Let There Be Light

Fyfe, H. B. (Horace Bowne), 1918-1997Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 14K 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.Let There Be Light by H. B. FyfeAuthor: Fyfe, H. B. (Horace Bowne), 1918-1997,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: May 30, 2010

Editor's review

Let There Be Light is a science fiction short story by H. B. Fyfe published in the mid-twentieth century and made available as a free ebook by Project Gutenberg. It has the typical feel of Golden Age science fiction: a technological or conceptual breakthrough sets the story in motion and pushes the characters toward a choice with ethical and situational stakes. It is concise and briskly paced, short enough to finish on a commute or before bed. Its value lies not in an elaborate setting but in the way its light narrative poses a thought-provoking hypothesis, one likely to spark discussion about the limits of technology and human choice. The English is plain and the sentences are short, so readers with a reasonable grasp of English will find it accessible, and it works well as an introduction to the English-language science fiction short story. As a public-domain ebook, it is easy to open on a phone or e-reader for a quick sample in spare moments; readers who prefer long buildup or complex world-building should adjust their expectations and treat it as a brief intellectual sketch.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who want to finish a complete English-language science fiction short story in spare moments
Readers interested in the mid-twentieth-century Golden Age science fiction style
Learners who want to practice English reading and build science fiction vocabulary with a short story
Readers who enjoy stories that use a technological hypothesis to provoke ethical reflection

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer long epic structures and complex world-building
Readers expecting heavy action or dense plot twists
Beginners whose English reading is not yet strong enough to go without a Chinese parallel text

Reading tips

Read through once for the plot, then read again to notice how the author uses details to set up the central hypothesis.
After finishing, write two or three sentences on your view of the technological choice in the story to check whether you grasped the author's implication.
Guess unfamiliar words from context first and look them up together afterward, so as not to break the rhythm of a short story.
Read it alongside other Golden Age science fiction short stories to compare how similar material is handled differently.

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 a novel or a short story?

Judging from the Project Gutenberg listing, it is a science fiction short story by H. B. Fyfe. It is concise and can be read in one sitting, rather than a novel that takes several days to get through.

How difficult is the English?

It is mid-twentieth-century popular science fiction writing, with plain vocabulary and short sentences. Readers with basic English reading ability can finish it with a dictionary, which makes it suitable as practice material for English short stories.

Why read the public-domain ebook edition?

Project Gutenberg provides a free electronic text that is easy to obtain and can be opened on a phone or e-reader at any moment. It suits sampling in spare moments such as a commute or before bed, and is easy to revisit.

Do I need a background in science fiction to read this?

No. The story builds on a single hypothesis and does not depend on an elaborate setting or prior books in a series. Readers new to Golden Age science fiction can follow it easily, and afterward they can judge whether they like this style.

Comments

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About the author

Fyfe, H. B. (Horace Bowne), 1918-1997 Author

H. B. Fyfe (Horace Bowne Fyfe, 1918–1997) is an English-language author with sixteen works held in the collection, though little is publicly known about his life or nationality. Judging from the listed titles, his writing centres on science fiction and speculative fiction, dealing with alien envoys, satellite systems, war and peace, deadly weapons, and the end of the world; titles such as The Envoy, Her, Satellite System, The Outbreak of Peace, Irresistible Weapon, and This World Must Die! suggest a preference for concise, forceful short stories that explore technology, conflict, and human destiny. The works often carry the tension and speculative flavour of Cold War-era science fiction, with tight plotting and endings that frequently turn on irony or warning. Fyfe is not a widely celebrated classic author, but his productivity and breadth of subject matter are noteworthy.