Chain of Command

Arr, Stephen, 1921-2012Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.4

Word count: 19K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Chain of Command by Stephen ArrAuthor: Arr, Stephen, 1921-2012,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Apr 28, 2010

Editor's review

Chain of Command is a science fiction short story by American writer Stephen Arr, a product of the mid-twentieth-century American science fiction magazine era, digitized as a public-domain ebook by Project Gutenberg. Works of this kind are typically marked by spare premises, swiftly moving plots, and light satire on institutions, power, or the ethics of technology, suited to a complete reading experience in a single sitting. Its value lies partly in showcasing the narrative pacing and imaginative approach of Golden Age short fiction, and partly in offering a searchable sample for readers studying popular literature of the American science fiction magazine period. As an original English-language electronic text, it has no translator's notes or introduction; the main barrier to entry is English reading ability and familiarity with the science fiction conventions of the time. It is not a sprawling novel and does not aim for deep character portrayal—better suited as a slice for understanding the historical development of genre literature than as a first choice for entering contemporary science fiction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in American Golden Age science fiction short stories
Enthusiasts and scholars studying mid-twentieth-century science fiction magazine literature
Science fiction fans who want to practice reading with original English short stories
Teachers who need public-domain science fiction texts as reference material for teaching genre literature

Not a good fit for

Science fiction readers who prefer long-form, complex worldbuilding and deep character development
General readers with limited English reading ability who need a Chinese translation
Readers expecting contemporary hard science fiction or novel premises

Reading tips

Treat it as a short read: finish it once in full, then go back to the premise and satire.
Briefly familiarize yourself with the background of mid-twentieth-century American science fiction magazines before reading.
Read it alongside other public-domain science fiction short stories to observe similarities and differences in genre conventions.
When encountering unfamiliar expressions, first infer from context rather than pausing frequently to look up words.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this work a novel or a short story?

According to the materials, it is a work by Stephen Arr and a short electronic text included in Project Gutenberg, not a novel. It is suitable for reading in one or two sittings, with no long-term commitment required.

Can I understand it without a science fiction reading background?

You can try, but you need some tolerance for the common conventions of mid-twentieth-century American science fiction short stories. The work is in the original English with no annotations, so English reading ability is the main barrier; the science fiction knowledge barrier is relatively low.

Is this book suitable as material for a science fiction course?

It can serve as a supplementary sample of genre literature from the American science fiction magazine period, useful for discussing short-story narrative pacing and institutional imagination in popular literature. However, because it lacks annotations and an introduction, teachers will need to supply historical background and author information themselves.

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About the author

Arr, Stephen, 1921-2012 Author · 1921–2012

Stephen Arr (1921–2012) was a short-story writer active in science fiction magazines in the mid-twentieth century. Public information about his life is limited, and only two of his works are held in the collection: Mr. President and Chain of Command. Judging from these two works and the venues in which his short stories appeared, his writing was aimed mainly at science fiction readers, with short, tightly paced pieces that build plot and conflict within a limited space. His themes often relate to organizational subjects such as power and chains of command, and the titles themselves reveal an interest in political and military structures. He was not a prolific or widely known author, and his output was small; he never entered the mainstream literary spotlight, yet he occupied a place in the science fiction magazine ecosystem of his time, a quiet contributor to the genre fiction of that era. A fuller assessment of his work and literary influence still awaits more complete documentation.