The Prots: A Weird Romance

A new 2023 edition of an early sci-fi story about the creation of life in a test tube and its subsequent evolution, originally published in 1903.

From the back cover

Insurance clerk Jack Granton devotes his evenings to the dream of creating life in a test tube. Then, after countless failures, an error in measuring his reactants produces hundreds of tiny, darting, jelly-like creatures. Within hours, they begin to multiply, grow and develop into increasingly complex forms.

As Granton and his faithful friend Montague Dudbroke struggle to provide their rapidly expanding creations with ever more elaborate care and accommodation, news of the discovery spreads. Granton finally gains the recognition from the scientific world that he has long craved—but not everyone drawn to the creatures has benevolent intentions...

The Prots: A Weird Romance was originally published in 1903, attributed to the pseudonymous author "Dudbroke" (the true identity of the author is unknown). The book has never been republished until now. This 2023 edition, published one hundred and twenty years after the original, includes a foreword by Artificial Life researcher Dr Tim Taylor. The new edition makes this early example of science fiction involving the evolution of synthetic life available once again to readers interested in early science fiction, and to those who simply enjoy a good old-fashioned adventure!

Publication details

Paperback
225 pp., 5.06 x 7.81 in
ISBN: 978-1-7394868-0-8
Published: 29 November 2023
Publisher: Enchanted Bit

eBook
ISBN: 978-1-7394868-1-5
Published: 4 March 2024
Publisher: Enchanted Bit

Buy