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Sunfire
In Sunfire by Francis Stevens, five explorers travel by canoe to the headwaters of the Rio Silencioso, to a hidden lake with an ancient pyramid. There they are seduced and trapped, and are fated to become human sacrifices to an ancient god.
Sunfire (1923) – Harrowing and Weird Events Startle the Five Adventurers Who Land Upon a Far-off Island
Chapter One – The Derelict Fleet
Chapter Two – To The Rescue
Chapter Three – Scolopendra Horribilis
Chapter Four – “Sunfire”
Chapter Five – The Bronze Lever
Chapter Six – Assai Wine
Chapter Seven – The Hag
Chapter Eight – “Tata Quarahy”
Part Two – A Resume Of The Early Chapters
Chapter Nine – An Unwelcome Invitation
Chapter Ten – The Dance
Chapter Eleven – The Sacrifice
Chapter Twelve – Revenge!
Chapter Thirteen – An Awful Chime
Chapter Fourteen – Flight
Chapter Fifteen – Down The Stair
Chapter Sixteen – The Story Of Miss Enid Widdiup
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”.
Bennett was the first major female writer of fantasy and science fiction in the United States, and has been called the most important female fantasy writer between Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and C.L. Moore. It has been said that she influenced both H.P. Lovecraft and A. Merritt, both of whom “emulated Bennett’s earlier style and themes”.”
Sunfire was Bennett’s last published work. It was serialized in two parts in Weird Tales in 1923.
Sunfire (1923) – Harrowing and Weird Events Startle the Five Adventurers Who Land Upon a Far-off Island
Chapter One – The Derelict Fleet
Chapter Two – To The Rescue
Chapter Three – Scolopendra Horribilis
Chapter Four – “Sunfire”
Chapter Five – The Bronze Lever
Chapter Six – Assai Wine
Chapter Seven – The Hag
Chapter Eight – “Tata Quarahy”
Part Two – A Resume Of The Early Chapters
Chapter Nine – An Unwelcome Invitation
Chapter Ten – The Dance
Chapter Eleven – The Sacrifice
Chapter Twelve – Revenge!
Chapter Thirteen – An Awful Chime
Chapter Fourteen – Flight
Chapter Fifteen – Down The Stair
Chapter Sixteen – The Story Of Miss Enid Widdiup
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”.
Bennett was the first major female writer of fantasy and science fiction in the United States, and has been called the most important female fantasy writer between Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley and C.L. Moore. It has been said that she influenced both H.P. Lovecraft and A. Merritt, both of whom “emulated Bennett’s earlier style and themes”.”
Sunfire was Bennett’s last published work. It was serialized in two parts in Weird Tales in 1923.
128 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 3, 2025
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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