Voltaire's philosophical tale 'Micromegas' is also considered a 'classic of early science fiction.' It's very well known and easily accessible, and it's easy to read in the original. But in comparison to Cyrano's novel, it is tame.

Cyrano distills the most radical ideas of his time into a potent literary liqueur.

I suspect that the playwright Edmond Rostand accurately portrays his ability as a swordsman; Cyrano was something of a legend in his own time.

I marveled repeatedly at the providence of God, who had put these naturally impious people in a place where they could not corrupt his beloved ones and had pun…

The science fiction approach doesn't mean it's always about the future; it's an awareness that this is different.

I repeat Sturgeon's Revelation, which was wrung out of me after twenty years of wearying defense of science fiction against attacks of people who used the wors…

His poetry, as a whole, is more nearly the real right thing than any of the poetry of a somewhat older generation than mine except Mr. Yeats's.