Klicka på en bild för att gå till Google Book Search.
Laddar... Lest Darkness Fall & Related Storiesav L. Sprague de Camp
Recommended AltHist (24) 501 Must-Read Books (467) Laddar...
Gå med i LibraryThing för att få reda på om du skulle tycka om den här boken. Det finns inga diskussioner på LibraryThing om den här boken. Thrown into the past, an American familiar with the works of the historian Procopius, establishes an Italo-gothic kingdom, and with the recruitment of the great General Belisarius to his cause, seems to prevent the full depths of the "Dark Ages". This book is a classic of the Alternative History Genre. though the book originally appeared in 1941, i enjoyed the 1963 edition. ( ) This is the ebook published by Arc Manor (http://www.phoenixpick.com) which includes some related short stories written by others. Effectively it's A Connecticut Yankee in the Court of King Arthur but written as time travel science fiction. Stylistically, it's very much of it's day, so female characters are walk-on only and are limited to the tart with a heart, the girl next door and Lady Macbeth. Basically, the hero (an archaologist) is struck by a bolt of lightning by The Pantheon in 1936 and transported back in time to around 530 AD. Here he introduces various modern inventions - distillation, double-entry bookkeeping and Arabic numerals, the printing press and the semaphore telegraph - to the Gothic kingdom, defeats Belisarius, and generally keeps the Roman Empire from collapse thereby turning the story from time travel to alternate history. In some ways I found this story to be more believable than 1632 in that the hero is not very heroic, but less believable in that he had the technical knowledge to create a working printing press and just happened to know double entry bookkeeping. I'll grant distillation, spyglasses and Arabic numerals and the germ theory... Lest Darkness Fall is an alternate history science fiction novel written in 1939 by author L. Sprague de Camp. The book is often considered one of the best examples of the alternate history genre; it is certainly one of the most influential. The novel reminded me of Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. In it American archaeologist Martin Padway is visiting the Pantheon in Rome in 1938. When a thunderstorm arrives lightning cracks and he finds himself transported to 6th century Rome. Padway arrives in an Italy ruled by the Ostrogoths, a tribe who recently overthrew the Western Roman Empire, but ruled with benevolence, allowing freedom of religion, and maintaining the urban Roman society they had conquered. The Gothic War of the mid-sixth century saw the Eastern Roman Empire overthrow the Ostrogoths and the Vandals in north Africa, but they never consolidated their rule over Italy, and it collapsed into smaller states with further invasions by the Lombards. The great cities of Rome were abandoned as Italy fell into a long period of decline. Some historians consider this as the true beginning of the Dark Ages. Padway initially wonders if he is dreaming or delusional. he quickly accepts his fate and sets out to survive. His first idea is to make a copper still and sell brandy for a living. He convinces a banker, Thomasus the Syrian, to lend him Seed money to start his endeavor. He also begins teaching his clerks Arabic numerals and double entry bookkeeping. He eventually develops a printing press, issues newspapers, and builds a sketchy semaphore telegraph system. His attempts to develop a mechanical clock, gunpowder, and a cannon are failures. He gradually becomes more and more involved in the politics of the state, as Italy is invaded by the Imperials and also threatened from the south and east. This leads Padway to engage with the army in its campaigns and the results have the potential for unexpected changes in the direction of history. The novel is an entertaining read, but it did not impress this reader as worthy of all of the accolades it has received. inga recensioner | lägg till en recension
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 by the number of best-selling writers who have written stories in direct response to, or influenced by, Lest Darkness Fall. This new volume also 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 Quastor) 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. "Endlessly fascinating. The author knows a lot about Gothic Italy and almost as much about human nature, and he has a real gift for making the people of those days come alive."--The New York Times "Lest Darkness Fall [is] one of the best time travel stories ever written..."--A Reader's Guide to Science Fiction "Good fun." --The New Yorker "A work of real and stimulating imagination." --Saturday Review of Literature Inga biblioteksbeskrivningar kunde hittas. |
Pågående diskussionerIngen/ingaPopulära omslag
Google Books — Laddar... GenrerMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999Klassifikation enligt LCBetygMedelbetyg:
Är det här du? |