Lest Darkness Fall & Related Stories by the late L. Sprague de Camp (ISFDB, Wikipedia, Science Fiction Encyclopedia) et al. is his vintage classic standalone time travel historical redirection science fiction novel (plus extras) starring a modern man thrown back into the last days of the Western Roman Empire, using his engineering knowledge to try and stave off the Dark Ages via jumpstarting technological progress, free courtesy of publisher Phoenix Pick Press, who are e-printing it from its 1941 edition originally out from Henry Holt.
This is their featured Free Book of the Month selection for September. This edition contains not only the original novel, but also some follow-up short stories further exploring the setting by the late SFWA Grandmaster Frederik Pohl, and also authors S. M. Stirling & David Drake, as well as a retrospective afterword by science fiction critics Alexei (ISFDB, Wikipedia) & Cory Panshin (ISFDB, Wikipedia).
Currently free through September directly @ the publisher's dedicated promo page (DRM-free ePub & Mobi available worldwide in return for your valid email address; follow the instructions to reset the price to $0.00 in the cart before checkout)
There's also a tie-in offer for the 5-book bundle of his non-sfnal standalone historical fiction novels set in Ancient Greece and Persia, for just $9. You, like me, might have already purchased the extra books when they were offered on sale alongside the previous PPP de Camp freebie, which was for An Elephant for Aristotle in 2015.
Description
Rarely do books have such a great influence on a genre as Lest Darkness Fall has had on science fiction. Frequently quoted as one of the “favorite” books of many of the masters of the field, this book by L. Sprague de Camp helped establish time-travel as a solid sub-genre of science fiction.
An indication of the influence and longevity of the book is the number of best-selling writers who have written stories in direct response to, or been influenced by, Lest Darkness Fall. This new volume includes three such stories by Frederik Pohl, David Drake and S. M. Stirling written over a period of forty-three years—a testament to the timelessness of the book.
Similar, thematically, to Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, the book tells the tale of Martin Padway who, as he is walking around in modern Rome, is suddenly transported though time to 6th Century Rome.
Once in ancient Rome, Padway (now Martinus Paduei, Quaestor), embarks on an ambitious project of single-handedly changing history.
L. Sprague de Camp was a student of history (and the author of a number of popular works on the subject). In Lest Darkness Fall he combines his extensive knowledge of the workings of ancient Rome with his extraordinary imagination to create one of the best books of time travel ever written.
This is their featured Free Book of the Month selection for September. This edition contains not only the original novel, but also some follow-up short stories further exploring the setting by the late SFWA Grandmaster Frederik Pohl, and also authors S. M. Stirling & David Drake, as well as a retrospective afterword by science fiction critics Alexei (ISFDB, Wikipedia) & Cory Panshin (ISFDB, Wikipedia).
Currently free through September directly @ the publisher's dedicated promo page (DRM-free ePub & Mobi available worldwide in return for your valid email address; follow the instructions to reset the price to $0.00 in the cart before checkout)
There's also a tie-in offer for the 5-book bundle of his non-sfnal standalone historical fiction novels set in Ancient Greece and Persia, for just $9. You, like me, might have already purchased the extra books when they were offered on sale alongside the previous PPP de Camp freebie, which was for An Elephant for Aristotle in 2015.
Description
Rarely do books have such a great influence on a genre as Lest Darkness Fall has had on science fiction. Frequently quoted as one of the “favorite” books of many of the masters of the field, this book by L. Sprague de Camp helped establish time-travel as a solid sub-genre of science fiction.
An indication of the influence and longevity of the book is the number of best-selling writers who have written stories in direct response to, or been influenced by, Lest Darkness Fall. This new volume includes three such stories by Frederik Pohl, David Drake and S. M. Stirling written over a period of forty-three years—a testament to the timelessness of the book.
Similar, thematically, to Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, the book tells the tale of Martin Padway who, as he is walking around in modern Rome, is suddenly transported though time to 6th Century Rome.
Once in ancient Rome, Padway (now Martinus Paduei, Quaestor), embarks on an ambitious project of single-handedly changing history.
L. Sprague de Camp was a student of history (and the author of a number of popular works on the subject). In Lest Darkness Fall he combines his extensive knowledge of the workings of ancient Rome with his extraordinary imagination to create one of the best books of time travel ever written.