Homer Eon Flint was a highly regarded writer of mystery-and-suspense-filled science fiction during the earliest years of the 20th century. Analog hails Flint as one of the field’s “lost masters.” Science fiction historian and critic, Sam Moskowitz, concurs, describing Flint’s work as “filled with cosmic concept and brilliant imagination,”and The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction praises “his deep interest in the emergence of behavioral and historical patterns from various political and social philosophies,” while sf historian Mike Ashley describes his work as "Remarkable [with] a depth of unbridled imagination … teeming with super-scientific concepts."
Flint’s bravura novel, The Nth Man, showcases all these elements—suspenseful mystery, sociological themes, and brilliant imagination—plus a humanistic compassion almost unprecedented for its era. The story piles mystery upon mystery, ensuring that readers are carried along on momentum alone until the end. In just the first few mind-boggling pages, Flint establishes that:
+The Great Wall of China is torn down in a single night;
+The head of the Sphinx is missing and then found on top of one of the Great Pyramids;
+A ship bound for Australia is lifted up bodily, carried thousands of miles away and left;
+An entire building is relocated without harm;
+A little girl who is drowning, unnoticed, in the ocean is lifted to a cliff and saved;
+An incredible being emerges from the depths of the ocean....
And that is only the introduction of a science fiction novel so far ahead of its time that except for the background trappings it appears torn from today’s headlines.
Basis for the 1950s Atomic Age scifi-movie hit, The Amazing Colossal Man.
Amazing Stories Classics is proud to re-present it for the 21st century with all the fabulous Frank R. Paul illustrations!
