Synopsis

An accident during an experiment with gravitation propels a man into the far distant future, where man and the earth are dead and even the universe is in its last days.

History

First publication: Astounding October 1935

Written as Don A. Stuart.

Review

This is listed as a sequel to “Twilight” and, while I can see that they are the same sort of story and a somewhat consistent vision of the far future, this story does not involve the characters and situations of the other story. Still, it is the same sort of story. It’s a vision of the far future, where character and plot are absent and the vision and worldbuilding are the whole point of the story. Before you think that this makes for a bad story, understand that this is a short story. Campbell made the choice to focus just on this vision of the end of the universe. It comes off very powerfully. I think this could have been used as the springboard for a longer and more complex story, but that is up to somebody today to try. Campbell didn’t. But the story stands alongside The Time Machine, The House on the Borderland and Twilight as a powerful example of this sort of future vision story. Definitely recommended to anybody who loves those other stories. I love this subgenre of SF.
—Gregory Kerkman