The Moon and what it stands for in SF

When something is within our physical reach, and has been made much of and nearly exhausted in a rigorous kind of way, it rarely appeals to the imagination in the same way that a conjured up concept would, or something not immediately verifiable. This statement, of course, assumes a lot about the nature of Imagination, but what we are interested in today is not just any kind of imagination, but the science fictional imagination, something that exists right inbetween the kind of pleasure to be had in whimsy and the kind of joy to be had from arriving at some knowledge of the 'real' world. The SF-nal imagination partakes of both liberally, sometimes more from one than the other.

In this respect, the Moon is a very rewarding motif in Science Fiction, and points to several interesting inclinations when it comes to the genre. I use the term 'rewarding', because it, in itself, acts as a microcosm of all the possible flavours that science fiction affords: ranging from the sublime, to the grotesque, and finally, to serving as a space which serves as philosophical playground and testing field.

We shall look at five texts: Rogue Moon by Algis Budrys, Requiem by Robert Heinlein, The Distance of the Moon by Italo Calvino, Hothouse by Brian Aldiss, and finally, Griffin's Egg by Michael Swanwick

In these five texts, we see a very definite kind of progression, that also says a lot about the anxieties and expectations Science Fiction breeds, perhaps more so as a mode than as genre.