Before Adam

Published in 1907 by Macmillan, Before Adam is a proto-science fiction novel inspired by London's appreciation for Darwin's Theory of Evolution. The plot is built around the narration of a modern San Franciscan man who, during his sleeping hours, lives the life of an ancestral humanoid, a member of a tribe he calls The Cave People. Though the setting is harshly derived in comparison to modern science fiction techniques, London's enthusiasm for the evolutionary theory comes through as does his ability to show character traits from simple and effective narration. The stark use of a dreamscape to provide the link between the past and the present does enable to narrator to cast a modern perspective over the primitive.