Delay in Transit

Floyd Lee WallaceProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.7

Word count: 95K words
Chapters: 10

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.Delay in Transit by F. L. WallaceAuthor: Wallace, F. L. (Floyd L.), 1915-2004,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jan 22, 2016

Editor's review

Delay in Transit is a science fiction short story by F. L. Wallace published in the mid-twentieth century, now reissued as a public-domain ebook by Project Gutenberg. Compact in length, its core premise revolves around the inevitable waiting and time lag of interstellar travel, carrying the technical imagination and dry humor characteristic of Golden Age science fiction. Wallace excels at creating dramatic tension within limited settings, magnifying everyday delays into absurd situations on a cosmic scale—light to read yet lingering in the mind. This edition is the original English text, suitable as an introductory sample of American magazine-era short fiction, and as supplementary material for English extensive reading or science fiction history courses. For reading contexts, it fits commutes, short bedtime reads, or selection for a science fiction book club; to compare how science fiction of the same period handled technology and human nature, it can be read alongside other public-domain short stories. Note that the electronic edition provides text only, with no annotations or introduction, so readers must supply background themselves.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who want a short story to quickly grasp the style of Golden Age science fiction
Learners needing English extensive reading material who prefer plain narrative
Science fiction book clubs seeking a discussion selection readable in one sitting
Readers interested in mid-twentieth-century American magazine science fiction

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a long-form world and complex character arcs
Beginner readers who need a Chinese translation or detailed annotations
Readers who prefer the technical detail of contemporary hard science fiction

Reading tips

Read through once for the plot, then revisit the opening time setting to appreciate how the author lays out foreshadowing.
Watch for dry humor in the dialogue and jot down a line or two for book club discussion.
If English reading is difficult, read a synopsis first, then the original, focusing on scene and pacing.
Read alongside other public-domain science fiction short stories of the same period to compare different treatments of technology and waiting.

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 book in Chinese or English?

This edition is the original English-language ebook released by Project Gutenberg; the text is in English with no Chinese translation.

Will it be hard to read without annotations or an introduction?

The work is short and the language relatively plain; anyone with basic English reading ability can get through it. If period background or technical terms get in the way, look up brief information on the author and magazine science fiction first.

Is it suitable as a first book for science fiction beginners?

Yes, but not the only choice. Its strengths are brevity and a clear premise, good for experiencing the narrative habits of Golden Age science fiction; for a fuller sense of science fiction history, pair it with other public-domain short stories or introductory materials.

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About the author

Floyd Lee Wallace Author · American · 1915–2004

F. L. Wallace (Floyd Lee Wallace, 1915–2004) was an American science fiction and mystery writer and a mechanical engineer. He was born in 1915 in Rock Island, Illinois, and died in 2004 in Tustin, California. From the 1950s onward he wrote short stories for science fiction magazines such as Galaxy as well as novels. Thirteen of his works are held in this collection, including Delay in Transit, The Man Who Was Six, End as a World, Forget Me Nearly, Address: Centauri, Student Body, Bolden's Pets and Accidental Flight. His writing often starts from the practical details of engineering and technology, combining precise speculation with suspense and reversal, and his subjects frequently involve space travel, mistaken identity and sudden crises. Public information about his life and career is limited, and readers' knowledge of him and his work still rests mainly on these short stories and novels scattered across various publications.