Letter to a Phoenix

by Fredric Brown

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Classics

ebook

About the author

Fredric Brown was an American science fiction and mystery writer. He was one of the boldest early writers in genre fiction in his use of narrative experimentation. While never in the front rank of popularity in his lifetime, Brown has developed a considerable cult following in the almost half century since he last wrote. His works have been periodically reprinted and he has a worldwide fan base, most notably in the U.S. and Europe, and especially in France, where there have been several recent movie adaptations of his work. He also remains popular in Japan.

Never financially secure, Brown - like many other pulp writers - often wrote at a furious pace in order to pay bills. This accounts, at least in part, for the uneven quality of his work. A newspaperman by profession, Brown was only able to devote 14 years of his life as a full-time fiction writer. Brown was also a heavy drinker, and this at times doubtless affected his productivity. A cultured man and omnivorous reader whose interests ranged far beyond those of most pulp writers, Brown had a lifelong interest in the flute, chess, poker, and the works of Lewis Carroll. Brown married twice and was the father of two sons.

Reviews

[Tammie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for my book club, and also for the Short Month, Short Books challenge.

This is an interesting, thought provoking story. Although there is some truth in this cyclical view of history, and the way we build only to destroy and rebuild again, the way it's presented in the story is a concept I can't completely get behind.

Review also posted at Writings of a Reader and my Facebook page.

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the cyclical view of History exposed here, the way we build only to destroy and rebuild ourselves...

[Zen · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Only the mad destroy themselves and all they have wrought....and only the Phoenix lives forever."

This is one of those Golden Age Sci-Fi stories that I was able to accept and enjoy for what it is. Sure, it can be considered a little Dated now but, who cares. It was an enjoyable read

This story itself is strongly compelling with its Old-Fashioned Cyclic view of the Rise and Fall of Civilizations, Canals on Mars, and the fabled Myth of Atlantis.

But its Mythmaking story telling at its most Sublime and Mysterious. And I just went along for the Fun Ride.

Now....let's see.......

First came Lur, then there was Kandra, then Ka, then Arcadia.....Mu.....Thraggen with its colony on Skora which is now the Astroid Belt...then Atlantis...then.....Shangi-La.....

[Joanne G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

They had reached the limit of their capabilities—and there is always a limit—and they had no choice but to die. Life is dynamic; it can never be static—at however high or low a level—and survive.

That is what I am trying to tell you, so that you will never again be afraid. Only a race that destroys itself and its progress periodically, that goes back to its beginning, can survive more than, say, sixty thousand years of intelligent life.

In all the universe only the human race has ever reached a high level of intelligence without reaching a high level of sanity.

... but the human race will last. Everywhere and forever, for it will never be sane and only
insanity is divine. Only the mad destroy themselves and all they have wrought.

I enjoyed dipping back into older science fiction and being reminded what had attracted me to the genre nearly half a century ago. Authors discussed ideas; they explored universal truths.