William Tenn 1 hr 56 min read

Mankind consists of 128 people, huddled in a dozen burrows, patrolled by twenty-three young warriors, and Eric the Only, an initiate, will tomorrow be sent forth on his birthday.

William Tenn's 1963 novel is a rich, ironic first-contact and post-apocalyptic tale. Sharp, imaginative golden-age SF. Read it for a story where humanity, reduced to tiny bands living in the walls of a giant alien world, clings to survival and pride, and one young man's coming-of-age may change everything.

In its time

Published in 1963, during the 1960s, new wave revolutionizes the genre.

Reading it

1 hr 56 min read (a novella, a full arc in one sitting or two).

Illustrated by

Virgil Finlay