Book 3

Fitz-James O'Brien (1828-1862), was born Michael O'Brien in County Cork, Ireland, and attended the University of Dublin. He may have been in the British Army at some point, but in 1852 he moved to the United States, where he changed his name and devoted himself to literature. He quickly became known as a poet, journalist and"most significantly"as a writer of tales of the fantastic and the uncanny, including several important works of early science-fiction such as The Diamond Lens. In 1861 he joined the New York National Guard, hoping to be sent to the front in the American Civil War. He was severely wounded in a skirmish on February 26, 1862, and lingered until April, when he died at Cumberland, Maryland. This book collects 17 of his tales of science-fiction, fantasy, horror and the uncanny.