Stalemate

Wells, Basil, 1912-2003Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 27K words
Chapters: 3

Summary

Stalemate is a science fiction short story by Basil Wells, released as a free eBook by Project Gutenberg. The title's "stalemate" signals that the story's central tension likely comes from a confrontation or an impasse that cannot be advanced, with characters making choices under constrained circumstances rather than relying on escalating spectacle to drive the narrative. The value of such a short story lies in compressing conflict to a single point within a limited space; it reads tightly and lingers in the mind. The original English is short and plainly written, suitable for finishing in one sitting during a commute or before bed, and for then reflecting: if you were in the same stalemate, how would you break it? It is better treated as a sample of how mid-twentieth-century science fiction short stories were written than as a work pursuing depth of world-building. As a public-domain eBook, it is easy to obtain and costs little to try; if you expect a long narrative that unfolds layer by layer or dense twists, adjust your expectations.

Editor's review

Stalemate is a short science fiction story by Basil Wells, released as a free eBook by Project Gutenberg. The title's "stalemate" signals to readers that the story's central tension likely comes from a standoff and an impasse, with characters making choices under constrained circumstances rather than the narrative being driven by escalating spectacle. The value of such a short story lies in compressing conflict to a single point within limited space, making for a tight read that lingers. The English original is short and plainly written, suited to being finished in one sitting on a commute or before bed, and to musing afterward: if you were in the same stalemate, how would you break it? It works better as a sample of how mid-twentieth-century short science fiction was written than as a work to read for depth of worldbuilding. As a public-domain eBook, it is easy to obtain and cheap to sample; if you expect a long, layered narrative or dense twists, adjust your expectations.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who want to finish an English-language science fiction short story quickly
Readers interested in how mid-twentieth-century short science fiction was written
Readers who enjoy stories whose central tension is a standoff or impasse
Learners who want light English reading to keep up a reading habit

Not a good fit for

Readers looking for long-form development and multi-strand narratives
Readers expecting high-tech settings and dense action scenes
Beginners who need a Chinese translation or annotations to read English

Reading tips

Read through once following the plot, then go back to see how the stalemate forms and is changed by the characters' choices.
After finishing, sum up the core conflict in one sentence, then consider why the author ends the story at this point.
Jot down unfamiliar words and look them up together at the end, to keep the short read连贯.
Compare it with other short stories by the same author or contemporary short science fiction to observe similarities and differences in subject and technique.

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

About how long is this story?

Judging from its listing on Project Gutenberg, this is a short science fiction work by Basil Wells, limited in length and usually finishable in one reading, suitable for sampling in spare moments.

What does the title "Stalemate" refer to in the story?

The title literally means "deadlock" and usually suggests a standoff or impasse that is hard to move past; what exactly it refers to needs to be felt by reading the text, and should not be guessed without the original.

Can I read it if my English is average?

The language is plain and the sentences are not long; readers with basic English reading ability can finish it with a dictionary, while beginners who rely entirely on Chinese translation may find it hard going.

Is it suitable as an introduction to science fiction?

It works as a short-story sample. It is short and its setup is not complex, letting you quickly get a feel for how mid-twentieth-century short science fiction was written; but to understand the genre systematically, you would need to read other works as well.

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About the author

Wells, Basil, 1912-2003 Author

Basil Wells (1912–2003) was an author active in the field of popular fiction in the mid-twentieth century. Public information about him is limited: his life details, nationality, and educational background are not reliably documented, and his work can only be understood through the titles that survive. Four of his works are held in this collection: Stalemate, Second Sight, Pioneers, and Moment of Truth. Judging from these titles, his writing tends to center on suspense, conflict, and human choices, with tight plots that build tension and turn sharply within a limited space. Such works commonly appeared in magazines and popular reading matter of the period and were aimed at a broad general readership, so they emphasize readability and narrative pace rather than literary experiment. Though Wells did not enter the mainstream literary canon, his works remain useful examples for studying mid-twentieth-century genre fiction.