Beneath Blue Suburban Skies: A Sci-Fi Timeline Of Future Events

Interesting article, by Jane Hu (August 8, 2012). How would you predict the future might unfold?

As told by Arthur C. Clarke’s 1990 novel The Ghost from the Grand Banks, 2012 is the year that would see the Titanic resurrected from the ocean floor. But the year is now 2012, and the Titanic continues to sit 12,000 feet below the ocean surface, rusting more with every passing year (indeed, it’s predicted here that by 2045, only the hull will remain). The likelihood that any of us will live to see a resurrected Titanic outside a James Cameron movie now seems very slim.

While some predictions of science fiction have come to pass, if we were to compile a calendar of future events based on speculative fiction (taking in works from both science fiction and fantasy genres), we would run some hazards—not least the natural reluctance of authors to affix specific dates to their imaginings. Think, for instance, of the novels set in the not-too-distant (Man Plus) or far, far future (Ender’s Game), or perhaps a dystopic future (Farhenheit 451, Anthem) such as, oh, after some apocalyptic event (The Last Man, Oryx and Crake), not to mention those that follow alternate time (Foundation series) and world systems (Anathem) entirely. By leaving their dates murky, writers allow their predictions the possibility of eventually coming true.

We’re either living through (or have already passed) many of the milestone years set out in the speculative fiction of decades past. In his very first novel, The Sands Of Mars, published in 1951, Clarke predicted that human voyages to Mars would occur in the 90s—well, not quite, but the landing of the Mars Curiosity Rover on Monday was exciting. Meanwhile, in a time capsule created by sci-fi writer (and Scientology founder) L Ron. Hubbard in 1987 various sci-fi writers prophesized, that space colonies would exist by 2012. Alas, still a dream, but perhaps the date is the only thing they got wrong? Take George Orwell’s vision of 1984 that describes phenomena with which our world is still coming to terms. Modern surveillance isn’t quite as heavy-handed as that depicted in 1984, but prevailing anxieties over privacy and uninterrupted flows of information suggest that Orwell, too, might have described the right future, just not the right year.

While some speculative fiction aims to depict utopias, more often their future worlds are downright terrifying—heavy literalizations of current social capitalist fears. There’s a reason that Zager and Evans’ song “In the Year 2525,” was a hit in 1969, what with propositions such as:

In the year 6565
You won’t need no husband, won’t need no wife.
You’ll pick your son, pick your daughter too
From the bottom of a long glass tube

Zager and Evans promise of social revolution comes by way of technological advancements, for the two are rarely separated in dreams of the future. My favorite science-fiction novel is Edward Bellamy’s 1887 Looking Backward: 2000-1887 because of its stunningly prescient descriptions of technologies comparable to modern credit cards and radios.

Looking forward to science fiction dates that have yet to come, here are some dates to put on your future calendar.

(We’ve stuck to novels and stories here; for a great timeline from the movies, look here.)

Devrie Konig enters Institute of Biological Hope to endure medical experiments that result in the finding of God.
—Nancy Kress, “Trinity,” 1984

The USA loses its position as world leader to Japan. Extraterrestrial life is detected—and it sings.
—Mary Doria Russell, The Sparrow, 1996

General paranoia about the AIDS virus reigns, leading to the imprisonment of society’s so-called “subversives.”
—Kay Kenyon, The Seeds of Time, 1997