The Castaways of Space is a common theme in Science Fiction. With the vastness of space being traversed by ships, it is an easy jump to voyagers being shipwrecked and cast away on far planets and moons. The trope is as old as Daniel De Foe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719) and later the German novel Swiss Family Robinson (1812) by Johann David Wyss. Jules Verne, the father of Science Fiction, loved the castaway tale and penned The Castaways of the Flag (1900), a sequel to Swiss Family Robinson among others (In Search of the Castaways, Mysterious Island and Godfrey Morgan.) H. G. Wells gave us the first creepy castaway with The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896). (And who can forget The Lord of the Flies , The Blue Lagoon and Gilligan’s Island?) None of these take place in space, of course, but have a huge influence on what will happen there.
There is another kind of castaway that comes up here. Castaways of the Year 2000 by William Wallace Cook (Argosy, October 1912-February 1913) was one of the first “Castaways in Time” stories, taking his explorers into a future with metal robots, and is really a separate idea. We are going to focus on Space not Time.
I am also going to use only stories that include the word “Castaway” in the title as well. There are many that do not, like Murray Leinster’s classic “The Mad Planet” and “The Red Dust” from the 1920s. John Wyndham’s “The Man From Beyond” is an example from the 1930s. Michael Valentine Smith in A Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein was a castaway in the Tarzan/Mowgli tradition. But so was Leigh Brackett’s John Eric Stark. J. G. Ballard’s Concrete Island, Ian Banks’ The Wasp Factory. And on and on… Tracking down every castaway story since Robinson Crusoe is a much bigger job and I will leave it to Christopher Palmer and his Castaway Tales: From Robinson Crusoe to Life of Pi (2016).
“Castaways of Space” by Arthur G. Stangland (Wonder Stories, July 1932)
“Castaways on Deimos” by J. Harvey Haggard (Wonder Stories, August 1933)
“The Castaway” (Planet Stories, Winter 1940) by Nelson S. Bond (as George Danzell)
“Castaway” by Donald A. Wollheim (Super Science Stories, May 1940)
“Castaways in Space” by Amelia Reynolds Long (Science Fiction, June 1940)
“Castaway” by Robert Moore Williams (Astounding Science-Fiction, February 1941)
“Castaway on Eros” by Nelson S. Bond (Planet Stories, Winter 1943). The story was reprinted in Tops in Science Fiction, Spring 1953.
“Cosmic Castaway” by Carl Jacobi (Planet Stories, March 1943)
“Castaway” by Arthur C. Clarke (Fantasy, 1947) was reprinted in Strange Signposts (1966).
“Castaway” by A. Bertram Chandler (as George Whitley) (Weird Tales, November 1947). Reprinted in New Worlds #6 (Spring 1950) as “Castaway” by George Whitley.
“The Ionian Cycle” by William Tenn (Thrilling Wonder Stories, August 1948) is reprinted as “Castaway Planet” by E. V. Zinns (Thrills Incorporated, March 1950)
“Uncommon Castaway” by Nelson S. Bond (Avon Fantasy Reader #11, 1949)
“Cosmic Castaway” by Stanley Mullen (Planet Stories, May 1953)
“The Castaway” by Murray Leinster (Universe Science Fiction, June 1953)
Castaway from Space (1953) by Bruno G. Condray (as by Vektis Brack)
“Castaways of Space” by Robert Silverberg (as Dan Malcolm) (Super-Science Fiction, October 1958)
Castaways’ World (1963) by John Brunner
“Castaway” by Edmond Hamilton (The Man Who Called Himself Poe, 1969) Leigh Brackett chose it for The Best of Edmond Hamilton (1977).
Conclusion
Hollywood got in on the action with Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964), a movie I enjoyed as a kid in re-runs. (Mick Garris’s thoughts on the film here.) Since then in films we have had Enemy Mine (1985) based on the Barry B. Longyear story (World War II story in space) and the adaptation of The Martian (2014) by Andy Weir. 1965 gave us TV’s classic Lost in Space, with its movie remake in 1998 and a new TV show on Netflix in 2018. 1975 had Space 1999, with an entire moon wandering the galaxy. Gilligan’s Planet lasted for 13 episodes in the 1980s. Most shows like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Red Dwarf feature an episode or two about one of their characters getting lost and stranded before being rescued. Entire shows were built on the idea of an alien stuck on Earth: My Favorite Martian, Doctor Who Season Three, E. T., Alf, Third Rock From the Sun, Resident Alien, etc. When we are talking about the final frontier, I guess The Castaways of Space is a given.
Next time …The Derelicts of Space…
