The Overlord's Thumb: Restored Classics to Go Edition

· Otbebookpublishing
Ebook
31
Pages
Eligible

About this ebook

On the blood-red world of Markin, Colonel John Devall wears the stern mask of a Terran commander, though he is really an anthropologist struggling to balance science, diplomacy, and authority. His routine of careful administration is shattered when his nephew, Second Lieutenant Leonards, returns from a botanical expedition with a deadly problem: a native has been killed in what appears to be self-defense. But the death is only the beginning. The Markins reveal that the real offense is sacrilege—Leonards has violated sacred ground and damaged a holy flower, and their high priest demands justice in an alien court. As Devall weighs Earth's prestige against the rights of an alien civilization, he faces an agonizing choice: surrender the young officer or risk turning a local dispute into an interstellar catastrophe. His superiors offer no easy guidance, and the Markin priest makes the stakes brutally clear, even offering his own life in Leonards's place if Devall refuses. In the end, Devall chooses to honor alien law, only to be stunned when Leonards returns alive after surviving a trial by ordeal. This thoughtful science fiction tale explores cultural misunderstanding, the burden of command, and the hard price of treating alien worlds as equals. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.
On the blood-red world of Markin, Colonel John Devall wears the stern mask of a Terran commander, though he is really an anthropologist struggling to balance science, diplomacy, and authority. His routine of careful administration is shattered when his nephew, Second Lieutenant Leonards, returns ...

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About the author

Robert Silverberg, born in New York City in 1935, is one of the most versatile and influential voices in modern science fiction. He began writing at a remarkable pace while still young, quickly establishing himself as a prolific professional before moving through several creative phases that included not only science fiction but also fantasy, historical fiction, and nonfiction. Over the decades he earned a reputation for intelligence, stylistic elegance, and an unusual willingness to push the genre beyond its familiar boundaries, winning major awards and becoming a trusted name for readers who value ideas as much as storytelling. His work often explores loneliness, identity, mortality, transformation, empire, and the uneasy meeting point between human ambition and the vastness of the future, themes that still feel urgently contemporary in a world shaped by rapid technological change and shifting social realities. Silverberg's fiction is admired for its imagination and for the way it asks difficult questions without losing emotional force, making him a lasting figure in the literary history of speculative fiction. Readers who enjoy thoughtful, richly imagined stories that combine adventure with philosophical depth, especially those interested in science fiction that reflects on what it means to be human, will find him especially rewarding.

Robert Silverberg, born in New York City in 1935, is one of the most versatile and influential voices in modern science fiction. He began writing at a remarkable pace while still young, quickly establishing himself as a prolific professional before moving through several creative phases that incl...

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