The Beasts in the Void

Paul Warren FairmanProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.4

Word count: 36K words
Chapters: 4

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 Beasts in the Void by Paul W. FairmanAuthor: Fairman, Paul W., 1916-1977,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Apr 28, 2010

Editor's review

This is a science fiction short story by Paul W. Fairman, a typical product of the mid-twentieth-century American science fiction magazine era. The story revolves around beasts in the void, and the title itself hints at humanity's insignificance and fear before the unknown universe. Fairman's narrative is tightly paced, skilled at building suspense and a sense of oppression within a limited space, and his imagination carries the rough texture and adventurous spirit characteristic of science fiction of that era. For readers who want to understand popular science fiction after the Golden Age of American science fiction and before the New Wave, this work offers a light yet interesting sample. The electronic edition is provided free by Project Gutenberg, making it convenient to finish in one sitting during a commute or in fragmented time, and it is also suitable as introductory material for genre studies of science fiction. It should be noted that the work is in English and carries a period flavor; some of its premises may seem simple today, and it is best read as a slice of its time.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy mid-twentieth-century American science fiction short stories
Researchers who want to understand the popular fiction landscape of the science fiction magazine era
Readers fluent in English who prefer fast-paced suspense stories
Students who need short English readings for reading practice

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking contemporary hard science fiction with rigorous scientific logic
Beginners with limited English reading ability who need a translated edition
Readers impatient with old-fashioned science fiction narrative conventions

Reading tips

Read the title and opening paragraphs first to grasp the suspenseful tone, then finish it in one go
While reading, notice how the author creates a sense of oppression and unknown fear within a limited space
Understand its narrative habits in the context of mid-twentieth-century American science fiction magazines
After finishing, try summarizing the story's core conflict in one paragraph to check your comprehension

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 the original English edition, and how difficult is it to read?

This is the original English electronic edition released by Project Gutenberg. It is short and the language is generally accessible, but it carries the vocabulary and sentence patterns of mid-twentieth-century science fiction; readers with college-level English reading ability should find it manageable.

Is the story hard science fiction or soft science fiction?

It is closer to a blend of soft science fiction and adventure suspense. The work focuses on creating tension and an imaginative atmosphere in an unknown environment rather than rigorously working out scientific principles, so it is best approached as genre reading.

What are the features of the Project Gutenberg edition?

Project Gutenberg provides free electronic texts that are easy to download and read in fragments. This edition is a public-domain e-book, mainly in plain text, suitable for reading on electronic devices, with no introduction or annotations.

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About the author

Paul Warren Fairman Author · American · 1916–1977

Paul W. Fairman (1916–1977) was an American science fiction writer and editor, born in Missouri and died in Newark, New Jersey. He edited the magazines If, Amazing Stories, and Fantastic, leaving his mark on science fiction publishing. Under pen names such as Ivar Jorgensen, he also wrote detective, science fiction, and Western stories, showing a wide range of subjects. His representative works include Ten From Infinity, Deadly City, and The Beasts in the Void; his short story Deadly City was adapted into the film Target Earth, indicating the reach and influence of his work at the time. Three of his works are held in the collection. Public information about his life and writing career is limited, but even this shows that he combined the roles of editor and writer across multiple genres.