The Leader

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

3.2

Word count: 46K 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.The Leader by Murray LeinsterAuthor: Leinster, Murray, 1896-1975,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Nov 24, 2007

Editor's review

Murray Leinster was an important twentieth-century American writer of science fiction and popular fiction, skilled at establishing suspense and conflict quickly within a short span. As a public-domain electronic text, The Leader is not long and is well suited to examining how early science fiction handled themes such as “the leader,” “authority,” and group choice. The text moves at a brisk pace, with the plot driven by dialogue and action, and it has a low barrier to entry, making it suitable for reading in one sitting during a commute, lunch break, or other fragmented time. Its value lies not only in the story itself but also in offering a sample for understanding the conventions of popular science fiction narrative: clearly functional characters, direct turns, and an ending with a twist. For readers who want to encounter public-domain science fiction in the original English or who study the narrative patterns of early genre literature, this is a low-cost, accessible read. It should be noted that it is not a substantial novel, and its intellectual depth and character development are relatively spare; readers should not judge it by the standards of pure literature.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who want to start with early science fiction in short original English texts
Short-fiction readers who need something to finish in one sitting during a commute or fragmented time
Readers interested in themes of leadership, authority, and group choice
Literature enthusiasts studying the conventions of popular science fiction narrative

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a long novel with a complex worldview and deep character development
Readers unaccustomed to reading in original English who need a Chinese translation
Readers who prefer slow-paced literary narration over plot-driven stories

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the plot, then revisit how the image of the leader is constructed by the narration.
While reading, note how dialogue and action replace psychological description in moving the story forward.
Compare it with other public-domain science fiction short stories to observe commonalities and differences in early genre writing.
After finishing, summarize the twist structure in a few sentences to check whether you have understood the narrative intent.

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 by the length of the public-domain electronic text, it is a short story or novella, suitable for reading in one or two sittings. The exact page count will vary with formatting and reading device, so it is best to rely on the actual text length once opened.

Can I read it if my English is not good?

The text is driven mainly by dialogue and action, with relatively direct sentence structures and vocabulary that is not especially difficult, so readers with basic English reading ability can try it. If it proves difficult, use a dictionary tool to work through it paragraph by paragraph, or learn the outline of the story first before reading the original.

Is it suitable as material for science fiction research?

It is suitable as a sample of the conventions of popular science fiction narrative, useful for observing techniques such as functional characters, conflict setup, and twist endings. However, its length is limited, so it should not bear the weight of systematic research on its own; it is best used alongside other works from the same period for comparison.

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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.