Burl sporadically begins to think, and discovers the wonders of tools - specifically, spears and clubs. We follow Burl, a member of a human tribe, who wanders through a nightmare world of deadly spores, giant hunter spiders, killer crayfish, and foot-long army ants. "The Mad Planet" is set in the far future of Earth after the atmosphere has been filled with carbon dioxide (partly by human burning of coal and oil, in a strange foreshadowing of global warming) and most plant and animal life has died off, leaving monstrous fungus forests and giant insects and a meek, devolved shred of the human race. To some extent, it reminds me of the story in that anthology about the weakling caveman who uses his wits to invent the club and becomes chief of the tribe by using this tool to beat up stronger competitors. It feels like full-fledged, post-Gernsbackian SF, and in fact feels like something that could have appeared in Healy and McComas' famous anthology of Campbellian SF, Adventures in Time and Space. Randy_byersThis story by science fiction legend Murray Leinster was first published in The Argosy magazine in 1920.
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