Project Gutenberg 2020-11-21 Public domain in the USA. 175 Brittain, William J. Kiemle, H. W. (Henry William) 1908 1969 Kiemle, Henry William The Burnt Planet Produced from Planet Stories Winter 1948 Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "The Burnt Planet" by William J. Brittain is a science fiction novella written during the mid-20th century. The story revolves around a crew from a spaceship that lands on a seemingly desolate planet, grappling with the remnants of a once-thriving civilization now consumed by ruin. The narrative explores themes of survival, the consequences of war, and the hubris of assuming superiority over others. The plot follows a commander and his crew as they explore the newly discovered world, initially filled with hope for colonization due to its abundant resources and perfect atmosphere. However, they soon encounter bizarre bipeds, remnants of the planet's former inhabitants, who are driven to madness by the aftermath of war. As the crew investigates the decaying cities and uncovers artifacts of the extinct civilization, they reflect on the destructive potential of intelligent beings. In a turn of irony, the scholarly crew member excitedly deciphers the remnants of the planet's language, revealing that the inhabitants referred to themselves as "Men," highlighting the tragic irony of human history and its cyclical nature of destruction. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 82.8 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Short stories Human-alien encounters -- Fiction Outer space -- Exploration -- Fiction Apocalyptic fiction PS Text Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Novels 40162 2025-09-25T08:56:22.041006 text/html 16049 2024-10-18T08:19:50 text/html 481898 2025-09-25T08:56:23.703997 application/epub+zip 480716 2025-09-25T08:56:22.456005 application/epub+zip 75041 2025-09-25T08:56:22.217028 application/epub+zip 514537 2025-09-25T08:56:24.802009 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 507546 2025-09-25T08:56:23.498030 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 102117 2022-09-28T18:55:25.095810 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 33802 2025-09-25T08:56:21.953007 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 13979 2024-10-18T08:19:50 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17155 2025-09-25T08:56:24.929961 application/rdf+xml 32411 2025-09-25T08:56:22.316978 image/jpeg 5293 2025-09-25T08:56:22.266006 image/jpeg 463832 2025-09-25T08:56:22.053989 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