Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon

2025-11-25

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Writer and critic Matthew De Abaitua joins Andy, Una and Nicky to discuss Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future (1930), the astounding first novel by Olaf Stapledon. The book is one of the founding texts of science fiction, a fact that has both assured its reputation and arguably restricted its readership, a conundrum we discuss during the show; certainly, few novels are so vast in scope or present the reader with such leaps of the imagination. Whatever you think you know about genre t...

Writer and critic Matthew De Abaitua joins Andy, Una and Nicky to discuss Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future (1930), the astounding first novel by Olaf Stapledon. The book is one of the founding texts of science fiction, a fact that has both assured its reputation and arguably restricted its readership, a conundrum we discuss during the show; certainly, few novels are so vast in scope or present the reader with such leaps of the imagination. Whatever you think you know about genre tropes, futurology and how best to tell a story, prepare to have your preconceptions shot out of the pod bay doors, pal. Comparisons between Last and First Men and 2001: A Space Odyssey are justifiable, not least because Kubrick's film was adapted from a story by Arthur C. Clarke, an author who said of Stapledon's novel, "no other book had a greater influence on my life". Why isn't such a 'corking good writer' (C.S. Lewis), feted in his time by Jorge Luis Borges, Virginia Woolf and Winston Churchill, more widely known today? And would it be correct to identify Olaf Stapledon, who projected his consciousness across the universe from his back garden on the Wirral, as the original Cosmic Scouser? Listen to find out.

*Stapledon's archive is held at the Science Fiction Hub at Liverpool University - some of which you can view here.

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