Planets in science fiction and it is extremely hostile to life. Various planets of the Solar System were used as settings for science fiction stories in the first half of the 20th century; but dissatisfaction with the limits imposed by science led many writers early on to forsake the Solar System for fictional planets around distant stars. As increasing knowledge of the Solar System made the prospects of life in the vicinity of Earth marginal at best, the extrasolar planet has become almost the only venue for contemporary science fiction. In many works of science fiction, planets are only described casually, as points of
Gustav Holst horrors". Nevertheless, the composer and critic Colin Matthews recognises even in these apprentice works an "instinctive orchestral flair". Of the few pieces from this period which demonstrate some originality, Matthews pinpoints the G minor String Trio of 1894 (unperformed until 1974) as the first underivative work produced by Holst. Matthews and Imogen Holst each highlight the "Elegy" movement in "The Cotswold Symphony" (1899–1900) as among the more accomplished of the apprentice works, and Imogen discerns glimpses of her father's real self in the 1899 "Suite de ballet" and the "Ave Maria" of 1900. She and Matthews have asserted that Holst