Nightmare Planet

Leinster, Murray, 1896-1975Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 94K 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.Nightmare Planet by Murray LeinsterAuthor: Leinster, Murray, 1896-1975,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jun 19, 2013

Editor's review

Nightmare Planet is a science fiction novel in English by Murray Leinster, made freely available as an e-book by Project Gutenberg. Leinster was an important twentieth-century American author of popular science fiction, known for tight adventure pacing and clear scientific speculation. The book is short, and its plot revolves around a crisis on an unknown planet, with the tension and imagination typical of pulp science fiction. It is a good introductory read for understanding early science fiction narrative style. Readers can complete a full genre reading experience during commutes, short trips, or other fragmented time. As a public-domain e-book, it can be opened at any time on a phone, tablet, or e-reader, and is also suitable for English learners to encounter original popular fiction at low cost. Note that the work was written long ago, and some ideas and expressions bear the marks of their time; readers can understand them in the history of the genre rather than judge them by contemporary standards.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy early British and American science fiction and want to finish a short novel quickly
Learners who want to improve English reading fluency with original popular fiction
Beginner readers interested in pulp science fiction style and planetary adventure themes
E-book users who need light reading during commutes or travel

Not a good fit for

Novel readers who prefer deep character portrayal and literary expression
Readers looking for contemporary hard science fiction or complex world-building
Readers sensitive to the period attitudes found in early works

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the main adventure line without looking up every word
On the second reading, mark unfamiliar words and science fiction terms and organize them together
After reading, look up Leinster and the background of pulp science fiction to understand the work's place
Read alongside other public-domain science fiction short stories and compare narrative conventions

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 long or short?

From the available bibliographic information, it is a relatively short work, suitable for reading in one sitting or over a few sessions. The exact page count varies with e-book formatting, so it is best to use the progress display in your reading app to plan your time.

Can someone with average English read it?

The language is generally accessible and the sentence structures are not complex, so it suits readers with basic English reading ability. When you meet unfamiliar words, first guess from context and look them up after finishing the chapter so as not to break the rhythm.

Why recommend reading early science fiction?

Early science fiction preserves the common motifs and narrative methods of the genre's formative period, and reading it helps you understand how later works inherited and broke away from them. It is better evaluated as a specimen of genre history than as a contemporary novel.

What should I note when reading the e-book edition?

The formatting of public-domain e-books may vary by source, so it is advisable to choose reading software with adjustable font size and type. Save your progress while reading and pay attention to the release information in the edition notes.

Comments

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About the author

Leinster, Murray, 1896-1975 Author

Murray Leinster (1896–1975) was an American science fiction writer whose real name was William Fitzgerald Jenkins. He was a prolific author of short stories and novels, and this site holds thirty-nine of his works, including The Mad Planet, The Pirates of Ersatz, The Machine That Saved The World, The Forgotten Planet, The Wailing Asteroid, The Invaders, The Runaway Skyscraper, and Scrimshaw. His science fiction often deals with interstellar adventure, strange planets, and technological speculation, with tightly plotted, boldly imaginative narratives that also reflect on human society and the conditions of survival; some works are also categorized as inspirational growth. Public information is limited, making biographical details difficult to describe, but the surviving works show his important place in twentieth-century American popular science fiction and his influence on later writers in the genre.