James V. McConnell 22 min read

In a vast, tomblike office paneled in black onyx, a lone man sits before a statue of unbearable beauty and grief titled 'Bereavement', the presiding image of a strange and solemn power.

James V. McConnell's 1957 story builds an atmospheric social-SF and space-opera tale around loss, memory, and enduring power. Somber, evocative golden-age SF. Read it for a story steeped in mourning and mystery, unfolding from a room built as a monument to grief.

In its time

Published in 1957, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

22 min read (a short story, a single idea, delivered and gone).

Illustrated by

Virgil Finlay