Saknarth by Donald A. Wollheim Episode #249
Donald A. Wollheim | August 3, 2024-
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Saknarth by Donald A. Wollheim Episode #249
Donald A. Wollheim
SAKNARTH
Episode #249 · Written by Donald A. Wollheim · Narrated by Scott Miller
In a city where prophecy is currency and telescopes are treated as dangerous relics, Saknarth serves as Master Astrologer to an emperor who trusts the heavens more than his own people. He knows the rituals are performance. He knows the predictions are crafted. Yet one memory refuses to fade: a condemned scholar whispering about strange lights on the Morning Star.
When Saknarth finally risks his life to peer through the outlawed instrument hidden in the Hall of Evil Things, he expects confirmation or disappointment. Instead, he finds a pattern blazing across the darkened face of a neighboring world—a pattern tied to an ancient declaration that once promised mankind would never rise beyond its fear. What he sees cannot be explained away. It cannot be unseen.
The tension in “Saknarth” unfolds in silence—through guarded museum halls, wind-swept rooftops, and the lonely glow of pre-dawn skies. The story narrows to one urgent question: will forbidden knowledge vanish with the man who discovered it, or can it reach a mind ready to carry it forward? The climax is not a spectacle. It is a choice made under the shadow of execution.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Donald A. Wollheim began publishing science fiction in the early 1930s, placing stories in magazines such as Wonder Stories and Science Fiction Quarterly. He was a founding member of the Futurians, the influential New York fan and writer group that included Frederik Pohl and Isaac Asimov. In addition to his fiction, Wollheim became a pivotal editor, first at Ace Books and later as the founder of DAW Books in 1971, the first publishing house devoted entirely to science fiction and fantasy. His early stories, including “Saknarth,” reflect the planetary imagination and reformist energy that defined his formative years in the genre.
LISTEN TO THE STORY
Listen to Saknarth by Donald A. Wollheim — a gripping vintage science fiction story of forbidden discovery and defiance beneath alien skies.
RELATED STORIES
Not every early science fiction writer went on to reshape the entire field. Donald A. Wollheim did.
Before founding DAW Books and helping launch generations of authors, Wollheim was crafting vivid tales filled with alien worlds, dangerous ideas, and sharp reversals. His stories move with confidence, then quietly tighten around the choices his characters make.
The selections below highlight Wollheim the storyteller — bold settings, strange encounters, and outcomes that linger long after the final line.
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