The nothing: Classic Book Guide and Free Edition
The nothing: author and translator credits, catalogue synopsis, subjects and links to the Gutenberg reading formats.
The nothing is catalogued by Project Gutenberg with author credits for Herbert, Frank (1920–1986).
Catalogue synopsis
Project Gutenberg supplies this automated synopsis of the opening text:
The nothing by Frank Herbert is a science fiction short story written in the mid-20th century. It imagines a future society built on psychic talents that are fading away, and examines genetic planning, predestination, and the risk of choosing a freer, less certain tomorrow. Jean Carlysle, a teen pyrokinetic, quarrels with her father and goes to a tavern where she meets Claude, a “Nothing” without powers and a fugitive from a government preserve. Both are detained and taken to the Sonoma Preserve, where Claude’s father, Mensor Williams—an elite prescient-telepath—explains that psychic abilities are regressing across generations; in secret, the preserves are reviving old mechanical skills and arranging marriages to sustain crucial talents. Citing a strong genetic match and claiming to have foreseen it, Williams swiftly marries Jean and Claude, giving Jean a telepathy-blocking implant. After Jean briefly returns home, she learns Williams only foresaw their meeting, not their future together. Claude resents the manipulation, but Jean embraces the commitment, and the pair decide to face a “cloudy” future no prescient can see, asserting their own choice amid a world losing its gifts.
Book and edition facts
- Title: The nothing
- Author credits: Herbert, Frank (1920–1986)
- Catalogue language: English
Catalogue subjects
- Mate selection -- Fiction
- Psychic ability -- Fiction
- Science fiction
- Short stories
Read this edition
View the complete Gutenberg catalogue record. Project Gutenberg identifies this edition as public domain in the United States; that designation does not establish its copyright status in every country.
Source notes
Catalogue metadata is public domain and is supplied through Gutendex, which imports Gutenberg's machine-readable catalogue. The automated synopsis is source-supplied, not an independently verified review. Author dates above describe the credited people; no ebook release date is presented as the book's original publication date.
Sources
More in Books & Authors
Keep reading
