Science Fiction/Fantasy

As in the imaginary fiction based around the Great South Land, which conjured up fantastical beasts, utopian societies and strange people with eyes in their chests, science fiction has set stories in the heavens or other unknown worlds. Stories of journeys to the moon, such as that of Cyrano de Bergerac, go as far back as the 18th century. Jules Verne told his adventure stories as journeys inside the earth and up into the heavens. HG Wells imagined the moon inhabited by civilised insect creatures that people from earth could visit and learn from. Journeys of the fantastic have abounded too, mainly for young readers, as with the works of CS Lewis (who also wrote science fiction), but also for adults, such as those by JRR Tolkien.