The work of the 2nd-century orator, philosopher, and author Lucian, True History, is considered worldwide to be the first science fiction novel ever written. Lucian, following the literary "wave" of his time for readings filled with incredible adventures in distant and unexplored places, describes the fantastical journey of a young man and his ship's crew into the unknown for the sake of adventure.

In this exciting journey, the author and his companions sail to unknown places and encounter bizarre beings. After a great storm, they travel to the Moon and, along with its inhabitants, take part in an interstellar war with gigantic alien creatures. They visit various planets and return to Earth, where a giant whale swallows them along with their ship, and they manage to live in its enormous belly. There, they witness a war between flying islands, escape, are pursued by pirates, sea monsters, and other creatures, encounter the islands of the Blessed and the Damned, and after fantastic adventures, end up on the shores of an unknown continent.

The incredible True History of Lucian is rewritten by the author and narrator Maria Papanikolaou with respect to the original text but also with the touch of the contemporary writer-narrator to introduce it to new readers. It is, therefore, a new narration, a free rendition of True History. The narration systematically follows the literary line and spirit of Lucian, the subtle irony, skepticism, and the unrestrained exaggeration of the original text. However, this new narration adds, subtracts, or comments on the original text. It is a coexistence that creates a timeless dialogue between two authors in a magical meeting with centuries of difference.

The illustrations accompanying the text are characterized by the unique and original semi-automatic artistic "writing" of Elias Kasselas, which is not limited to the representation of snapshots, aiming to "rest the reader's eye" or provide "ready-made food," but creates a dialectical relationship with the story, within a distinct pictorial "space" that has presence, gives image to the text, and comments on it in its own way.

The fantastical journey of True History marked a new era in literature, introducing a new genre, that of fantasy or science fiction literature. Through continuous translations and readings, the work became known, igniting the imagination of other authors over the centuries, such as the Dutch Erasmus and the British Jonathan Swift (Gulliver's Travels) and Henry Fielding, among others. Perhaps even the later Jules Verne…

True History comes to meet the reader, almost twenty centuries after its writing, with a dynamic and originally illustrated approach in a free rendition that retains all the virtues of the original with respect.