Raymond Z. Gallun 1 hr 39 min read

After World War III, victorious rocket-bombers become the first ships of space, and a narrator too young to remember it all inherits a transformed solar system.

Raymond Z. Gallun's 1954 story surveys a future of Moon fortresses and explored planets through a reflective narrator, building toward first contact and human transformation. Expansive, thoughtful golden-age SF. Read it for a sweeping tale about the frightening newness of each leap forward, and where it leads.

In its time

Published in 1954, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

1 hr 39 min read (a novella, a full arc in one sitting or two).

Illustrated by

Herman B. Vestal