Wondrous worlds abound in the stories within. Heroes go on great adventures through magical realms, encounter alien races, and use their ingenuity to overcome impossible difficulties.
From Robert E. Howard's thrilling stories of Conan the Barbarian to Nathaniel Hawthorne's subtle tale "The Artist of the Beautiful," the power of the imagination is breathtaking. The settings range from the frozen wastes of Antarctica to the red plains of Mars. Themes of space travel, apocalypse, magic, and power permeate these stories, but at their heart, as with all good fiction, are the characters - who remain as human as you or I.
During the 19th century many writers such as Nathaniel Hawthorne and Ambrose Bierce, tried their hand at fantasy and science fiction, but few fully devoted themselves to the genre.
It took two men to change this: H. G. Wells and Robert E. Howard. Wells was a founder of the science fiction genre whose novels The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds established him as one of the greatest writers of the time. Howard was nearly as influential on the fantasy genre, as his character Conan the Barbarian has remained immensely popular for generations.
In the early 20th century, fantasy and science fiction truly established themselves in the pulp magazines. Writers like Charles B. Stilson, John York Cabot, and Harry Gore Bishop struggled to make a living even though they wrote prolifically for these magazines. The literary landscape as we know it today was established through the writing of these devoted individuals.
This collection features several of the premier writers of speculative fiction. Authors include:
W. L. Alden
Robert Barr
Ambrose Bierce
Harry Gore Bishop
John York Cabot
Nictzin Dyalhis
Francis Flagg
George Griffith
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Robert E. Howard
Kenneth Morris
William Morris
Charles B. Stilson
H. G. Wells
