The Ultimate Weapon
Public-domain ebook
The Ultimate Weapon
Language: en8,741 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Science Fiction·Science-Fiction & Fantasy·Adventure
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #23790.
About this book
The Ultimate Weapon is a mid‑1930s science‑fiction serial that launches straight into a high‑stakes interplanetary conflict. It opens with the star Mira’s erratic output prompting the Mirans, led by Gresth Gkae, to hunt for a steadier sun, Sol. Their massive fleet, faster than light and larger than Earth’s spaceports, heads for the Solar System, intent on conquest. On Earth, the only hope of resistance is the unlikely hero Buck Kendall, a lanky, half‑navvy, half‑scientist who has just taken command of the patrol cruiser IP‑T 247. A frantic transmission from a Pluto miner warns of a gigantic warship, and Kendall’s crew scrambles to test their weapons, confront a neutron‑based assault, and grapple with the mystery of a ship that can kill without flash or sound.
The prose reflects the pulp style of the era, blending brisk, technical description with colorful, almost tongue‑in‑cheek character sketches. Campbell’s background in physics informs the story’s speculative gadgets, while his editorial flair gives the narrative a rapid, cliff‑hanger rhythm typical of 1930s magazine serials. Readers who enjoy classic space opera, early hard‑science concepts, and the swaggering optimism of pre‑war speculative fiction will find this tale engaging, especially those who appreciate a protagonist whose ingenuity and luck drive the action forward.
Characters in The Ultimate Weapon
- Grests GkaeTall alien leader with smooth scaled skin, elongated head, regal robes, solemn expression
- Buck KendallLanky human male, early thirties, rough hands, grease‑stained shirt, goggles perched on forehead, determined eyes
The opening · free to read
Red Sun Rising
The star Mira was unpredictably variable. Sometimes it was blazing, brilliant and hot. Other times it was oddly dim, cool, shedding little warmth on its many planets. Gresth Gkae, leader of the Mirans, was seeking a better star, one to which his "people" could migrate. That star had to be steady, reliable, with a good planetary system. And in his astronomical searching, he found Sol.
With hundreds of ships, each larger than whole Terrestrial spaceports, and traveling faster than the speed of light, the Mirans set out to move in to Solar regions and take over.
And on Earth there was nothing which would be capable of beating off this incredible armada--until Buck Kendall stumbled upon THE ULTIMATE WEAPON.
JOHN W. CAMPBELL first started writing in 1930 when his first short story, When the Atoms Failed, was accepted by a science-fiction magazine. At that time he was twenty years old and still a student at college. As the title of the story indicates, he was even at that time occupied with the significance of atomic energy and nuclear physics.
For the next seven years, Campbell, bolstered by a scientific background that ran from childhood experiments, to study at Duke University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote and sold science-fiction, achieving for himself an enviable reputation in the field.
In 1937 he became the editor of Astounding Stories magazine and applied himself at once to the task of bettering the magazine and the field of s-f writing in general. His influence on science-fiction since then has been great. Today he still remains as the editor of that magazine's evolved and redesigned successor, Analog.
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