Saturn's moons in fiction
Encyclopedia
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
's natural satellites
Saturn's natural satellites
The moons of Saturn are numerous and diverse, ranging from tiny moonlets less than 1 kilometre across, to the enormous Titan, which is larger than the planet Mercury. Saturn has 62 moons with confirmed orbits, fifty-three of which have names, and only thirteen of which have diameters larger than 50...
have figured prominently in works of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
.
Saturnian system
Some works of fiction refer to several of Saturn's moons, or to no specific moon.- AnimorphsAnimorphsAnimorphs is an English language science fiction series of young adult books written by K. A. Applegate and published by Scholastic. Five humans, Jake, Marco, Cassie, Rachel, and Tobias, and one alien, Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill , obtain the ability to morph into any animal they touch. They name...
novel series. The creature called the VeleekVeleekThe Veleek is a fictional alien creature from the Animorphs series of books. The creature resembles a cloud of dust but can form blades and teeth to attack its prey with. It isn't strictly one creature but millions of tiny beings acting as one...
was originally found by the Yeerks on one of Saturn's moons. - ExosquadExosquadExosquad is an American animated television series created by Universal Cartoon Studios as a response to Japanese anime. The show is set in the beginning of the 22nd century and covers the interplanetary war between humanity and Neosapiens, a fictional race artificially created as workers/slaves...
animated TV series. Saturn's moons initially were home of the Pirate ClansPirate ClansIn the 1993-1995 sci-fi animated television series Exosquad, Pirate Clans were the descendants of the human criminals who were exiled from the Homeworlds and forced to work as miners on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn . However, after the invention of Neosapiens, the Pirates' ancestors were...
before the discovery of the planet Chaos. - The Warhammer 40,000Warhammer 40,000Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop, set in a dystopian science fantasy universe. Warhammer 40,000 was created by Rick Priestley in 1987 as the futuristic companion to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, sharing many game mechanics...
game universe (1987-) places the headquarters and other facilities of the Ordo Malleus branch of InquisitionInquisition (Warhammer 40,000)The Inquisition is an organisation in the fictional Warhammer 40,000 universe. They act as the secret police of the Imperium, hunting down any and all threats to the stability of the God-Emperor's realm. In fiction relating to the games, Inquisitors are usually represented by extremely powerful,...
in Saturn's moons, including the main base of their most famous subordinates — the Grey Knights chapter of Space MarinesSpace Marines (Warhammer 40,000)In the fictional universe of Warhammer 40,000 setting created by Games Workshop, Space Marines are genetically modified "super human" soldiers created by the Emperor to conquer the galaxy and defend mankind. According to Games Workshop, there are over a thousand recorded chapters of Space Marines,...
. - Starhunter 2300 Canadian sci-fi TV series. Many episodes of this series take place in part of the Saturn system, designated as "Saturn Federation." The spaceship carrying the main characters is the Trans-Utopian, which travels frequently between Saturn, Jupiter and Mars. Various moons of Saturn are mentioned, including Titan and Iapetus. There is also a large space station orbiting Saturn at which the Trans-Utopian docks, called "Ring-Shepherd."
Janus
Janus (moon)
Janus is an inner satellite of Saturn. It is also known as Saturn X . It is named after the mythological Janus.-Discovery and orbit:Janus occupies practically the same orbit as the moon Epimetheus...
is a small inner moon of Saturn notable for having an orbit nearly identical to the orbit of the moon Epimetheus
Epimetheus (moon)
Epimetheus is an inner satellite of Saturn. It is also known as Saturn XI. It is named after the mythological Epimetheus, brother of Prometheus.-Discovery:Epimetheus occupies essentially the same orbit as the moon Janus...
; the two swap orbital positions every four years.
- Janus features prominently in Alastair ReynoldsAlastair ReynoldsAlastair Preston Reynolds is a British science fiction author. He specialises in dark hard science fiction and space opera. He spent his early years in Cornwall, moved back to Wales before going to Newcastle, where he read physics and astronomy. Afterwards, he earned a PhD from St Andrews, Scotland...
' science fiction novel Pushing IcePushing IcePushing Ice is a 2005 science fiction novel by Welsh author Alastair Reynolds. According to Reynolds' Web site, the story takes place in a universe separate and distinct from his Revelation Space universe.- Plot summary:...
(2005). In the novel, Janus is revealed to be a shell containing an extraterrestrialExtraterrestrial life in popular cultureIn popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...
spacecraft which unexpectedly departs the solar systemSolar SystemThe Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
in the direction of a giant structure orbiting the star SpicaSpicaSpica is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo, and the 15th brightest star in the nighttime sky. It is 260 light years distant from Earth...
. The novel tells the story of the crew of a human mining ship who establish a colony on the moon as it leaves the solar systemSolar SystemThe Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
.
Mimas
Mimas (moon)
Mimas is a moon of Saturn which was discovered in 1789 by William Herschel. It is named after Mimas, a son of Gaia in Greek mythology, and is also designated Saturn I....
is a small, icy moon orbiting close to Saturn, notable for being scarred by Herschel crater, whose diameter is very wide compared to the total circumference of the moon.
- In Isaac AsimovIsaac AsimovIsaac Asimov was an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000...
's 1958 novel Lucky Starr and the Rings of SaturnLucky Starr and the Rings of SaturnLucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn is the final novel in the Lucky Starr series, six juvenile science fiction novels by Isaac Asimov that originally appeared under the pseudonym Paul French. The novel was first published by Doubleday & Company in 1958...
the hero, knowing that Mimas is almost entirely made of ice, guides his ship on a collision course towards it, melts its surface with his weapons, and thus hides the ship in order to escape from his enemies, the people from the Sirius System. - In "Zero Summer," a short story by Caitlín R. KiernanCaitlin R. KiernanCaitlín Rebekah Kiernan is the author of many science fiction and dark fantasy works, including seven novels, many comic books, more than one hundred published short stories, novellas, and vignettes, and numerous scientific papers.- Overview :Born in Dublin, Ireland, she moved to the United States...
, Mimas is the destination of a starship manned by two androids. - Mimas is a recurring location in the Red DwarfRed DwarfRed Dwarf is a British comedy franchise which primarily comprises eight series of a television science fiction sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999 and Dave from 2009–present. It gained cult following. It was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who also wrote the first six series...
TV sitcom and its spinoff novels. In the episode "Dimension Jump", Mimas hosts a Space Corps test base for test pilot Arnold J. 'Ace' Rimmer, while the first novel, Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers, begins with Dave ListerDave ListerDavid "Dave" Lister, commonly referred to simply as Lister, is a fictional character from the British science fiction situation comedy Red Dwarf, portrayed by Craig Charles...
is stranded in a seedy city on Mimas. Both the book and the series refer to the local delicacy "Mimean Bladderfish". - "The First Duty" (1992), episode of Star Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
. Mimas is the site of an evacuation station to which four StarfleetStarfleetIn the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet or the Federation Starfleet is the deep-space exploratory, peacekeeping and military service maintained by the United Federation of Planets . It is the principal means by which the Federation conducts its exploration, defense, diplomacy and research...
cadets, including Wesley CrusherWesley CrusherWesley Crusher is a character in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. He is Beverly Crusher's son and is portrayed by actor Wil Wheaton, the character was a regular for the first four seasons. Afterwards, the character appeared sporadically. The character also appeared briefly in...
, transport after their vessels collide. - In Grant CallinGrant CallinGrant David Callin is part of the hard science fiction stream of authors. He sometimes goes by the pseudonym Flash Richardson....
's science fiction novel SaturnaliaSaturnalia (novel)Saturnalia was a 1986 science fiction novel by Grant Callin, published by Baen Books. It was based on a short story named "Saturn Alia". It was followed by a sequel, A Lion on Tharthee.-Plot summary:...
, Mimas is one of the locations of an alien artifact. It is also the site of human colonization and mining called "M-Base". - In the table-top science fiction game Warhammer 40,000, Mimas serves as a high-security prison for the most dangerous prisoners of the Ordo Malleus branch of the Inquisition.
- In Paul J. McAuley's The Quiet War (2008), Mimas is home to a notable "Outer" family which has profound influence over Jovian/Saturnian satellite politics.
Enceladus
EnceladusEnceladus (moon)
Enceladus is the sixth-largest of the moons of Saturn. It was discovered in 1789 by William Herschel. Until the two Voyager spacecraft passed near it in the early 1980s very little was known about this small moon besides the identification of water ice on its surface...
is a small, icy moon orbiting close to Saturn, notable for its extremely bright surface and the geyser-like plumes of ice and water vapor that erupt from its southern polar region. It is the source of material for Saturn's E Ring.
- In the 1930s Buck RogersBuck RogersAnthony Rogers is a fictional character that first appeared in Armageddon 2419 A.D. by Philip Francis Nowlan in the August 1928 issue of the pulp magazine Amazing Stories. A sequel, The Airlords of Han, was published in the March 1929 issue....
old time radio show, Enceladus makes an appearance. In the story entitled "Killer KaneKiller KaneKiller Kane is a fictional character in the 1939 Buck Rogers serial film produced by Universal Studios. Kane is a gangster who became the supreme dictator of Earth with the help of his criminal army. Although the events of the serial transpire in the year 2440, Kane has apparently ruled the world...
and ArdalaArdalaArdala is a locality situated in Skara Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 741 inhabitants in 2005. It was founded in 1890 and used to have a grocery store and a library, but is now only a residential area with mostly villas and one-family-houses....
on Saturn's moon," the titular villains try to take over the peaceful government of the Saturnian moon. The moon is depicted as having an atmosphere and supporting a happy population of humanoidHumanoidA humanoid is something that has an appearance resembling a human being. The term first appeared in 1912 to refer to fossils which were morphologically similar to, but not identical with, those of the human skeleton. Although this usage was common in the sciences for much of the 20th century, it...
life. Buck races to the moon to set things right. - In ExosquadExosquadExosquad is an American animated television series created by Universal Cartoon Studios as a response to Japanese anime. The show is set in the beginning of the 22nd century and covers the interplanetary war between humanity and Neosapiens, a fictional race artificially created as workers/slaves...
, Enceladus was the location of a heavily fortified Pirate ClansPirate ClansIn the 1993-1995 sci-fi animated television series Exosquad, Pirate Clans were the descendants of the human criminals who were exiled from the Homeworlds and forced to work as miners on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn . However, after the invention of Neosapiens, the Pirates' ancestors were...
' outpost and the site of the second battle between them and the ExofleetExofleetExofleet is the name for all battle spaceships in the sci-fi animated television series Exosquad, built by the humans of the Homeworlds also known as the Terran space navy...
just prior to the beginning of the Terran-NeosapienNeosapienThe Neosapiens , featured in the science fiction animated television series Exosquad, are a fictional race of genetically engineered sentient humanoids.-Background:...
war. - In Grant D. Callin's science fiction novel Saturnalia, Enceladus is one of the locations of an alien artifact.
- In the Warhammer 40,000Warhammer 40,000Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop, set in a dystopian science fantasy universe. Warhammer 40,000 was created by Rick Priestley in 1987 as the futuristic companion to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, sharing many game mechanics...
universe, Enceladus houses the Inquisitorial citadel of the Ordo Malleus, where several of the Inquisitor Lords maintain personal estates. - At the conclusion of the Time MachineTime Machine (book series)Time Machine was a series of children's novels published by Bantam Books from 1984 to 1989, similar to their more successful Choose Your Own Adventure line of "interactive" novels. Each book was written in the second person, with the reader choosing how the story should progress...
book The Rings of Saturn (set in 2085), the spacecraft blows up Enceladus as it returns to EarthEarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
after meeting an alien life-form. - In Charles Pellegrino'sCharles R. PellegrinoCharles R. Pellegrino is the controversial author of several books relating to science and archaeology, including Return to Sodom and Gomorrah, Ghosts of the Titanic, Unearthing Atlantis and Ghosts of Vesuvius....
Dust, the narrative switches periodically to a robotic probe landing on Enceladus in search of life. - In Paul J. McAuley's The Quiet War (2008), Enceladus serves as one of the battlefields as Earth invades Saturn's inhabited satellites in the 23rd Century.
- The History Channel show Life After People: The Series, depicts the Cassini spacecraft crashing into it and causing the bacteria on the craft to begin to inhabit it, eventually evolving into extraterrestrial lifeExtraterrestrial lifeExtraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
. - In the Saturday Morning Breakfast CerealSaturday Morning Breakfast CerealSaturday Morning Breakfast Cereal is a humorous webcomic by Zach Weiner. SMBC is "at heart a geek comic, but it nevertheless addresses a broad range of topics, such as love, relationships, economics, politics, religion, science, and philosophy." It has been featured on a variety of websites and...
web comic ( #1733), Enceladus is depicted as having fish like creatures below its icy surface. These creatures are used in what appears to be the McDonald's Fish FilletFilet-O-FishThe Filet-O-Fish is a fish sandwich sold by the international fast food chain store McDonald's.-Product description:...
.
Dione
Dione (moon)
Dione is a moon of Saturn discovered by Cassini in 1684. It is named after the titan Dione of Greek mythology. It is also designated Saturn IV.- Name :...
is a medium-sized icy moon orbiting close to Saturn
- In Grant D. Callin's science fiction novel Saturnalia, DioneDione (moon)Dione is a moon of Saturn discovered by Cassini in 1684. It is named after the titan Dione of Greek mythology. It is also designated Saturn IV.- Name :...
is one of the locations of an alien artifact. - In the early Noon UniverseNoon UniverseThe Noon Universe is a fictional future setting for a number of hard science fiction novels written by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky. The universe is named after Noon: 22nd Century, the chronologically first novel from the series...
novel Space ApprenticeSpace ApprenticeSpace Apprentice, also known as Probationers , is one of the early novels of Russian science fiction writers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky...
by Strugatsky brothers as the heroes stop there on their way (one of them is a planetologist and has some interest in the moon's observatory) they found that its administrator made it a living hell for everybody. This revelation serves as one of the major plot points in the novel. - In Paul J. McAuley's The Quiet War (2008), Dione's Paris is the leading settlement amongst Saturn's inhabited "Outer" satellite colonies, and suffers heavily due to its vocal resistance.
Tethys
Tethys (moon)
Tethys or Saturn III is a mid-sized moon of Saturn about across. It was discovered by G. D. Cassini in 1684 and is named after titan Tethys of Greek mythology. Tethys is pronounced |Odysseus]] is about 400 km in diameter, while the largest graben—Ithaca Chasma is about 100 km wide and...
is a medium-sized icy moon orbiting close to Saturn, very similar to Dione.
- An unnamed Tethys is the setting for the 1980 science fiction thriller Saturn 3Saturn 3Saturn 3 is a 1980 science fiction film starring Kirk Douglas, Farrah Fawcett and Harvey Keitel. Direction is credited to Stanley Donen. The project was conceived by John Barry. Barry was due to direct until a dispute with Douglas led to his replacement...
. - In the American animated television series ExosquadExosquadExosquad is an American animated television series created by Universal Cartoon Studios as a response to Japanese anime. The show is set in the beginning of the 22nd century and covers the interplanetary war between humanity and Neosapiens, a fictional race artificially created as workers/slaves...
, Tethys was the primary base of the Pirate ClansPirate ClansIn the 1993-1995 sci-fi animated television series Exosquad, Pirate Clans were the descendants of the human criminals who were exiled from the Homeworlds and forced to work as miners on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn . However, after the invention of Neosapiens, the Pirates' ancestors were...
prior to the discovery of Chaos. - Level 17 of the computer game DescentDescent (video game)Descent is a 3D first-person shooter video game developed by Parallax Software and released by Interplay Entertainment Corp. in 1995. The game features six degrees of freedom gameplay and garnered several expansion packs...
takes place in the Tethys H2O Mine. - In Warhammer 40,000, Tethys is the location of the Librarium Daemonicum, a repositary of the knowledge of the Ordo Malleus branch of the Inquisition
Titan
Titan
Titan (moon)
Titan , or Saturn VI, is the largest moon of Saturn, the only natural satellite known to have a dense atmosphere, and the only object other than Earth for which clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found....
is the largest moon
Natural satellite
A natural satellite or moon is a celestial body that orbits a planet or smaller body, which is called its primary. The two terms are used synonymously for non-artificial satellites of planets, of dwarf planets, and of minor planets....
of Saturn
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn is named after the Roman god Saturn, equated to the Greek Cronus , the Babylonian Ninurta and the Hindu Shani. Saturn's astronomical symbol represents the Roman god's sickle.Saturn,...
. Its substantial atmosphere
Atmosphere
An atmosphere is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass, and that is held in place by the gravity of the body. An atmosphere may be retained for a longer duration, if the gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low...
makes it the most Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
-like moon in the Solar System
Solar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
and hence a popular science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
setting.
Rhea
Rhea (moon)
Rhea is the second-largest moon of Saturn and the ninth largest moon in the Solar System. It was discovered in 1672 by Giovanni Domenico Cassini.-Name:Rhea is named after the Titan Rhea of Greek mythology, "mother of the gods"...
is the second-largest moon of Saturn.
- Valley of Pretenders by Dennis Clive (pseudonym of John Russell FearnJohn Russell FearnJohn Russell Fearn was a British author and one of the first British writers to appear in American pulp science fiction magazines.-Career:...
), published in Science Fiction, March 1939. - Outpost of the Eons by Dirk Wylie (pseudonym of Joseph Harold Dockweiler), published in Astonishing Stories, April 1943.
Hyperion
Hyperion (moon)
Hyperion , also known as Saturn VII, is a moon of Saturn discovered by William Cranch Bond, George Phillips Bond and William Lassell in 1848. It is distinguished by its irregular shape, its chaotic rotation, and its unexplained sponge-like appearance...
is the largest irregularly-shaped moon of Saturn, orbiting between Titan and Iapetus.
- Level 16 of the computer game DescentDescent (video game)Descent is a 3D first-person shooter video game developed by Parallax Software and released by Interplay Entertainment Corp. in 1995. The game features six degrees of freedom gameplay and garnered several expansion packs...
takes place in a methaneMethaneMethane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
mine on Hyperion. - In Dan SimmonsDan SimmonsDan Simmons is an American author most widely known for his Hugo Award-winning science fiction series, known as the Hyperion Cantos, and for his Locus-winning Ilium/Olympos cycle....
's Hyperion, the eponymous planet was first colonised by settlers from a colony on the moon Hyperion.
Iapetus
Iapetus (moon)
Iapetus ), occasionally Japetus , is the third-largest moon of Saturn, and eleventh in the Solar System. It was discovered by Giovanni Domenico Cassini in 1671...
is a large moon orbiting further from Saturn than any of its other large satellites. Half of its surface is very bright while the other half is extremely dark. Investigations since 2004 have also noted its irregular shape, immense impact basins, and a high mountainous ridge on the equator.
- In Theodore SturgeonTheodore SturgeonTheodore Sturgeon was an American science fiction author.His most famous novel is More Than Human .-Biography:...
's short story "The Comedian's Children" (1958), a manned expedition to Iapetus in 2034 creates a public craze for black/white designs and "bi-colored gimcrackery", but is later linked to iapetitis, a disease in children where one side of the body turns white and paralyzed, the other black. - In Arthur C. ClarkeArthur C. ClarkeSir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
's novel 2001: A Space Odyssey2001: A Space Odyssey (novel)2001: A Space Odyssey is a science fiction novel by Arthur C. Clarke. It was developed concurrently with Stanley Kubrick's film version and published after the release of the film...
(1968), astronaut Dave Bowman finds an enigmatic alien monolith waiting for him on the surface of Iapetus (referred to as "Japetus" throughout). Iapetus's two tone coloration is caused by a vast white ellipse on the moon's surface, with the monolith appearing as a black dot in its exact center. When the Voyager space probes arrived at Iapetus thirteen years later, they discovered that there was indeed a black region within the moon's brighter hemisphere. Clarke reports that Carl SaganCarl SaganCarl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
, who was on the Voyager imaging team, sent him a photo, with the note "Thinking of you ...". Because of difficulties achieving a convincing model of Saturn's rings, the film version of 2001: A Space Odyssey2001: A Space Odyssey (film)2001: A Space Odyssey is a 1968 epic science fiction film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, and co-written by Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke, partially inspired by Clarke's short story The Sentinel...
relocated the monolith to an orbit around Jupiter. - Iapetus is the setting for The Saturn GameThe Saturn Game"The Saturn Game" is a science fiction short story by Poul Anderson. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 1982 and the Nebula Award for Best Novella in 1981.-Plot summary:...
(1981) by Poul AndersonPoul AndersonPoul William Anderson was an American science fiction author who began his career during one of the Golden Ages of the genre and continued to write and remain popular into the 21st century. Anderson also authored several works of fantasy, historical novels, and a prodigious number of short stories...
. - Iapetus is the second site of the mysterious phenomenon called "goorm" in Sergei Pavlov's hard SF novel Moon Rainbow (1984), first being the Uranus' moon OberonOberon (moon)Oberon , also designated ', is the outermost major moon of the planet Uranus. It is the second largest and second most massive of the Uranian moons, and the ninth most massive moon in the Solar System. Discovered by William Herschel in 1787, Oberon is named after the mythical king of the fairies...
. - In Kim Stanley RobinsonKim Stanley RobinsonKim Stanley Robinson is an American science fiction writer known for his award-winning Mars trilogy. His work delves into ecological and sociological themes regularly, and many of his novels appear to be the direct result of his own scientific fascinations, such as the fifteen years of research...
's futuristic novel The Memory of WhitenessThe Memory of WhitenessThe Memory of Whiteness is a science fiction novel written by Kim Stanley Robinson and published in 1985. It shares with the Mars trilogy a focus on human colonization of the solar system and depicts a grand tour that travels from the outer planets inward toward the Sun, visiting many human...
(1985), Iapetus is populated by the descendants of SovietSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
colonists who retain a Communist political system. - In Grant CallinGrant CallinGrant David Callin is part of the hard science fiction stream of authors. He sometimes goes by the pseudonym Flash Richardson....
's 1986 science fiction novel SaturnaliaSaturnalia (novel)Saturnalia was a 1986 science fiction novel by Grant Callin, published by Baen Books. It was based on a short story named "Saturn Alia". It was followed by a sequel, A Lion on Tharthee.-Plot summary:...
, Iapetus is one of the locations of an alien artifact. There is also human colonization and mining at an installation called "I-Base". - In John VarleyJohn Varley (author)John Herbert Varley is an American science fiction author.-Biography:Varley grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, moved to Port Arthur in 1957, and graduated from Nederland High School. He went to Michigan State University on a National Merit Scholarship because, of the schools that he could afford, it...
's Gaea trilogyGaea trilogyThe Gaea Trilogy consists of three science fiction novels by John Varley. The stories tell of humanity's encounter with a living being in the shape of a 1,300 km diameter space habitat, inhabited by many different species, most notably Titanides, in orbit around the planet Saturn.The novels...
, Iapetus is used as a "growing up" place for fledgling Titans. - In David WeberDavid WeberDavid Mark Weber is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. Weber and his wife Sharon live in Greenville, South Carolina with their three children and "a passel of dogs"....
's novel The Armageddon InheritanceThe Armageddon InheritanceThe Armageddon Inheritance is a science fiction novel written by David Weber in two books containing a total of 27 chapters. It is the second book in his Dahak trilogy...
(1993), genocidal aliens (the Achuultani) attempt to use Iapetus as a kinetic energy weapon to destroy all life on Earth. - In the Warhammer 40,000 universe, Iapetus acts as a dockyard for the Ordo Malleus fleet, as well as that of the Grey Knights chapter of Space Marines.
- Iapetus appears in Ian McDonaldIan McDonald (author)Ian McDonald is a British science fiction novelist, living in Belfast. His themes include nanotechnology, postcyberpunk settings, and the impact of rapid social and technological change on non-Western societies.- Biography :...
's Chaga. - In Jack McDevittJack McDevittJack McDevitt is an American science fiction author whose novels frequently deal with attempts to make contact with alien races, and with archaeology or xenoarchaeology....
's The Engines of God (1996), there's a strange ice-made icon on Iapetus. It leads to a depressing discovery that every intelligent civilization of the Galaxy could be obliterated by an unknown Dark Force from the void between Galaxy's arms. - Iapetus is the subject of Richard HoaglandRichard C. HoaglandRichard Charles Hoagland, is an American author and a proponent of various conspiracy theories about NASA, lost alien civilizations on the Moon and on Mars and other related topics....
's speculative essay Moon with a View (2005). - Iapetus is the setting of the book Aliens: Steel Egg by John Shirley (2007).