Apocalypse, Inc. Incorporating the Environment into the Boom/Bust Cycle in Fin-de-Siècle Science Fiction

PO P U L A R F I C T I O N I N T H E C L O S I N G D A Y S O F T H E N I N E T E E N T H C E N T U R Y W A S awash with apocalyptic scenarios, ranging from stories of future wars and alien invasions to narratives about global ecological collapse, arising from spaceborne catastrophe or from the result of humanity’s own dangerous meddling in the global environment. Many (if not most) of the narratives that make up the late Victorian apocalyptic fad were squarely situated in the realm of speculative fiction, especially in their imagining of new technological innovations. The new forms of weaponry in such narratives included early versions of nuclear bombs and other technological weapons that had the potential to wipe out all (human) life on the planet (Gannon 2005). The recent revival and recontextualization of nuclear criticism away from weaponry in the strictest sense, however, and toward all forms of technology with the potential to endanger global survival (Wallace 2016) is an apt reminder that technology