Second Landing - Murray Leinster

. .

Résumé :
A thoughtful exploration of first contact-and the uneasy realization that humanity may not be alone in returning. In Second Landing, Murray Leinster revisits the frontier of space with a characteristic blend of clarity and conceptual precision. When explorers attempt to establish a foothold on a distant world, they discover evidence that humanity is not the first to arrive-or perhaps not even the first to return. The promise of expansion quickly gives way to questions of ownership, legacy, and coexistence. Leinster's storytelling emphasizes practical problem-solving and cultural tension rather than spectacle, grounding speculative ideas in human behavior and institutional decision-making. As with much of his mid-century work, the narrative reflects postwar optimism tempered by uncertainty about expansion into the unknown. Second Landing stands as a concise and intelligent example of Golden Age science fiction's engagement with colonization and responsibility. Explore other exciting Positronic Books devoted to classic science fiction, fantasy, and mystery....

Biographie:
Murray Leinster (1896-1975), the pen name of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, was a prolific American writer whose career spanned the pulp era and beyond. Often credited with popularizing concepts such as alternate universes and first-contact diplomacy, Leinster combined technical plausibility with accessible storytelling. His steady craftsmanship and imaginative range made him one of the most durable contributors to early and mid-twentieth-century science fiction....

Sommaire:
It was not plausible that Brett Carstairs should find a picture of a girl, to all appearances human, in millenia-old ruins on a planet some hundreds of lightyears from earth. But the whole affair was unlikely, beginning with the report of the exploring-ship which caused the Thalassia-Aspasia Expedition in the first place. Had it not been for the photographs and the ceramic artifacts, nobody would have believed that report. It simply was not credible that another intelligent race should have ever existed in the galaxy. No hint of extra-terrestrial reasoning beings had been found in two centuries of exploration. ...