Islands of Space

John W. Campbell wrote this early interstellar adventure as a sequel to The Black Star Passes, sending the inventors Arcot, Morey, Wade, and Fuller far beyond the solar system in a ship of their own design. With peace secured at home, they build a vessel able to cross the gulfs between stars and set out to explore alien worlds and stranger physics. The story is often credited with popularizing hyperspace and the warp drive, ideas that later became staples of the field. Campbell fills the pages with sweeping cosmic engineering and the confident optimism of 1930s pulp, where clever men can solve almost anything the universe throws at them. First serialized in 1931, it remains a landmark of the super-science era. A free PDF and EPUB edition is available.