Innovative Story, Flat Writing!It all starts with a freak accident. Martin Padway, a young American historian obsessed with the late Roman and Gothic periods right before the Dark Ages descended on Europe, gets struck by lightning. He wakes up transported back in time, smack-dab in the middle of his area of expertise. Now, his memory, his deep knowledge of future events, his physical strength, his language skills, his political savvy, and his ability to adapt to utterly bizarre situations are al...

Rating: 4 out of 5 starsA re-read of L. Sprague de Camp's classic SF novel, **Lest Darkness Fall**, rethinking the time travel trope from Wellsian to Twainian styles. The mysterious transposition into the past via non-technological means is permanent in de Camp's work. I think that makes the story far more interesting and a lot more fun. The stakes are much higher for Padway/Paduei than for Snodgrass since Paduei is there in the past for good.The parts of **Lest Darkness Fall** that don't quite ...

Out of copyright, which means a nice FREE ebook is available at https://archive.org/stream/Galaxy_Sci...Definitely check out Jo Walton's review: https://www.tor.com/2008/08/14/lest-d...She nails why I like L. Sprague de Camp's *Lest Darkness Fall* more than the Twain book. De Camp knew his stuff when it came to the history of technology, and it really shows. This book is seriously tech-heavy. Thinking it's time for a re-read myself.You can find more info at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lest_Da....

God bless you, Mr. Twain!L. Sprague de Camp's classic sci-fi / time travel / alternate history story, clearly influenced by Mark Twain's *A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court*, has stood the test of time itself remarkably well. If you're looking for the best time travel books, *Lest Darkness Fall* should be on your list.Told with a keen eye for historically accurate detail and boasting better-than-average character development, this 1939 publication is an early example of the "golden age"...

Martin Padway gets zapped by lightning during a trip to Rome and wakes up permanently stuck in the 6th century AD. Being a history buff, he figures he'll use his knowledge of technology and history to stop Rome from falling, basically nipping the Dark Ages in the bud. He pretty much single-handedly kicks off the Industrial Revolution, bringing in distilleries (to fund his lifestyle and schemes), double-entry bookkeeping, the telegraph, the printing press, modern warfare tactics, and the whole sh...

Lest Darkness Fall is an alternate history science fiction novel penned in 1939 by L. Sprague de Camp. Often hailed as one of the finest examples of the alternate history genre, it's undoubtedly one of the most impactful. The book brought to mind Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. In Lest Darkness Fall, American archaeologist Martin Padway is visiting the Pantheon in Rome in 1938. When a thunderstorm hits, lightning strikes, and he's transported to 6th century Rome.Padway ...

CONCEPT: A history professor gets zapped back to Rome, just a few years before the whole thing collapses. Armed with his knowledge of the future, he tries to not only make a life for himself but, eventually, to prevent the fall of Rome. It's a classic time-travel setup!HISTORY SETTING: 6th century Italy. The setting in \"Lest Darkness Fall\" by L. Sprague de Camp is super interesting. I didn't know much about this period, and it's rarely covered in history books, which tend to focus on other par...

De Camp's books were a huge part of what I read back in the '70s. *Lest Darkness Fall* is an interesting take on the time travel concept. A pretty good read overall. Wow, someone actually liked this two-line review. Thanks! I'm surprised at how brief it is myself. I imagine it's because my wife had passed away not long before, and I was getting ready to move to a smaller place. Let me expand on it a little bit. I read *Lest Darkness Fall* by L. Sprague de Camp a long time ago, but it really m...

3.5 stars. A classic time travel tale. The writing is good, the pacing is nice, and you get a tour of ancient Rome. What's not to like about L. Sprague de Camp's *Lest Darkness Fall*? If you enjoy historical fiction or time travel books, this is a must-read.

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