Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, No. 20

About this issue

EARTH OUR NEW EDEN by F. G. Rayer presents a dystopian narrative set in a vast underground city. Peter Wrey, a 28-year-old machinist born in subterranean nursery blocks, works ten-hour shifts in tunnels housing machine shops, passenger vehicles, and residential levels beneath granite. Controlled by an autocratic administration that monitors dissent, Peter harbors growing resentment at the monotonous existence and forced separation from a woman named Judy deemed unsuitable by officials. When his supervisor orders his transfer to another city—framed as concern for his psychological well-being—Peter recognizes the mechanism of state control. The narrative establishes a totalitarian system where food-ration withdrawal and restricted access to the surface punish resistance, with only rare escapees fleeing to wooded regions above. The opening chapter concludes as Peter begins another shift at industrial machinery.