History Literature / TrueHistory

* ToBeContinued: The ending. It seems that Lucian never actually wrote a continuation (and probably never intended to).

* MixAndMatchCritters: The vulture-horses of the moon.

* ShoutOut: One of the many places Lucian "visits" is Cloudcuckooland from Creator/{{Aristophanes}}' satire ''Theatre/TheBirds.''

* WombLevel: The belly of the whale.

* AllPlanetsAreEarthLike: The Moon, albeit filled with all sorts of wacky monsters, is otherwise earth-like, but it gets even weirder when it turns out there are also civilizations (and people, and trees) on the Sun and several stars. It's hard to tell whether this is a case of ScienceMarchesOn, or part of the parody. (It was pretty obvious even at the time that the Sun was something very hot and fire-like, an idea that plays a part in several myths)

''True History'', or ''A True Story'', is a {{satir|e}}ical 2nd century adventure novel by Greco-Syrian writer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucian Lucian of Samosata]], parodying then-popular {{travelogue|show}} novels that often [[BasedOnAGreatBigLie reported wild tall tales as fact.]] It is frequently cited as the earliest known work of ScienceFiction and/or ScienceFantasy, though its actual contents [[GenreBusting are difficult to classify by modern genre definitions]].

''True History'', or ''A True Story'', is a {{satir|e}}ical 2nd century adventure novel by Greco-Syrian writer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucian Lucian of Samosata]], parodying then-popular {{travelogue|show}} novels that often [[BasedOnAGreatBigLie reported wild tall tales as fact.]] It is frequently cited as the earliest known work of ScienceFiction and/or ScienceFantasy, though its actual contents [[GenreBuster explore a wide breadth of genres]].

While perhaps not the first story to feature space travel (the preface implies that it may have been written as a jab at an earlier travelogue that featured a similar tale), it is the oldest surviving example of the concept in fiction, and contains many {{Unbuilt Trope}}s that would come to define the SpaceOpera centuries later, such as interplanetary colonization and alien lifeforms.

While perhaps not the first story to feature space travel (the preface implies that it may have been written as a jab at an earlier travelogue that featured a similar tale), it is the oldest surviving example of the concept in fiction, and contains many {{Unbuilt Trope}}s relating to it, such as interplanetary colonization and alien lifeforms.

While perhaps not the first story to feature space travel (the preface implies that it may have been written as a jab at an earlier travelogue that featured a similar tale), it is the oldest surviving example of the concept in fiction, and provides the {{Ur Example}}s for many then-{{Unbuilt Trope}}s relating to it, such as interplanetary colonization and alien lifeforms.

* ShoutOut: One of the many places Lucian "visits" is Cloudcuckooland from Creator/{{Aristophanes}}' satire ''Theater/TheBirds.''

''True History'', or ''A True Story'', is a {{satir|e}}ical 2nd century adventure novel by Greco-Syrian writer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucian Lucian of Samosata]], parodying then-popular {{travelogue|show}} novels that often [[BasedOnAGreatBigLie reported wild tall tales as fact.]] It is often cited as the earliest known work of ScienceFiction and/or ScienceFantasy, though its actual contents [[GenreBuster explore a wide breadth of genres]].

While perhaps not the first story to feature space travel (the preface implies that it may have been written as a jab at an earlier travelogue that featured a similar tale), it is the oldest surviving example of the concept in fiction, and provides the {{Ur Example}}s for many then-{{Unbuilt Trope}}s relating to it, such as space colonization and interplanetary warfare.

After a preface in which Lucian [[ThisIsAWorkOfFiction admits that everything he's about to tell you is made up]], he recounts a tale of his voyages with a group of adventurers, sailing from Greece to the Atlantic Ocean. The book details various "absolutely true" encounters with outlandish and fantastical places, from an island of dryads with a river of wine to a city inhabited entirely by floating lamps to the inside of a miles-long whale, and even to outer space, where he recounts the details of a war between the Kingdoms of the Moon and the Sun.

''True History'', or ''A True Story'', is a {{satir|e}}ical 2nd century adventure novel by Greco-Syrian writer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucian Lucian of Samosata]], parodying then-popular {{travelogue|show}} novels that often [[BasedOnAGreatBigLie reported wild tall tales as fact.]] While something of a GenreBuster by today's standards, the novel is often cited as the earliest known work of ScienceFiction.

After a preface in which Lucian [[ThisIsAWorkOfFiction admits that everything he's about to tell you is made up]], he recounts a tale of his voyages with a group of adventurers, sailing from Greece to the Atlantic Ocean. The book details various encounters with outlandish and fantastical places; the most well-known being when his ship is shot up into space by a giant water spout. While there, he sails to the Kingdom of the Moon, where he and his men get caught up in a war between the Moon and the Sun over the colonization of Venus.

''True History'', or ''A True Story'', is a 2nd century {{satir|e}}ical adventure novel by Greco-Syrian writer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucian Lucian of Samosata]], parodying then-popular {{travelogue|show}} novels that often [[BasedOnAGreatBigLie reported wild tall tales as fact.]] While something of a GenreBuster by today's standards, the novel is often cited as the earliest known work of ScienceFiction.