Lest Darkness Fall, by L. Sprague De Camp, 1949

Description: Lest Darkness Fall, by L. Sprague De Camp, published by Ballantine Books, New York, NY, 1949, in Its Original Dust-jacket — 182 pages — not illustrated — measures: 5 3/4" x 8 7/16" — Book Club Edition From the Dust-Jacket: "Martin Padway looked around, utterly amazed by what he saw. Just a short while ago he had been hurtling through Rome's murderous traffic snarls, clinging to his seat in a little Fiat and trying to pay attention, as a Professor Tancredi — gesturing lavishly, driving maniacally — expounded upon his theory of the nature of time. Bits of that conversation were coming back to him now: the professor's idea that people who vanished without a trace might actually have slipped backward in time; his concept of history as a four-dimensional web, with weaknesses at certain key junctures; his belief that backslipping was most likely to occur at such spots — places like Istanbul or Rome, where the world lines of great events intersected It had all seemed so incongruous then — discussing time travel in the midst of wildly weaving automobiles. But somehow, at this moment, the professor's notions made some sense ... Padway could clearly recall asking Tancredi to drop him at the Pantheon ... the raindrop that his hand ... the rumble of distant thunder. He knew that he hadn't been far from the building's shelter — when the granddaddy of all lightning bolts had struck the piazza to his right. Like a trapdoor, the pavement had dropped away beneath him. He couldn't see for the reddish after-image burned into his retinas. None of his senses gave a clue as to what was happening; he couldn't even guess how fast it was happening! Then something had smacked against the soles of his feet, his eyesight had returned — and he had experienced the first twinges of alarm. The buildings around the piazza were not the same as those he'd seen earlier. The familiar red brick of the Pantheon's rotunda was covered by marble facing ... people seemed to be wearing odd costumes ... slabs of slate had replaced the concrete sidewalk. Even the sounds of the city were different. Blaring car horns had given way to the shrill creaking of a couple of oxcarts. Glancing around to see that he was not observed, Padway slammed his fist into a nearby pillar. It hurt ... and it proved that he wasn't dreaming. Which meant that either he was delirious from the near electrocution — or he was in ancient Rome, living proof of Tancredi's theory!

Price: 18 USD

Location: Hilliard, Ohio

End Time: 2024-09-26T07:57:27.000Z

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