...After a Few Words...

Garrett, Randall, 1927-1987Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 17K 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....After a Few Words... by Randall GarrettAuthor: Garrett, Randall, 1927-1987,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Dec 22, 2007

Editor's review

...After a Few Words... is a short science fiction piece by American writer Randall Garrett, brief enough to be read in a single sitting. Garrett was known in mid-twentieth-century science fiction magazines for his clever premises and brisk style, and this story shows the typical features of the period's short fiction: a simple setup that moves quickly toward a twist ending. Its value lies not in an elaborate world but in the idea-driven pleasure and narrative efficiency of short science fiction; readers can finish it on a commute or in an afternoon and enjoy the pace of golden-age magazine SF. As a public-domain English original, the language is moderately difficult, with direct sentences, making it suitable as introductory practice in reading English-language SF short stories. Note that the piece is short and its characters are not deeply developed, so it works better as light genre entertainment than as serious literary reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy golden-age science fiction short stories and fast reading
Learners who want to practice reading English-language SF with short stories
Readers interested in the style of mid-twentieth-century American SF magazines
Readers who want a complete story for a commute or fragmented reading time

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting novel-length character development and world-building
Readers who prefer contemporary hard SF or deep thought experiments
Readers who need a Chinese translation and are not used to English originals

Reading tips

Read it in one sitting rather than in parts; the twist depends on continuous reading.
After finishing, look back at the opening dialogue or details to appreciate the author's foreshadowing.
If using it for English study, copy three to five typical sentences and imitate their short-sentence pacing.
Read it alongside other short SF from the same era to sense the length and structural habits of magazine SF.

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

How long is this work?

It is a short science fiction story, not long, usually readable in one sitting. Exact page count depends on the e-book layout, but total reading time is roughly from one commute to one afternoon.

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

No. This is a standalone short story that does not depend on any series or previous work; you can read it directly. Garrett wrote other SF short stories, but this one can be enjoyed on its own.

Is the English suitable for beginners?

The language is moderately difficult, with short sentences and direct wording, easier to enter than nineteenth-century fiction. Readers with basic English reading ability can try it; if you are completely unused to English originals, the reading experience will suffer.

Comments

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About the author

Garrett, Randall, 1927-1987 Author

Randall Garrett (1927-1987) was an American science fiction writer active in the mid-twentieth century. Public information about his life is limited, and details such as his exact birth and death dates and nationality still require further verification. The library holds 43 of his works, including The Highest Treason, Dead Giveaway, The Foreign Hand Tie, Thin Edge, The Asses of Balaam, Anything You Can Do!, That Sweet Little Old Lady, and The Bramble Bush. Judging from these titles, his output consists mainly of short stories and novellas, often built around tricks, misunderstandings, and reversals. He was skilled at creating suspense within a limited space, advancing plots through witty dialogue and a brisk pace, and frequently ending with an unexpected twist. His titles often carry a playful, ironic tone, showing a confident command of science fiction conventions and a humorous attitude toward them. Although public information is limited, these works remain useful samples for studying mid-twentieth-century English-language science fiction short fiction.