Journeys Through Time & Space
By Greg Bear & Mark Twain &Publisher Description
A Nebula Award winner presents tales that shaped modern science fiction and fantasy—five complete novels by Mark Twain, H. G. Wells, and more.
In this handpicked collection, New York Times–bestselling author Greg Bear travels back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when novelists let their imaginations soar beyond conventional boundaries of time and space and contributed to the emergence of imaginative new literary genres.
In 1889, Mark Twain introduced Americans to time travel in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, in which a hard-headed New Englander is sent back through history to the age of chivalry. Six years later, H. G. Wells propelled an intrepid inventor into the far future via The Time Machine; there, our fearless hero discovers a nightmarish evolutionary scenario in which technologically advanced but mutated Morlocks dwell underground, preying on the innocent aboveground Eloi.
In 1912, long before Ray Bradbury or Star Wars, Edgar Rice Burroughs imagined the first wildly popular alternative fantasy/alien culture with A Princess of Mars, transporting readers from Arizona to the red planet, where Confederate soldier John Carter is swept up in another kind of civil war and seduced by a gorgeous red-hued princess.
In 1920, Scottish novelist David Lindsay presented A Voyage to Arcturus, an interstellar quest for truth as well as an inquiry into the nature of good and evil that inspired generations of fantasy writers to come. And in 1922, E. R. Eddison turned the planet Mercury into a fantasy version of Earth where demons and witches wage war on a Homeric scale in The Worm Ouroboros.
With an insightful introduction, Bear celebrates the writers who first swept readers away to other times and worlds—and blew their minds in ways that altered our literary landscape and collective imagination forever.
In this handpicked collection, New York Times–bestselling author Greg Bear travels back to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when novelists let their imaginations soar beyond conventional boundaries of time and space and contributed to the emergence of imaginative new literary genres.
In 1889, Mark Twain introduced Americans to time travel in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, in which a hard-headed New Englander is sent back through history to the age of chivalry. Six years later, H. G. Wells propelled an intrepid inventor into the far future via The Time Machine; there, our fearless hero discovers a nightmarish evolutionary scenario in which technologically advanced but mutated Morlocks dwell underground, preying on the innocent aboveground Eloi.
In 1912, long before Ray Bradbury or Star Wars, Edgar Rice Burroughs imagined the first wildly popular alternative fantasy/alien culture with A Princess of Mars, transporting readers from Arizona to the red planet, where Confederate soldier John Carter is swept up in another kind of civil war and seduced by a gorgeous red-hued princess.
In 1920, Scottish novelist David Lindsay presented A Voyage to Arcturus, an interstellar quest for truth as well as an inquiry into the nature of good and evil that inspired generations of fantasy writers to come. And in 1922, E. R. Eddison turned the planet Mercury into a fantasy version of Earth where demons and witches wage war on a Homeric scale in The Worm Ouroboros.
With an insightful introduction, Bear celebrates the writers who first swept readers away to other times and worlds—and blew their minds in ways that altered our literary landscape and collective imagination forever.
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About Greg Bear
Greg Bear has won two Hugo Awards and three Nebula Awards and is a past president to the Science Fiction Writers of America. He lives in Seattle, Washington.
Other books by Greg Bear
Mark Twain
Mark Twain was the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835–1910), who grew up in Hannibal, Missouri, and worked as a printer, riverboat pilot, newspaperman, and silver miner before his short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” brought him international attention. He would go on to write two of the great American novels, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and many other enduring works of fiction, satire, and travelogue. He is one of the most widely recognized figures in US history.
Other books by Mark Twain
H. G. Wells
The son of a professional cricketer and a lady’s maid, H. G. Wells (1866–1946) served apprenticeships as a draper and a chemist’s assistant before winning a scholarship to the prestigious Normal School of Science in London. While he is best remembered for his groundbreaking science fiction novels, including The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, and The Island of Doctor Moreau, Wells also wrote extensively on politics and social matters and was one of the foremost public intellectuals of his day.
Other books by H. G. Wells
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Edgar Rice Burroughs was an American fiction writer best known for his celebrated and prolific output in the adventure and science-fiction genres. Among the most notable of his creations are the jungle hero Tarzan, the heroic Mars adventurer John Carter, and the fictional landmass within Earth known as Pellucidar.
Other books by Edgar Rice Burroughs
David Lindsay
David Lindsay (1876–1945) was a Scottish author best known for his novel A Voyage to Arcturus, a revolutionary work of philosophical science fiction.
Other books by David Lindsay
E. R. Eddison
E. R. Eddison (1882–1945) was born in Leeds, England, and shared an early education with fellow author Arthur Ransome. Later, after attending Eton and Oxford, Eddison joined the Board of Trade, where he worked until his retirement in 1938. In 1922 Eddison released his most enduring and critically acclaimed work, The Worm Ouroboros, depicting the land of Mercury. Eddison would return to Mercury a decade later with his Zimiamvian trilogy.
Other books by E. R. Eddison
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