Appointment In Tomorrow

Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr.Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.7

Word count: 58K words
Chapters: 6

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.Appointment In Tomorrow by Fritz LeiberAuthor: Leiber, Fritz, 1910-1992,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Feb 8, 2016

Editor's review

Fritz Leiber was a major figure in American science fiction and fantasy. Appointment in Tomorrow is a science fiction work published in the mid-twentieth century and reissued by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain ebook. Written in English, it is suitable as a reading sample for a science fiction short story or novella, showcasing Leiber's psychological tension and forward-looking imagination about a technological society. For readers who want to understand the stylistic evolution of American science fiction after the Golden Age, this book offers a free and direct entry point. Note that this electronic edition is a public-domain text without modern editorial notes or introduction, so readers must situate it in its historical context themselves. It is better suited as supplementary material for reading and discussing science fiction history than as an introductory guide to the genre.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English-language science fiction fans who want free access to Leiber's public-domain works
Students and readers studying the development of twentieth-century American science fiction
Readers new to the genre who want to encounter a classic science fiction author through a short work
Readers with good English proficiency who enjoy speculative and thought-provoking premises

Not a good fit for

Readers who struggle with English and need a Chinese translation
Readers who prefer contemporary hard science fiction or long-running series
Academic researchers seeking detailed author biographies and textual annotations

Reading tips

Start with an introduction to the historical background of Leiber's work before reading the text, to understand its contemporary concerns
Read it alongside American science fiction short stories from the same period to compare themes and styles
Pay attention to how psychological characterization combines with technological premises, and take brief notes
Suitable as a short selection for book clubs, with discussion centered on technology and human nature

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?

The material does not specify the length; judging by its form in Project Gutenberg, it is a short story or novella, suitable for reading in one or two sittings.

Can I read it without a Chinese translation?

This edition is in the original English, and the material provides no information about a Chinese translation. Readers who have difficulty with English will need a dictionary or another translation.

Is this book by Leiber suitable for science fiction beginners?

It can be one of the introductory choices, but Leiber's style emphasizes psychology and speculation. For a systematic understanding of science fiction history, it is best read alongside anthologies and introductory materials.

Comments

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About the author

Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. Author · American · 1910–1992

Fritz Leiber (1910–1992) was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, born in Chicago to parents who were both Shakespearean actors. His work spans several genres, with representative titles including The Big Time, Yesterday House, A Bad Day for Sales, The Moon Is Green, and A Pail of Air, as well as the Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser sword-and-sorcery series created with Harry Fischer. He excelled at injecting the grotesque and the fearful into everyday settings, combining cool social satire with sharp imagination and a witty, dramatic prose style. Leiber won the Hugo Award six times and the Nebula Award three times, and in 1981 was named a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, leaving a lasting influence on later genre literature.