Layered over the historical fiction is a sci-fi element: The main character is a modern-day barman, Desmond Miles, who is forced to travel through time to relive the story of his ancestors and collect artefacts.
Lives extended, cancers (and a menagerie of other diseases) cured is almost like sci-fi medical technology come true (there may be more science fiction references as you read onward).
Named after Hugo Gernsback, the editor of groundbreaking sci-fi magazine Amazing Stories, the Hugos (originally the Science Fiction Achievement Awards) have been awarded annually for science fiction and fantasy writing since 1953.
There appears to be no waning of viewers' interest in science fiction, with Steven Spielberg's alien abduction series Taken giving the Sci Fi Channel its best ratings.