Tag Archives: A. Lincoln Green

END OF AN EPOCH (1901) – ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

end of an epochTHE END OF AN EPOCH (1901) – Written by A. Lincoln Green, this novel about a world-threatening disease presented the tale of brilliant young Adam Godwin, a recent Oxford graduate who pursues his interest in microbiology. During the course of his research into antitoxins, Adam becomes aware of the controversial Dr. Azrael Falk.

Falk is in India, experimenting on human test subjects with his hybrids of assorted bacteria and other microorganisms. Godwin becomes so fascinated with Dr. Falk’s heinous yet productive work that it strains his relationship with his fiancee Evelyn Morpeth, daughter of the wealthy Sir John Morpeth.

masc graveyard smallerUltimately, Adam starts neglecting Evelyn to the point that she lays down an ultimatum: Godwin must choose between her and his research. Adam chooses his research, so the engagement is ended, and the willful Evelyn joins her father’s expedition to the North Pole.

Dr. Falk relocates to London and hires Adam Godwin as his assistant. Adam’s admiration for the man’s scientific genius increases even as his personal dislike for Falk’s selfish nature threatens to overwhelm that admiration. When Azrael sufficiently trusts Adam, he reveals to him that he has developed a combination of dengue, tetanus, influenza, sleeping sickness, bubonic plague and meningitis. Continue reading

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THE CAPTIVITY OF THE PROFESSOR (1901) ANCIENT SCIENCE FICTION

captivity prof picTHE CAPTIVITY OF THE PROFESSOR (1901) – Written by A. Lincoln Green, a presumed pen name, this story was first published in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine in the February 1901 isssue.

Years before H.G. Wells’ short story The Empire of the Ants came this tale for which that might have been a more appropriate title. The Captivity of the Professor is set in the jungles of Brazil. Our narrator is an entomologist from Scotland who is so intent on studying rare ant species that he ignores warnings of an indigenous tribe and travels into a forbidden region of the vast rainforest.

Before long the professor discovers an unusual ant of unknown species, possessing an oversized head and huge mandibles. The rest of the ant’s fellows fall upon our narrator and, proving to be incredibly intelligent, manage to herd him to their colony using painful bites to spur him along. Continue reading

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