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

" ... well worth reading; this is a nice edition ... like the other Bison Books reprints this is recommended to all those who are interested in the roots of sf."--interzone, february 2000"Odd that the book which prefaced modern science fiction and fantasy was published a year before the Titanic sank, and odder yet that a Nebraska publisher should refloat the tale of England cricketer Ginger Stott's aberrant son. The yanks must be as much at sea with the legspin as we are with the baseball, but the reason why this classic has resurfaced is clear from the first page ... Good stuff; enough to raise goose-pimples."--Time Out, 8 March 2000 "There is an admirable Edwardian solidity to Bereford's classic of "speculative fiction" that carries a good yarn, sometimes woodenly written, along... Long unavailable, The Wonder is a minor work, but an enjoyable, old-fashioned discovery nonetheless."--The Guardian, 1 July 2000

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.