Wanted—7 Fearless Engineers!

Tremaine, Frederick Orlin, 1899-1956Project Gutenberg · United StatesMar 2023

2.5

Word count: 107K words
Chapters: 11

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.Wanted—7 Fearless Engineers! by Frederick Orlin TremaineAuthor: Tremaine, Frederick Orlin, 1899-1956,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Oct 17, 2008

Editor's review

Wanted—7 Fearless Engineers! is a short science fiction story in English by Frederick Orlin Tremaine, from the pulp science fiction magazine tradition of the first half of the 20th century and freely available via Project Gutenberg. Its core premise is the recruitment of seven fearless engineers, carrying the technological optimism and adventurous spirit characteristic of the era's science fiction; it is fast-paced and short, making it a good sample of American pulp science fiction. Its value lies more in its significance for genre history: it shows how early science fiction handled themes such as the image of engineers, teamwork, and unknown risks, with plain language and rapid plotting. The ideas and expressions in the book bear clear marks of their time, and today's readers would do well to read it as genre archaeology, appreciating its imagination while noting its limitations. Suitable as English extensive reading material or supplementary reading for a course on the history of science fiction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in early British and American pulp science fiction and magazine traditions
Intermediate learners who want to practice extensive reading with short original English texts
Readers studying the image of engineers and technological narratives in the first half of the 20th century
Casual readers who enjoy fast-paced adventure premises and prefer shorter lengths

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting the scientific rigor and deep worldbuilding of contemporary hard science fiction
Those sensitive to and intolerant of gender, racial, and other expressions from older eras
Readers who prefer long-form, complex character development and literary language

Reading tips

Read it through once without background material first to feel the original narrative rhythm, then look up the author and publication background.
Mark statements that reflect the era's attitudes while reading, and afterward organize them into brief notes to form observations on genre history.
Don't look up every unfamiliar English word; ensure you understand the plot first, then deal with language difficulties on a second pass.
Read it alongside other magazine science fiction short stories of the same period to compare similarities and differences in themes and character setups.

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

What kind of science fiction is this work?

It belongs to the American pulp magazine science fiction tradition of the first half of the 20th century, emphasizing adventure, technological speculation, and team action. It is short and fast-paced, with scientific setups serving plot progression, and is clearly distinct from later hard science fiction that emphasizes rigorous extrapolation.

What English level is it suitable for?

Overall it is intermediate-to-easy narrative English with short sentences, though it contains some period expressions and engineering vocabulary. Readers with high school-level English reading ability who are used to reading original short stories can try it; when encountering unfamiliar words, they can skip them first and focus on understanding the plot.

Why is the Project Gutenberg version worth reading?

This version is free, easy to download and search, and suitable for classroom distribution or personal extensive reading. As a public-domain text, it preserves the work as originally published, making it easier for readers to understand it in the context of early science fiction magazines rather than through a modern adaptation.

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About the author

Tremaine, Frederick Orlin, 1899-1956 Author · 1899–1956

Frederick Orlin Tremaine (1899–1956) was an English-language author about whom relatively little is publicly known; his dates of birth and death are confirmed as 1899 to 1956, and only one of his works is held in the collection. His representative work is Wanted—7 Fearless Engineers!, commonly classified as inspirational and personal-growth writing. Judging from the available information, the title, which centers on recruiting seven fearless engineers, carries a tone of recruitment and adventure and is generally understood as a coming-of-age inspirational story for younger readers, emphasizing courage, responsibility, and teamwork. Because public information is limited, his nationality, education, and specific experiences cannot be reliably confirmed and should not be guessed at. Overall, Tremaine is not widely known among Chinese readers, and his work is noted mainly as inspirational reading, suitable for readers interested in this genre.