
A curious ten‑year‑old roams the scorching streets of a summer city, pocketing a simple magnifying glass he uses to trap the sun’s fire. That fleeting experiment awakens a hidden energy—an opalescent force unlike any known element—that can carve mountains and unleash unimaginable destruction. As the boy grows, his fascination turns into obsession, leading him to unlock the secret behind a massive, silent machine perched on a mountain, its steel needle aimed directly at the sun.
When the true magnitude of this power becomes clear, the once‑innocent tinkerer faces a terrifying moral crossroads. He must decide whether to wield the force that could annihilate the world or to find a way to contain it and protect humanity. The story follows his early triumphs and the dawning horror of the consequences, setting the stage for a desperate race against a catastrophe of his own making.
Language
en
Duration
~1 hours (100K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Original publisher
United States: Experimenter Publishing Company, 1926.
Credits
Roger Frank and Sue Clark
Release date
2022-01-11
Rights
Public domain in the USA.
1882–1933
A pulp-era storyteller with a taste for adventure, mystery, and early science fiction, this American writer moved easily from western yarns to strange cosmic tales. His work helped shape the lively magazine fiction world of the early 20th century.
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