Mastin, John
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1865-1932) UK author, clergyman and science popularizer, author of three sf novels. The Stolen Planet (1906) features the picaresque adventures of two Earthmen who, after Earth has been shaken by a vast Disaster, undertake a Fantastic Voyage through the solar system and beyond, as narrated by Jervis Meredith, co-developer of an "aerostat" capable of Space Flight. Centuries later, in Through the Sun in an Airship (1909), Meredith's last descendant again tours a number of planets. Through his various narratives of fantasticated touring, Mastin tried to exploit the romance of science in stories which have an attractive (though thin) patina of verisimilitude (the solar system contains a number of conveniently undiscovered planets) and are told in the uplifting manner typical of too many UK boys' books; they are permeated with religiosity, at times attempting a reconciliation of science and Religion. The Immortal Light (1907) is a Lost-World novel set Underground in the Antarctic, where an advanced Latin-speaking civilization is discovered. The Autobiography of a Picture (1910) is fantasy. [JC/EFB]
see also: History of SF; Spaceships; Sun.
John Mastin
born Marchamley, Shropshire: 15 October 1865
died Caernarvon, Wales: 9 July 1932
works
series
Meredith
- The Stolen Planet (London: Philip Welby, 1906) [Meredith: hb/]
- Through the Sun in an Airship (London: Charles Griffin and Co, 1909) [Meredith: hb/]
individual titles
- The Immortal Light (London: Cassell and Co, 1907) [hb/]
- The Autobiography of a Picture (London: F V White and Co, 1910) [hb/]
links
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