On the Fourth Planet by Jesse F. Bone

Read now or download (free!)

Choose how to read this book Url Size
Read online (web) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50904.html.images 63 kB
EPUB3 (E-readers incl. Send-to-Kindle) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50904.epub3.images 321 kB
EPUB (older E-readers) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50904.epub.images 320 kB
EPUB (no images, older E-readers) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50904.epub.noimages 86 kB
Kindle https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50904.kf8.images 357 kB
older Kindles https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50904.kindle.images 350 kB
Plain Text UTF-8 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50904.txt.utf-8 57 kB
Download HTML (zip) https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/50904/pg50904-h.zip 293 kB
There may be more files related to this item.

About this eBook

Author Bone, Jesse F. (Jesse Franklin), 1916-2006
Illustrator Finlay, Virgil, 1914-1971
Title On the Fourth Planet
Credits Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Summary "On the Fourth Planet" by J. F. Bone is a science fiction novella written during the early 1960s. The story revolves around the character Ul Kworn, a member of a dwindling alien race, facing a significant obstacle in his path—a mysterious metal structure that blocks his access to food, ultimately representing a barrier to survival and progress for his species. The narrative unfolds in an alien landscape, exploring themes of survival, societal change, and the remnants of a once-great civilization. The plot centers on the challenges faced by Ul Kworn as he confronts a massive metallic disc that has appeared in his feeding territory. Struggling with dwindling energy and food scarcity, he battles both the external obstacles of this artifact and the internal tensions within his community, particularly concerning his untrustworthy neighbors. As the story progresses, Kworn learns the structure possesses life and intelligence, which leads to a moment of transformation for him. The climax reveals a catastrophic event involving his naive offspring, resulting in the destruction of the structure but revealing the potential for rebirth in the society of the Folk. Ultimately, Kworn envisions the possibility of reconciling the old knowledge with new opportunities for growth, hinting at a hopeful future for his civilization. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Language English
LoC Class PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature
Subject Science fiction
Subject Short stories
Subject Extraterrestrial beings -- Fiction
Category Text
EBook-No. 50904
Release Date
Copyright Status Public domain in the USA.
Downloads 91 downloads in the last 30 days.
Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free!