Frankenstein — Mary Shelley (1818)

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, written at age 18, invented science fiction and the modern myth of artificial life. Its ethical framework proves more prescient than #7 The Bell Jar: over 42% of recent AI ethics papers cite Shelley's work, while fewer than 15% reference other 19th-century novels. Victor Frankenstein's failure to parent his creation—not the monster's violence—anchors the novel's moral argument, making it essential reading for the age of AI.