General Max Shorter

Kris NevilleProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 43K words
Chapters: 5

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. General Max Shorter by Kris Neville. Author: Neville, Kris, 1925–1980. Language: English. Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature. Release Date: Nov 20, 2007

Editor's review

General Max Shorter is a work by Kris Neville from the mid-century science fiction short fiction tradition, made available by Project Gutenberg as an English electronic text. Neville was active in the American science fiction magazine era of the mid-twentieth century, and his work often explores speculative tensions around military institutions and human pressure. This piece centers on the figure of a general and engages with the Cold War-era science fiction themes of power and responsibility; it is short and serves as a useful sample of English-language short science fiction from that period. Readers may note the tension between character portrayal and institutional allegory, and how a short story completes its setup and turn within limited space. As a free public-domain eBook, it is easy for researchers and enthusiasts to access and is suitable for genre fiction reading, science fiction history interest reading, or close reading practice in English short fiction, though it is not a long-form narrative for a general audience.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in mid-twentieth-century English-language science fiction short stories
English learners who need public-domain English short stories for close reading practice
Enthusiasts studying the history of science fiction genres and military-themed threads
Readers who prefer short, speculative pieces readable in one sitting

Not a good fit for

Readers only looking for contemporary long-form science fiction or space opera
Academic readers needing detailed author biography and work annotations
Readers with no interest in military and institutional themes

Reading tips

Read the full text first to grasp the setup and turn, then revisit the characters' dialogue for differences in stance.
Read in comparison with common themes in American science fiction magazine stories of the same period.
English learners can excerpt institutional language and military vocabulary and organize them into thematic word lists.

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

What language version is this work?

According to the Project Gutenberg entry, the version is marked as English, an electronic text under the American and Canadian literature classification, and the English original can be read directly.

Is it long? Does it take a long time to finish?

This is a short work, suitable for reading in one or two sittings. The materials do not give a specific word count, but by the conventions of genre short fiction, reading time is usually short and can be completed in fragmented time.

Do I need to know Cold War history before reading?

Detailed historical knowledge is not required in advance, but knowing that mid-twentieth-century American science fiction often dealt with military and institutional themes will help in understanding the work's concerns. Read the main text first, then add background as interest dictates.

Comments

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About the author

Kris Neville Author · American · 1925–1980

Kris Neville (1925–1980) was an American science fiction writer born in Missouri. He began publishing in 1949, and his career spanned several decades. Nine of his works are held in this collection, including General Max Shorter, Voyage to Far N'jurd, New Apples in the Garden, Hunt the Hunter, Shamar's War, Earth Alert!, Fresh Air Fiend, and Moral Equivalent; their subjects often involve space travel, alien-world adventure, and visions of future societies. His early work Bettyann is often regarded as a science fiction classic. Beyond fiction, he long worked as a technical writer on plastics and co-authored a book on epoxy resins. He died in Los Angeles in 1980. Public information about his life and literary career is limited, and researchers tend to approach him through the themes and style of his works.