J.-H. Rosny aîné was one of the pioneering authors of French science fiction, second only to Jules Verne. His stories and novels staked out themes that would become staples of the genre, including alien contact and genetic mutation. Evolutionary adventurer.

"It seemed to me that it was here, in this dawning of the race, that the veil of mystery might part, here that some simple, primitive idea would perhaps issue forth, would illuminate for me a small corner of this deep dark abyss.... How many times did I feel myself at that moment on the verge of grasping some fleeting glimpse of the Xipéhuz's essential nature, an extrasensory glimpse, a pure abstraction, and which, alas, my poor senses buried in flesh were never able to pursue."

—J.-H. Rosny aîné, "The Xipéhuz"