Nothing will ever mystify or challenge the Wonder. He masters entire libraries and languages with little effort. No equation, no problem is too difficult to solve. His casual conversations with ministers and philosophers decimate their vaunted beliefs and crush their cherished intellectual ambitions. The Wonder compels obedience and silence with a glance. His mother idolizes him as a god. Yet no one is more hated or alone than the Wonder.

 

This is the chilling tale of Victor Stott, an English boy born thousands of years ahead of his time. Raised in the village of Hampdenshire, the strangely proportioned young Victor possesses mental abilities vastly superior to those of his fellow villagers. The incomprehensible intellect and powers of the Wonder inspire awe, provoke horror, and eventually threaten to rip apart Hampdenshire.

 

Long recognized as a classic of speculative fiction but never before widely available, The Wonder is one of the first novels about a “superman.” J. D. Beresford’s subtle and intriguing story of a boy with superhuman abilities paved the way for such noted works as Philip Wylie’s Gladiator and A. E. van Vogt’s Slan

J. D. Beresford (1873-1947), a noted British writer of speculative fiction, wrote such novels as “What Dreams May Come . . . ,” The Riddle of the Tower, and Goslings. Jack L. Chalker is the author of the classic novels Midnight at the Well of Souls and Web of the Chozen and the popular Rings of the Master and Dancing Gods series.

"Students of early science fiction will welcome the University of Nebraska Press's series Bison Frontiers of Imagination."—Times Literary Supplement