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Twilight
18 pages, Unknown Binding
Published January 1, 1934
2 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
John W. Campbell Jr.
778 books283 followersJohn Wood Campbell, Jr. was an influential figure in American science fiction. As editor of Astounding Science Fiction (later called Analog Science Fiction and Fact), from late 1937 until his death, he is generally credited with shaping the so-called Golden Age of Science Fiction.
Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in science fiction ever, and for the first ten years of his editorship he dominated the field completely."
As a writer, Campbell published super-science space opera under his own name and moody, less pulpish stories as Don A. Stuart. He stopped writing fiction after he became editor of Astounding.
Known Pseudonyms/Alternate Names:
Don A. Stuart
Karl van Campen
John Campbell
J. W. C., Jr.
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell
Isaac Asimov called Campbell "the most powerful force in science fiction ever, and for the first ten years of his editorship he dominated the field completely."
As a writer, Campbell published super-science space opera under his own name and moody, less pulpish stories as Don A. Stuart. He stopped writing fiction after he became editor of Astounding.
Known Pseudonyms/Alternate Names:
Don A. Stuart
Karl van Campen
John Campbell
J. W. C., Jr.
John W. Campbell
John Wood Campbell
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
June 17, 2020
Great story, with Campbell clearly taking inspiration from HG Wells' The Time Machine and adopting a narrative style that feels eerily similar to H.P. Lovecraft. The theme a chilling one depicting the demise of humanity as it becomes fully dependent on automated, self-maintaining machinery, eventually losing all intellectual curiosity and sliding into stagnation. The theme of technology as detrimental to society is not an uncommon one in early golden age sci-fi, going back to works such as E.M. Forster's The Machine Stops.
October 10, 2018
Maybe I just don't enjoy Science Fiction from the 1930s. This is my second one and both were told as someone telling a story about something that happened to them. Actually this one was someone telling a story about someone telling a story about something that happened to them. Why? I'd much rather be IN the story instead of a retelling of it. It's all in past tense. Reminds me of a story told around a campfire.
It's a cautionary tale that made sense. That I did enjoy.
I preferred the plot summary:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twili...
It's a cautionary tale that made sense. That I did enjoy.
I preferred the plot summary:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twili...
January 28, 2025
DNF 28%
So boring. The premise is what drew me in—man traveling 7 million years in the future. However, the writing is dreadfully clunky and meandering. I couldn’t pinpoint what was happening nor who was the story following: the friend, the friend’s friend who met the time traveler or the time traveler OR the friend who went to the future with the time traveler. I know there are those three characters, but wtf is happening is beyond me. I guess that’s what 1930s sci-fi has in store for me. I’m saddened, but it is what it is.
So boring. The premise is what drew me in—man traveling 7 million years in the future. However, the writing is dreadfully clunky and meandering. I couldn’t pinpoint what was happening nor who was the story following: the friend, the friend’s friend who met the time traveler or the time traveler OR the friend who went to the future with the time traveler. I know there are those three characters, but wtf is happening is beyond me. I guess that’s what 1930s sci-fi has in store for me. I’m saddened, but it is what it is.
June 21, 2021
-From The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One-
If you told me this story was written in the 1930s, I'd say yes. Clearly. Feels old, clunky, outdated, and at times confusing. Almost science fiction for science fiction's sake. Look! Time travel! Planets! Robots! Silvery spaceman suit! The theme of humans sliding into extinction because of an absence of curiosity ironically describes my experience reading this story.
If you told me this story was written in the 1930s, I'd say yes. Clearly. Feels old, clunky, outdated, and at times confusing. Almost science fiction for science fiction's sake. Look! Time travel! Planets! Robots! Silvery spaceman suit! The theme of humans sliding into extinction because of an absence of curiosity ironically describes my experience reading this story.
March 17, 2024
Racist AF. Doesn't understand entropy, corrosion, or that human races are a social construct.
Not only bad fiction, but also bad science. Valueless but for an example of what not to do.
Not only bad fiction, but also bad science. Valueless but for an example of what not to do.
September 20, 2019
Twilight (No, not that one) is a science fiction short story written by John W. Campbell in 1934. It was first published in a magazine called Astounding Stories and took inspiration from H.G. Wells’ article The Man of the Year Million.
In 1970, it was selected as one of the greatest science fiction stories published before the creation of the Nebula Awards. It was also included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929-1964 (Which is where I listened to the story).
Twilight is told in the style of a conversation between friends. While driving, the narrator finds an unconscious man who turns out to be a time traveler who is returning from 7 million years into the future. Unfortunately for him, he overshoots his intended destination and finds himself in 1932.
The story is largely about the future of humanity and it’s not all sunshine and rainbows for us according to this story. As we advanced we seemingly lose parts of ourselves that made us human. So, by the 7 million year mark, we’re a dying race, and even though we once created incredible marvels, we couldn’t save ourselves in the process.
The story is an incredibly bleak, yet completely plausible, look into our future. The story is also incredibly descriptive in it’s painting of the future which made visualizing it incredibly easy. It’s certainly not something everyone will enjoy, due to it’s dystopian nature, but if you’re a fan of the genre, you’ll likely find it quite interesting, as I did.
Overall, I found this story to be very entertaining. It’s descriptiveness painted a rather thrilling, if bleak, image of the future. From it’s deserted cities on other planets to it’s deactivated intelligent robots, it’s world building was impressive and it felt way ahead of it’s time.
If you’re a fan of time travel, dystopian futures or simply sci-fi stories in general, definitely check this one out. I give it a 5 out of 5 stars, very impressive.
In 1970, it was selected as one of the greatest science fiction stories published before the creation of the Nebula Awards. It was also included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929-1964 (Which is where I listened to the story).
Twilight is told in the style of a conversation between friends. While driving, the narrator finds an unconscious man who turns out to be a time traveler who is returning from 7 million years into the future. Unfortunately for him, he overshoots his intended destination and finds himself in 1932.
The story is largely about the future of humanity and it’s not all sunshine and rainbows for us according to this story. As we advanced we seemingly lose parts of ourselves that made us human. So, by the 7 million year mark, we’re a dying race, and even though we once created incredible marvels, we couldn’t save ourselves in the process.
The story is an incredibly bleak, yet completely plausible, look into our future. The story is also incredibly descriptive in it’s painting of the future which made visualizing it incredibly easy. It’s certainly not something everyone will enjoy, due to it’s dystopian nature, but if you’re a fan of the genre, you’ll likely find it quite interesting, as I did.
Overall, I found this story to be very entertaining. It’s descriptiveness painted a rather thrilling, if bleak, image of the future. From it’s deserted cities on other planets to it’s deactivated intelligent robots, it’s world building was impressive and it felt way ahead of it’s time.
If you’re a fan of time travel, dystopian futures or simply sci-fi stories in general, definitely check this one out. I give it a 5 out of 5 stars, very impressive.
May 15, 2020
This story almost felt like a precursor, or even an inspiration to the whole world of Doctor Who. I am sure anyone who likes that show will enjoy this story. It's a science fiction story, sure - complete with steampunky elements of chugging machines and all. But it's really about the core of humanity. In the wake of how we are all behaving at the time of this Covid-19 pandemic - it is hard to imagine humanity surviving for millions of years. But if we do, there is a chance we will be completely jaded of existence. So this tale is pretty grim, even in the hope that it carries.
The narration is just wonderful though. I really enjoyed the performers voice and his soothing story telling. Maybe that soothing is just what I needed to look at the future. Both immediate and millions of lifetimes ahead.
The narration is just wonderful though. I really enjoyed the performers voice and his soothing story telling. Maybe that soothing is just what I needed to look at the future. Both immediate and millions of lifetimes ahead.
May 4, 2021
Written in 1934 in storytelling style.
Real estate man picks up a queer sort of fellow dressed in unusual metallic silver clothing. He was described as beautiful then handsome and finally magnificent.
This is 1932 and the fellow described an experiment he conducted “or will conduct” in the year 3059. This experiment transported him 7 million years into the future. Trying to return to his own time overshot by a thousand years. Now in 1932 when the greatest recent technological breakthroughs are television, radio and airplanes.
So then we get the story from our time traveling science experimenter about the world 7 million years in the future.
It’s a short story so I’m not going into any more detail. It’s worth reading and this vision of the far future is one we’ve seen in various forms from many authors since.
Real estate man picks up a queer sort of fellow dressed in unusual metallic silver clothing. He was described as beautiful then handsome and finally magnificent.
This is 1932 and the fellow described an experiment he conducted “or will conduct” in the year 3059. This experiment transported him 7 million years into the future. Trying to return to his own time overshot by a thousand years. Now in 1932 when the greatest recent technological breakthroughs are television, radio and airplanes.
So then we get the story from our time traveling science experimenter about the world 7 million years in the future.
It’s a short story so I’m not going into any more detail. It’s worth reading and this vision of the far future is one we’ve seen in various forms from many authors since.
October 7, 2022
November 2021:
This is the man himself - Campbell of Astounding Science Fiction magazine and the editor who brought so many authors a place in the Science Fiction genre.
This story left a permanent, haunting impression on me of what humanity could make of itself if we let technology make useless our own skills and knowledge. To me, this should be school curriculum kind of stuff. Also, some of it takes place in Nevada, which is always a good time for me.
This is the man himself - Campbell of Astounding Science Fiction magazine and the editor who brought so many authors a place in the Science Fiction genre.
This story left a permanent, haunting impression on me of what humanity could make of itself if we let technology make useless our own skills and knowledge. To me, this should be school curriculum kind of stuff. Also, some of it takes place in Nevada, which is always a good time for me.
October 28, 2023
A bit of an odd take on a now, not super uncommon trope. I can always appreciate early works that can some what project the trends of modern society albeit with a margin of error. The message itself of this story is applicable enough but feels a bit misguided. I’m not sure that humanity losing its sense of curiosity is all there really is to the degradation of society. It’s an interesting premise but one that feels extremely lop-sided with its logic or lack thereof. I was also a bit perplexed by the bizarre nature of the narration. A point of view of a point of view being relayed by a narrator’s interpretation of a story, which became quite convoluted and dry. Also the stilted dialogue was quite intrusive. Certainly a product of its time to say the least, silvery space suit men, rockets, and machines! Woooo. There is a hint of gloom and darkness behind the premise and from what I understand, 1930s sci-fi didn’t really start handling gloomier/darker subject matter until Campbell’s influence started coming into picture. I guess in some ways we can be thankful for him during his editorial tenure for shaping some of the early careers of Heinlein, and Asimov. Granted, Campbell was a complete jerk and a staunch advocate for many ideas outside of where I fall. The same can be said for Lovecraft, yet his influence abounds and is relevant even in weird fiction and pop culture today and I’m a big fan of his work, not his beliefs or politics. Therefore, I’m a bit disappointed with this. In attempts to separate the art from the artist, one that is revered for his status as an editor and earlier proprietor of evolving science fiction, this just landed as a flop for me.
Moving on to read perhaps his most famous, and a later published story of “Who Goes There?” Here’s hoping for a better outcome.
Moving on to read perhaps his most famous, and a later published story of “Who Goes There?” Here’s hoping for a better outcome.
May 5, 2021
It's like Campbell read H. G. Wells's The Time Machine and thought to himself, "Ah, yes, that was a fairly bad story, but surely I can do worse." Same basic premise of a time traveler exploring a far future where humanity has regressed, except...
* This future is full of abandoned cities with all the automatic systems still running. (See? It's different!)
* Instead of the narrative flowing from the time traveler to the viewpoint character to the reader, it flows from the time traveler to a friend of the viewpoint character to the viewpoint character to the reader. Trying to punctuate that and keep pronouns unambiguous would be a difficult task, but Campbell does not appear to have even bothered trying. It's a confusing mess in some places.
* The time travel is briefly and incomprehensibly explained as the unintended outcome of some kind of experiment.
* There's no tension. The time traveler just plays tourist for bit, and then leaves.
* Instead of the time traveler slowly learning the language of the future, linguistic drift gets lampshaded, and then there are times when the time traveler can't understand at all and times when he can understand perfectly. What?
* There's overt racism! Joy!
* Instead of showing the time traveler piece together the future history, with caveats about how much of it is speculation, it's just given as fact, and we don't see how the time traveler came by all his information.
* We're told that humanity has lost all curiosity, and this is a very sad thing, but also, they can solve extremely complicated calculus problems in their heads. I'm not buying it. Yes, intelligence isn't curiosity, but intelligence also isn't knowledge of calculus. How and why did they learn with no curiosity?
* This future is full of abandoned cities with all the automatic systems still running. (See? It's different!)
* Instead of the narrative flowing from the time traveler to the viewpoint character to the reader, it flows from the time traveler to a friend of the viewpoint character to the viewpoint character to the reader. Trying to punctuate that and keep pronouns unambiguous would be a difficult task, but Campbell does not appear to have even bothered trying. It's a confusing mess in some places.
* The time travel is briefly and incomprehensibly explained as the unintended outcome of some kind of experiment.
* There's no tension. The time traveler just plays tourist for bit, and then leaves.
* Instead of the time traveler slowly learning the language of the future, linguistic drift gets lampshaded, and then there are times when the time traveler can't understand at all and times when he can understand perfectly. What?
* There's overt racism! Joy!
* Instead of showing the time traveler piece together the future history, with caveats about how much of it is speculation, it's just given as fact, and we don't see how the time traveler came by all his information.
* We're told that humanity has lost all curiosity, and this is a very sad thing, but also, they can solve extremely complicated calculus problems in their heads. I'm not buying it. Yes, intelligence isn't curiosity, but intelligence also isn't knowledge of calculus. How and why did they learn with no curiosity?
July 9, 2025
Similar to The Martian Odyssey, Twilight is written as a conversation in which Jim Bendell recounts an encounter with a time traveller. Twilight presented the twilight of humanity, where humans lost the ability to be curious and survive instead through the everlasting machines.
It presents a very unique perspective. Many science fiction stories begin in a foreign land, where the landscape has long been altered through scientific development. They are a lived reality, one where the character is stationed within. However, Twilight’s characters, storyline and landscape are in a sense, transitory. The main narrator of the story, “I”, is a passerby in Jim’s story, just as Jim has a short encounter with the time traveller. Even for a time traveller themself, his journey to the future was a fleeting experience, one where he returns to the “dawn” of humanity. The story, with its unique format, served to create a sense of fleetness, where we are just fleeting participants in a larger development.
It presents a very unique perspective. Many science fiction stories begin in a foreign land, where the landscape has long been altered through scientific development. They are a lived reality, one where the character is stationed within. However, Twilight’s characters, storyline and landscape are in a sense, transitory. The main narrator of the story, “I”, is a passerby in Jim’s story, just as Jim has a short encounter with the time traveller. Even for a time traveller themself, his journey to the future was a fleeting experience, one where he returns to the “dawn” of humanity. The story, with its unique format, served to create a sense of fleetness, where we are just fleeting participants in a larger development.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2025
- Read for ENL173
- Jim, a man from Nevada, picks up a hitchhiker who is a time traveler attempting to return to the year 3059 after travelling 7 million years into the future and observing the downfall of humanity and the dominance of robots, both intelligent and mundane
- Humans lose a sense of curiosity, have very long lifespans, rarely reproduce, similar to the races of men described in Last and First Men
- Genetically engineered humans such as Ares Sen Kenlin
- Extensive modification of Earth - eradicated mammals, birds, lizards, insects, microbes, and pets, replacing them with robots
- Colonized solar system, now returning to Earth after becoming stagnant
- Asks the machines to create a curious human
- Very emotional and melancholic, a portrait of a race preparing for death or at least at peace with it
- Dependence on machines leads to death of curiosity, very relevant to modern struggles with AI and its impact on the expression of the human voice
- Husk Earth
- Writer is a notable sexist
- Jim, a man from Nevada, picks up a hitchhiker who is a time traveler attempting to return to the year 3059 after travelling 7 million years into the future and observing the downfall of humanity and the dominance of robots, both intelligent and mundane
- Humans lose a sense of curiosity, have very long lifespans, rarely reproduce, similar to the races of men described in Last and First Men
- Genetically engineered humans such as Ares Sen Kenlin
- Extensive modification of Earth - eradicated mammals, birds, lizards, insects, microbes, and pets, replacing them with robots
- Colonized solar system, now returning to Earth after becoming stagnant
- Asks the machines to create a curious human
- Very emotional and melancholic, a portrait of a race preparing for death or at least at peace with it
- Dependence on machines leads to death of curiosity, very relevant to modern struggles with AI and its impact on the expression of the human voice
- Husk Earth
- Writer is a notable sexist
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2022
A classic sci-fi story from 1934. A real-estate salesman picks up a hitchhiker who claims to be a time traveler from 3059. He tells how he traveled 7 million years in the future and describes what life has become. Machines handle all necessities and human lifespans are three thousand years. But despite great intelligence the human race has become stagnant. Curiosity and drive is totally gone.
April 12, 2023
Twilight by John W. Campbell Jr.
Read April 2023
Electric cars, synthetic food, maps behind glass that automatically shows where you are, destruction of ecological systems... Yes, man has invented unthinkable wonders in 7 million years.
I guess the story is supposed to be bleak. But if we could just be guaranteed to last for 7 million years as a species.....
Read April 2023
Electric cars, synthetic food, maps behind glass that automatically shows where you are, destruction of ecological systems... Yes, man has invented unthinkable wonders in 7 million years.
I guess the story is supposed to be bleak. But if we could just be guaranteed to last for 7 million years as a species.....
May 28, 2018
Great short story.
I would definitely recommend this as a first read for someone who would want to get started into science fiction.
Overall the story has a H. G. Wells atmosphere.
It's definitely a solid 4/5.
I would definitely recommend this as a first read for someone who would want to get started into science fiction.
Overall the story has a H. G. Wells atmosphere.
It's definitely a solid 4/5.
November 23, 2025
It started really slow and dull, I had to make myself sit down and read this short story and it wasn't easy. But by the time I reached the second half things started to click and I had to finish it before I went to sleep.
2 stars for the first half, 4 for the second.
2 stars for the first half, 4 for the second.
August 27, 2021
Creative!
November 19, 2021
3 out of 5
December 16, 2021
Nice style. Emotional. Make you think.
December 24, 2021
-Gregory Kerkman
February 17, 2022
not the best piece of classic sci-fi... kinda boring to be completely honest
April 17, 2023
Amazing insights into present day and impact of cell phones and Google on society in things such as wonder kill long before the term was coined or either invention existed.
January 20, 2024
Read as part of an anthology. https://www.skjam.com/2019/11/16/book...
April 11, 2024
A bit of a heavy read but it's pretty interesting. Has this twighlighty feeling like you're wandering in dark misty woods.
May 23, 2024
Well described, interesting and enjoyable
July 13, 2024
This was an OK story; not as good as I was hoping it to be, unfortunately.
October 26, 2024
Excellent old school sci fi. Not an ounce of fat on a good story.
September 2, 2019
Interesting time travel story. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame: Volume One, 1929-1964 #2.
November 17, 2023
Another story from 1934, this one bleakly dystopian-the machines are on autopilot and mankind is extinct. Well, except for time travel.
SF Hall of Fame Vol 1
SF Hall of Fame Vol 1
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews