The Venus Evil

Richard Farris opens with a grim confession: he killed George Pearce, and he insists it was necessary. His story returns to the reckless age of early space exploration, when Mars had already been turned into a symbol of profit and the promise of the planets had begun to eclipse the dream of discovery. Against that backdrop, wealthy inventor Anson Durwent equips the Solarian for a true scientific voyage to Venus, sending Pearce, Barton Sandley, and Farris into the unknown. The long flight strains the crew with cabin fever and quarrels, but Venus itself seems at first like a wonder: a lush world of jungles, islands, mountains, and eerie sounds, with breathable air and lighter gravity. Free to explore without helmets, the men establish camp and grow bolder as the planet appears strangely beautiful and apparently uninhabited. Yet their mission soon shifts under the pressure of ambition. Pearce admits he expects wealth, not merely glory, and Farris recognizes the same temptation in himself. When Sandley discovers giant butterfly-like life forms near a rocky, ore-rich region, the expedition's scientific purpose gives way to dread as the crew realizes Venus holds something far more alien than they imagined. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.