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The Pen and the Dark

Colin Kapp

First published 1966
Type Short Fiction
Length Novelette
Series Unorthodox Engineers

Synopsis

The Unorthodox Engineers are called to an earthlike planet by the human residents to investigate an artifact left by aliens who briefly touched down; a columnar volume 25 kilometers across and 30 kilometers high in which all energy, electromagnetic or kinetic, appears to be rapidly absorbed and disappear.

Notes

From Wikipedia: "The short story "The Pen and the Dark" was adapted into a text-based computer adventure game by Keith Campbell, with text by Colin Kapp. It was published in 1984 by Mosaic Publishing with the packaging for the game including a book copy of the original story." PDF linked above includes the complete story.

External Links

Publications (10)

Date Publication Publisher Type Page
1966 Cover New Writings in S.F.—8 Corgi Books / Transworld Publishers Anthology 9
1966 Cover New Writings in S-F 8 Dennis Dobson Anthology 11
August 1971 Cover New Writings in SF 7 Bantam Books Anthology 3
August 1971 Cover New Writings in SF 7 Bantam Books Anthology 3
November 1979 Cover The Unorthodox Engineers Dennis Dobson Collection 96
May 2002 Cover The Mammoth Book of Science Fiction Robinson Anthology 298
May 2002 Cover The Mammoth Book of Science Fiction Carroll & Graf Anthology 298
June 2013 Cover The Cloudbuilders and Other Marvels Ramble House Collection 161
July 2013 Cover The Cloudbuilders and Other Marvels Ramble House Collection
November 2013 Cover The Mammoth Book of Science Fiction Robinson Anthology |298