Peace in the wilderness by Marion Zimmer Bradley
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Peace in the wilderness by Marion Zimmer Bradley is a science fiction novelette written in the mid-20th century. It explores a world kept under curfew by a fabricated alien threat, using that myth to enforce global order and prepare humanity for spaceflight. The story follows newspaper editor Kerry Donalson, who is led by young Lew Fallon to a dying ex-government rocket scientist, Ben Thrusher. Ben reveals that he secretly reached the Moon
and that the “Pharigs,” blamed for years of night raids and curfews, are a political hoax; their crashed “ships” were built on Earth to justify a worldwide military regime. After Kerry hides Ben and begins drafting an exposé, the Night Police take Ben to a precinct hospital, where he dies. There, Commander Shakhara Lal and surviving scientist Paul Chapman confirm the hoax and explain its purpose: to prevent thermonuclear war, reduce crime through curfew and employment in the Night Police, secure food and power via solar packs, conserve resources for space travel, and unify Earth until real spaceflight opens new frontiers. Confronted with these trade-offs—and warned of the risks of revealing the truth too soon—Kerry abandons his expose and resolves to honor Ben as a martyr whose work will carry humanity to the planets. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Bradley, Marion Zimmer, 1930-1999 |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Moritz, Edward, 1903-1975 |
| Title | Peace in the wilderness |
| Original Publication | New York: King-Size Publications, Inc., 1956. |
| Credits | Tom Trussel (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Luminist Archive) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Science fiction |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 78807 |
| Release Date | Jun 3, 2026 |
| Last Update | Jun 7, 2026 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 628 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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