Clifford D. Simak 1 hr 7 min read

Like any farmer on any planet, colonist Duncan must hunt down whatever is raiding his crops, even when the tracks lead toward a creature the natives insist simply cannot exist.

Clifford D. Simak's 1958 story is a superb colonization and first-contact tale. Warm, thoughtful, superbly told. Read it for classic Simak, a farmer's dogged pursuit of an impossible beast across an alien world, unfolding into a moving story of understanding and respect between species, in one of his finest and most humane short works.

In its time

Published in 1958, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

1 hr 7 min read (a novelette, room for a turn or two).

Illustrated by

Jack Gaughan