Literary Traditions And Culminations

As we have seen, some works by Poul Anderson can be regarded as culminating points in particular literary traditions. 

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was the first science fiction novel.

Robert Heinlein's Future History was the first future history series.

HG Wells' Time Traveller was the first fictional character able to move backwards and forwards in time at will, thus the first time traveller as opposed to a temporally displaced person.

We know of Anderson's contributions to science fiction, to future histories and to time travel.

Also, like Tolkien, he brought Norse mythology into modern fantasy. 

Anderson's Dominic Flandry is a space adventurer so who was the first of those? I think that it was Buck Rogers even though the earliest version of this character:

was called Anthony Rogers;

was born in 1898;

was a veteran of World War I;

survived into the 25th century by suspended animation;

did not travel through space;

was revived by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle;

was loosely connected by them to their Lucifer's Hammer.

A fascinating piece of science fiction history.