The naval influence on literature is not necessarily a traditional topic in the Western canon. The issue of maritime concerns can be traced back to Homer's Odyssey, with a military leader taking the lead role. It is not only through content that naval concerns have influenced Western literature, but through the authors' experiences in serving their nations. Soldiers and veterans have long turned to literature during and after service for a variety of reasons. It was in the 20th century that American sailors began to seriously influence the genres in which they wrote. The golden age of science fiction can be attributed, in part, to Robert Heinlein and Frank Herbert, two men who served in the Navy during World War II. Likewise, the postmodern genre was expanded by Richard Marcinko and Thomas Pynchon, who served in the years following the war. These authors' experiences in the U.S. Navy provided the background with which they shaped their respective genres. Together, their works share the common theme of society versus the individual. Science fiction and the sea are surprisingly linked in their history. The first attributes can be noted already in Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, which experimented with fantastic elements, made realistic by adhering to the rules and practices of the real world1. Similarly, Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea used real historical details "to convey a sense of existence... through three levels of operability: existing technology, plausible ones through their analogy with the existing, and fictional ones." 2. Heinlein and Herbert's experiences in World War II gave them experience and knowledge to draw on to create realistic predictions in their works, which were... middle of paper... pen Court Publishing, 2011. McNeilly , Willis E. " Herbert, Frank (Patrick)" in Gunn, James. The new encyclopedia of science fiction. London, Viking, 1988. Peck, John. Maritime Fiction: Sailors and the Sea in British and American Novels, 1719-1917. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave, 2001Puschmann-Nalenz, Barbara. Science fiction and postmodern fiction: a study of genre. New York: P. Lang, 1992.Pynchon, Thomas. Slow learner. London: Vintage, 1995.Seed, David. American science fiction and the Cold War: literature and cinema. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1999.Seed, David. Previews: essays on ancient science fiction and its precursors. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 1995. Tanner, Tony. Thomas Pynchon. London and New York: Methuen, 1982. Westfahl, Gary. Cosmic Engineers: A Study in Hard Science Fiction. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1996.