The Sunless City - a science fiction novel from 1905 and reason for my town's name

[ZekeTwo]

[quote]The lake lies "silent, still and mysterious in the bosom of the everlasting mountains, like a gigantic well scooped out by the hands of genii."
There is no herbage; no animal life on its shores or in its depths. The unbroken stillness of death reigns there.
[/quote]

[i]The Sunless City: From the Papers and Diaries of the Late Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin[/i] by J.E. Preston Muddock is a story you've probably never heard of before. It never achieved any fame, and although still readily available for purchase today is likely not on any of your bookshelves. However, there's one small northern Canadian town where the name is still known and still spoken aloud on occasion, and that's my hometown of [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flin_Flon]Flin Flon, Manitoba[/url].
It's a great story - well worth a read - and is available for free to read online and I would like to share it with you all. The story is of a prospector named Josiah Fintabbatey Flonatin who travels to the bottom of a lake in a submarine to find a lost city of gnome-like people where everything is backwards. (Don't miss the second half, which is only linked to at the top for some reason)

The story, in its entirety, can be [url=http://www.erbzine.com/mag18/sunless.htm]found here[/url]. You're probably wondering, what kind of science fiction did they write in 1905? Highlights include (without spoiling too badly):

- A race of beings with tails
- An asinine but ingenious reference to Darwin's Origin of Species that is actually quite chilling
- Insults towards Christianity
- Writing that resembles Lovecraft at times
- Insults towards humanity
- Romance, death, destruction, and mystery!
- "Where the deuce am I?"

So if you like science fiction, reading strange shit on the internet, or learning about the origins of town names, give it a read. You'll like it.

[quote]The vile trade carried on by your people who call themselves spiritualists is a disgrace, if anything can be a disgrace to human beings; and since they trade upon the credulity of the ignorant and vulgar, they should be suppressed with a strong hand.[/quote]

[Best4bond]

[quote=zeketwo;25481104]

- a race of beings with tails
[/quote]

furrys in 1905?

[ZekeTwo]

[QUOTE=Best4bond;25481114]furrys in 1905?[/QUOTE]

Brutal furries that don't take any shit (with a huge twist)

[cqbcat]

What's all this Lovecraft and Cthulhu crap I keep on hearing about?

[ZekeTwo]

[QUOTE=cqbcat;25481209]What's all this Lovecraft and Cthulhu crap I keep on hearing about?[/QUOTE]

Lovecraft is likely the best horror writer of all time, read his stuff.

[Pretiacruento]

Thanks for sharing, Zeke!

[Ghostwork]

[QUOTE=cqbcat;25481209]What's all this Lovecraft and Cthulhu crap I keep on hearing about?[/QUOTE]

[url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Call_of_Cthulhu]the call of cthulhu,[/url]

really great short story, i hated seeing it end.

_

i'll start reading the sunless city asap

has anyone here read Abarat by Clive Barker?

[Pretiacruento]

[QUOTE=Ghostwork;25486331][url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Call_of_Cthulhu]the call of cthulhu, one of my favorite stories[/url][/QUOTE]

[img]http://www.facepunch.com/image.php?u=251463&dateline=1285814911[/img] <-- It shows :v: