the century to come. The story opens in the spring of 1952 as Hélène Colobry, niece of mega-banker Raphael Ponto, has just graduated from a private provincial school and needs to find a career. This highly original futuristic fantasy is a cross between The Jetsons and the novels of Charles Dickens: it focuses on the daily life of a bourgeois family living in the technology-driven world of tomorrowwhere trips to the market are made by aircar and where women argue politics with their husbands via videophone. The book opened new frontiers in speculative fiction with its superb graphics and its evocative text.
The Twentieth Century is the literary equivalent of discovering King Tuts tomb and marveling that such wonderful things were there for all these years but concealed. Wesleyans edition will allow us to see at last one of Frances hidden treasures. Paul Alkon, Professor of English, University of Southern California
Robida's funny and surreal drawings are well known: now at last we have the story to go with them. The climax, where a sixth continent is created in the Pacific
reaches heights of glorious absurdity! Brian Aldiss, author of Billion Year Spree
