Saknarth by Donald A. Wollheim
Saknarth, Master Astrologer of the Imperial Observatory on Mars, remembers Kwarit’s cryptic words: “The lights upon the Morning Star.” Kwarit was condemned years earlier for claiming to have seen signals from the Evil One on Kurnal, the third planet. Though Saknarth publicly serves rulers and priests by composing deliberately obscure horoscopes, he privately rejects their superstition and longs to examine Kwarit’s evidence. Kwarit’s powerful fifty-inch telescope has been confiscated and displayed in the Imperial Museum’s guarded Hall of Evil Things. Saknarth visits it, studies the room, and later breaks into the Museum before dawn by climbing to a window from the roofs. He turns the forbidden telescope toward Kurnal and sees the planet in unprecedented detail: bright green and blue regions on its crescent, dimly visible continents and seas on its dark side, and then several tiny white lights. The lights form a pattern Saknarth recognizes as the Sign of Dallon, the ideograph associated with an ancient prophecy. Dallon had declared that humanity would remain humble before gods, priests, and prophets until the Sign of Dallon appeared upon the Morning Star—an event said never to occur. Saknarth realizes that the prophecy’s condition has been fulfilled. To him, the sign means that the priesthood’s dominion and its enslavement of mankind must end, replaced by learning, enlightenment, and freedom. Before he can spread the discovery, Museum guards seize him. He is gagged so that he cannot describe what he saw through the “instrument of the Devil,” swiftly tried for blasphemy, and sentenced to execution. In a cell overlooking the street, Saknarth finds parchment and crayon. He writes of the lights, the Sign, and the need for people to rise for freedom, urging whoever finds the message to bring it to astrologers and men of learning. He throws the manuscript from the window to a young man wearing the circle insignia of the Society of the One God. The youth reads it, understands its meaning, salutes Saknarth, and hurries away. Certain that his revelation will survive him, Saknarth calmly waits for the executioners.
By Donald A. Wollheim · First published 1935 · Genre: Science Fiction, Planetary Romance, Dystopian Fiction · 2,453 words
First lines
The Master Astrologer was willing to give his / life -- if only the torch of what little learning / existed in the land could be passed on.
"The lights upon the Morning Star. " How well he remembered that phrase. Twenty years it must have been since Kwarit had whispered it to him, at the great trial where they had accused Kwarit of heeding the signals of the Evil One.
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Genres
- Science Fiction — The story is set on Mars, features telescopes, planetary observation, and the discovery of artificial lights on Earth, using astronomical speculation to drive its central conflict.
- Planetary Romance — Its alien Martian civilization, imperial capital, canals, distinctive one-eyed inhabitants, and Earth viewed as the mysterious Morning Star place it firmly in the planetary-romance tradition.
- Dystopian Fiction — Saknarth lives under a repressive theocratic regime that suppresses scientific inquiry, imprisons dissenters, and executes those whose discoveries threaten priestly authority.
- Social Science Fiction — The narrative uses an imagined Martian society to criticize religious authoritarianism, manufactured superstition, censorship, and the political control of knowledge.
Tags
fantasy · science fiction · weird fiction · pulp fiction · speculative fiction · adventure · cosmic fantasy · imaginary worlds · otherworldly · mythic · mystery · danger
What this Textopian page supports
Saknarth is listed on Textopian as a short story by Donald A. Wollheim, dated 1935 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: Donald A. Wollheim
- Date: 1935 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Science Fiction, Planetary Romance, Dystopian Fiction, Social Science Fiction, Adventure Fiction
- Length: 2,453 words
- Structure: 1 section, 42 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for Saknarth by Donald A. Wollheim
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- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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