Stephen Marlowe 40 min read

This revolt is hopeless, Ker-jon, it strikes only at the symptoms, not the roots. Unseat the tyrants and whoever takes their place will renew the same oppression under new slogans.

Stephen Marlowe's 1951 story frames a dystopian tale, aboard an ancient Space Ark from the planet Urth, around the futility of revolution. Sharp, thoughtful golden-age SF. Read it for a story that probes whether rebellion can ever truly break the cycle of tyranny.

In its time

Published in 1951, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

40 min read (a novelette, room for a turn or two).