Crack of doom by Stephen Marlowe
QR code
Crack of doom by Stephen Marlowe is a science fiction short story written in the mid-20th century. It imagines a sudden, worldwide mind-transfer that installs alien adult intellects in the bodies of human children, overturning social norms and marking untransferred adults as obsolete. The story follows office worker Sam Weber, who wakes to find his three-year-old son speaking with cold authority and a city quietly reorganizing itself: meat is outlawed, trades are
reshuffled, and news voices serenely affirm the “transfer.” Seeking help from a psychiatrist, Sam is examined by the doctor’s precocious granddaughter, who explains that alien minds (from Alpha Centauri) have taken over Earth’s young bodies while human minds were sent to their harsh world; a few, like Sam, were missed by the swap. Classified as still human and therefore incompatible with the new order, Sam is sent home to await elimination. In a stark finale, his own child calmly summons the police, who arrive to carry out the sentence, crystallizing the tale’s chilling inversion of age, power, and empathy. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Download for free
For your e-reader or reading app — Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, Calibre etc.
Kindle → Use Send-to-Kindle
- Download the EPUB3 file above
- Upload it on the Amazon site your Kindle is registered with: amazon.com/sendtokindle for the US, amazon.co.uk/sendtokindle for the UK etc.
- It appears on your Kindle and in the Kindle app
Kobo, Nook etc. → Transfer via USB
- Download the EPUB3 file on your computer
- Connect your e-reader by USB and tap "Connect" on its screen
- Drag the file onto the e-reader drive
Phone, Tablet or Computer → Online or Reading App
Easiest: read online in your browser. Nothing to install.
Or use a reading app:
- Find and install one you like, for example Apple Books, ReadEra or Thorium Reader
- Download the EPUB3 file above
- Open it in the app
More help: iPhone / iPad · Android · Computer
Other formats & older devices
There may be more files related to this item.
About this eBook
| Author | Marlowe, Stephen, 1928-2008 |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Kinstler, Everett Raymond, 1926-2019 |
| Illustrator | Manso, Leo, 1914-1993 |
| Title | Crack of doom |
| Original Publication | New York: Stratford Novels Inc., 1953. |
| Series Title | Produced from Avon Science Fiction and Fantasy Reader, April 1953 (Vol. 1, no. 2). |
| Credits | Tom Trussel (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Science fiction |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 78907 |
| ISBN (HTML) | 979-8-238-78907-1 |
| Release Date | Jun 21, 2026 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 257 downloads in the last 30 days. |
Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free!