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Sunfire
This novel appeared in the July-August and September-October 1923 issues of Weird Tales Francis Stevens : Little is known of Francis Stevens, pen-name of Gertrude Barrows Bennett. She was born Gertrude Barrows in Minneapolis on the 18th of November 1884, and married Englishman Stewart Bennett in 1909. In 1910, she lost her husband, when a violent storm sank his ship. though Largely self-taught authoress and trained to be an illustrator, she turned to fiction-writing to support her daughter and her near-invalid mother, whom she was responsible for after father's decease in 1915 or 1916. A short novel, "The Nighmare," appeared in 1917, but at least a science-fiction was published previously. She left the field in 1923, with "Sunfire." She probably died in 1939 in California. Fr. Stevens was first thought to be a pen-name of Abraham Merritt (1884-1943). Both made their first appearance almost simultaneously and could be read often in the same pulp-magazines. later on, A. Merritt expressed a strong admiration for her works, and they may have been a source of inspiration for one another. Fr. Stevens is considered one of the very first female science-fiction writers in the world, though she had strong competition in pre-revolutionary Russia, with Vera Ivanova Kryzhanovskaya-Rochester who, strangely enough, wrote much in the same vein in 1901-1916: Fantasy and Science Fantasy Despite her typically pulpish style, Fr. Stevens was a born story-teller. Despite her meteoric career, her work remains a landmark in U.S. science fiction before the term was coined. her novels "The Citadel of Fear" (1918), "Behind the Curtain" (1918) and "The Elf Trap" (1919). An unusual "straight" science-fiction novel "The Heads of Cerebus" (1919), which takes place in a totalitarian Philadelphia of 21128. They were reprinted in the forties and fifties. "Sunfire" was unavailable a very long time and sees here its first book appearance.
74 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1996
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About the author
Francis Stevens
111 books58 followersGertrude Barrows Bennett (1883–1948) was the first major female writer of fantasy and science fiction in the United States, publishing her stories under the pseudonym Francis Stevens. Bennett wrote a number of highly acclaimed fantasies between 1917 and 1923 and has been called "the woman who invented dark fantasy." Among her most famous books are Claimed (which H. P. Lovecraft called "One of the strangest and most compelling science fantasy novels you will ever read")[4] and the lost world novel The Citadel of Fear. Bennett also wrote an early dystopian novel, The Heads of Cerberus (1919).
Gertrude Mabel Barrows was born in Minneapolis in 1883. She completed school through the eighth grade, then attended night school in hopes of becoming an illustrator (a goal she never achieved). Instead, she began working as a stenographer, a job she held on and off for the rest of her life. In 1909 Barrows married Stewart Bennett, a British journalist and explorer, and moved to Philadelphia. A year later her husband died while on an expedition. With a new-born daughter to raise, Bennett continued working as a stenographer. When her father died toward the end of World War I, Bennett assumed care for her invalid mother.
During this time period Bennett began to write a number of short stories and novels, only stopping when her mother died in 1920. In the mid 1920s, she moved to California. Because Bennett was estranged from her daughter, for a number of years researchers believed Bennett died in 1939 (the date of her final letter to her daughter). However, new research, including her death certificate, shows that she died in 1948.
Gertrude Mabel Barrows was born in Minneapolis in 1883. She completed school through the eighth grade, then attended night school in hopes of becoming an illustrator (a goal she never achieved). Instead, she began working as a stenographer, a job she held on and off for the rest of her life. In 1909 Barrows married Stewart Bennett, a British journalist and explorer, and moved to Philadelphia. A year later her husband died while on an expedition. With a new-born daughter to raise, Bennett continued working as a stenographer. When her father died toward the end of World War I, Bennett assumed care for her invalid mother.
During this time period Bennett began to write a number of short stories and novels, only stopping when her mother died in 1920. In the mid 1920s, she moved to California. Because Bennett was estranged from her daughter, for a number of years researchers believed Bennett died in 1939 (the date of her final letter to her daughter). However, new research, including her death certificate, shows that she died in 1948.
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November 29, 2019
Francis Stevens was the pen-name of Gertrude Barrows Bennett (1883-1948). Bennett has been credited as having “the best claim at creating the new genre of dark fantasy”.
Sunfire was Bennett’s last published work. It was serialized in two parts in Weird Tales in 1923.
Sunfire was Bennett’s last published work. It was serialized in two parts in Weird Tales in 1923.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews