Student Body

Floyd Lee WallaceProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.1

Word count: 45K 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.Student Body by F. L. WallaceAuthor: Wallace, F. L. (Floyd L.), 1915-2004,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Mar 29, 2010

Editor's review

F. L. Wallace was a regular contributor to American science fiction magazines during their mid-twentieth-century golden age. Student Body is one of his short science fiction pieces, included in the Project Gutenberg public-domain eBook collection. It is classified under American and Canadian literature, though its actual genre is science fiction. Wallace's work often starts from a simple premise, poses a scientific or social hypothesis within a limited space, and closes with a touch of irony. The book is a good sample of mid-twentieth-century American short science fiction: it is short, clearly set up, and carries the mix of optimism and wariness typical of the era. No complex background is needed to read it, but seen in the context of science fiction history, it conveys the rhythm and concerns of magazine science fiction. For readers who want a low-cost introduction to classic short science fiction, it is a friendly entry point.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers new to mid-twentieth-century American short science fiction
Science fiction fans who like simple premises and twist endings
Students and researchers studying the literary style of the science fiction magazine era
General readers who want free public-domain English science fiction

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer long works with vast world-building and complex character arcs
Readers expecting modern science fiction's technical detail and hard-science premises
Beginners who do not read English and have no translation to help them

Reading tips

Read it once for the pacing, then go back to the opening setup to see how the author plants clues.
Place it in the context of mid-twentieth-century American science fiction magazines to understand its concerns.
Pay attention to dialogue and narrative point of view, which often carry key information in short fiction.
Read it alongside other public-domain short science fiction to compare how writers of the same period chose their material.

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 a novel or a short story?

Student Body is a short science fiction piece by F. L. Wallace, brief enough to read in one or two sittings. Project Gutenberg offers it as an electronic text, and its pacing is closer to a magazine short story than a serialized novel, so do not expect a long, complex plot.

Do I need to know the author's other works first?

No. The book stands on its own and does not depend on prior knowledge of the author's other work. F. L. Wallace was active in mid-twentieth-century American science fiction magazines; if you like his style, you can compare it with other public-domain short science fiction of the period to better understand the writing conventions of the time.

How difficult is the English original?

As mid-twentieth-century magazine science fiction, the language is generally straightforward and the sentences are not complex, though it includes period technical terms and colloquial expressions. Readers with intermediate English can finish it with a dictionary; for a smoother experience, learn the premise first, then read the original.

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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.