Project Gutenberg 2011-04-04 Public domain in the USA. 176 Wilber, Elaine Orban, Paul 1896 1974 The Hero Produced from If Worlds of Science Fiction February 1958. Produced by Frank van Drogen, Greg Weeks, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Hero" by Elaine Wilber is a science fiction novella written in the late 1950s. The story follows the crew of an Earth exploration ship, Ship UXB-69311, as they encounter the alien culture of the planet Engraham. The narrative centers around themes of heroism, human desire, and the absurdity of social conventions, particularly in the context of the crew's interactions with the native inhabitants. In the unfolding plot, the crew, composed of bored and restless men, deals with the absurdities of their situation—namely, their encounters with the beautiful but biologically unresponsive women of Engraham. The protagonist, Dick Blunt, attempts to impress a local woman named Catataphinaria while the rest of the crew grapples with their own frustrations and urges. As the story progresses, it becomes evident that the naive assumptions of the crew regarding the Engrahamites are dramatically turned on their heads when Catataphinaria reveals her intelligence and the societal structures of her people. This culminates in a twist that challenges the crew’s expectations and their understanding of heroism, ultimately forcing them to confront the realities of their exploration and their place within it. The story provides a humorous yet insightful commentary on human nature, desire, and the consequences of colonialist attitudes. (This is an automatically generated summary.) http://book.klll.cc/files/35770/35770-rst/images/cover.jpg file:///public/vhost/g/gutenberg/html/files/35770/35770-rst/images/cover.jpg Reading ease score: 76.3 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Human-alien encounters -- Fiction Life on other planets -- Fiction PS Text Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Humour Category: Novels 67579 2025-07-14T12:31:28.685854 text/html 69097 2011-04-04T19:02:12 text/html 281424 2025-07-14T12:31:32.917894 application/epub+zip 330669 2025-01-14T13:48:07.135884 application/pdf 78085 2025-01-14T13:48:02.873924 application/pdf 280279 2025-07-14T12:31:30.718840 application/epub+zip 89779 2025-07-14T12:31:29.571845 application/epub+zip 365899 2025-07-14T12:31:34.249850 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 357989 2025-07-14T12:31:32.027812 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 117606 2022-09-16T11:04:07.740934 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 47621 2025-07-14T12:31:28.408836 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 47750 2011-04-04T19:02:30 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 47495 2011-04-04T19:02:32 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 47493 2011-04-04T19:02:32 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 28384 2025-07-14T12:31:34.388823 application/rdf+xml 49336 2025-07-14T12:31:28.362837 text/x-rst 49332 2011-04-04T19:02:18 text/x-rst 24057 2025-07-14T12:31:29.752850 image/jpeg 4499 2025-07-14T12:31:29.661876 image/jpeg 18929 2011-04-04T19:02:30 application/octet-stream application/zip 18857 2011-04-04T19:02:32 application/octet-stream application/zip 298386 2011-04-04T19:02:12 application/octet-stream application/zip 293880 2011-04-04T19:02:18 application/octet-stream application/zip 18851 2011-04-04T19:02:32 application/octet-stream application/zip 298105 2025-07-14T12:31:28.697860 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog