Murray Leinster 1 hr 23 min read

Burl plunges his spear into a huge meat-eating beetle, for in the far future, humanity survives as tiny, fearful hunters amid titanic insects and fungi, and now a red dust brings new terror.

Murray Leinster's 1927 story, sequel to 'The Mad Planet,' is a rousing post-apocalyptic adventure. Vivid, imaginative golden-age SF. Read it for the continuing saga of Burl in a world of giant bugs and towering mushrooms, as a spreading red menace threatens the last frightened remnants of mankind.

In its time

Published in 1927, during the 1920s, the pulp era proper.

Reading it

1 hr 23 min read (a novella, a full arc in one sitting or two).