Good evening, and welcome to another another exploration into short fiction. From the mundane, to the weird, and everything in between. This week we look at an older story from the pages of Weird Tales, one where evolution is let loose without restraint and men get a terrifying look at the world's future.

So, allow me to present...

Edmond Hamilton was a science fiction writer who wrote prolifically for Weird Tales, creating fiction that often dealt with world ending threats and consequences. He reportedly wrote over 80 stories for the magazine during its original run.

Evolution Island, released in 1927, follows the story of a passionate scientist studying evolution. He presents a lecture where he states that evolution is sparked by exposure to a certain type of radiation, and that he has plans to create a ray that can artificially produce this radiation. While he's initially mocked and labelled a fraud, he not only produces the ray but also designs it so that it can propel evolution forward and backwards. He shows the ray to a close friend and tells him that he and his assistant are traveling to an isolated Caribbean island to study the ray's effects on different forms of animal life.

The friend is uneasy at the frightening uncertainties proposed by the device, but the scientist goes through with his plan anyway, unleashing the full effects of accelerated evolution loose on the island, and bring about new and terrible forms of life that man was not ready to witness.

The story starts strong by presenting the scientist's lecture, both explaining the loose science that is the story's premise and giving the character an opportunity to characterize himself. This provides exposition in a way that doesn't seem tedious or unnecessary.

The story also has several moments of strong dialogue, using distinct character voices to make realistic exchanges and relationships. While dialogue is not used extensively in the story, it does successfully demonstrates how dialogue can be used to enhance characterization in short fiction.

Part way through the story, the perspective changes from a third person narrative to first person from the perspective of the scientist. This serves a similar function as the lecture at the start of the story, allowing him to provide information that is colored by his personality and fears. It's during this portion that Evolution Island earns its name. The scientist goes into great detail about the ray's effects on different forms of life, and he describes a menagerie of surreal and terrifying creatures. The descriptions are vivid, as is his recounting of what happened. What would've been an otherwise dry exposition dump by the omniscient narrator becomes the terrified and half crazy confession of a mad scientist, leading to both stronger descriptions and storytelling.

Throughout the story, Hamilton makes heavy use of foreshadowing and tension building that steadily rises until its climax. Once again, I'll avoid spoilers in these short story reviews to encourage those who haven't read the stories to pursue them, but the climax is incredibly well paced and satisfying. It demonstrates the power of the Evolution Island's tightly written plot, which shows how following traditional story structure can lead to a strong narrative. That's not to say experimental fiction can't have a good story, but traditional structure works for a reason, as evinced by Edmond Hamilton's commercial success with Weird Tales.

Overall Evolution Island is a very cinematic story, with its strong visuals, dialogue, and plot, making it a fantastic read. The combination of tension building and action also leads to a satisfying conclusion, and, for all these reasons, I give Evolution Island a resounding 5/5 stars. If you can find it in print or digitally, I definitely recommend reading this one.