# Short Fiction — Chapters explained

> Chapter companions for Short Fiction by Henry Kuttner.

- [The Secret of Kralitz](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/the-secret-of-kralitz.md): Franz, the twenty-first Baron Kralitz, is awakened by two black-swathed figures and led through a hidden stairway beneath his castle to an underground cavern. There he joins a saturnalia of monstrous beings and undead an
- [The Crystal Circe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/the-crystal-circe.md): Steve Arnsen, driven by the pull of a mysterious crystal, summons the ancient sorceress Circe to aid him in his quest for forbidden knowledge, setting the stage for his departure from Earth.
- [Prologue](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/prologue.md): The narrator, Vail, encounters his old friend Steve Arnsen in a Manhattan spaceport. Arnsen is visibly haunted and changed, carrying a mysterious crystal from an uncharted asteroid. He speaks of his missing friend Dougla
- [I: The Star-Gem](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/i-the-star-gem.md): Douglas O'Brien and Steve Arnsen discover a meteorite while fishing. Inside, O'Brien finds a gray, multifaceted gem. He becomes obsessed with the jewel, claiming it shows him a vision of a goddess-like woman. Arnsen grow
- [II: Lure of the Crystal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/ii-lure-of-the-crystal.md): O'Brien quits his job and uses a mysterious gray gem to develop a revolutionary alloy, funding a spaceship to search for a being named Deirdre. Arnsen, skeptical but drawn along, joins the voyage with pilot Tex Hastings,

> 36 more chapter companions — [open a free preview](https://www.betterreads.dev/reader?bookId=short_fiction_27_se_535kb&preview=1) to unlock the rest.

- [III: The Singing Crystals](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/iii-the-singing-crystals.md)
- [IV: Circe the Immortal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/iv-circe-the-immortal.md)
- [V: The Jewel-Folk](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/v-the-jewel-folk.md)
- [Epilogue](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/epilogue.md)
- [War-Gods of the Void](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/war-gods-of-the-void.md)
- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/i.md)
- [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/ii.md)
- [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/iii.md)
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/iv.md)
- [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/v.md)
- [Thunder in the Void](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/thunder-in-the-void.md)
- [I: Hijacker from Hell](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/i-hijacker-from-hell.md)
- [II: Invisible Pirate](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/ii-invisible-pirate.md)
- [III: Destination—Death!](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/iii-destination-death.md)
- [IV: The Destroying Avenger](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/iv-the-destroying-avenger.md)
- [Crypt-City of the Deathless One](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/crypt-city-of-the-deathless-one.md)
- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/i.md)
- [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/ii.md)
- [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/iii.md)
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/iv.md)
- [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/v.md)
- [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/vi.md)
- [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/vii.md)
- [The Lost City's Secret](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/viii.md)
- [The Eyes of Thar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/the-eyes-of-thar.md)
- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/i.md)
- [Chapter II: The Hall of the Aesir](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/ii.md)
- [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/iii.md)
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/iv.md)
- [Dream's End](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/dream-s-end.md)
- [Don't Look Now](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/don-t-look-now.md)
- [The Ego Machine](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/the-ego-machine.md)
- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/i.md)
- [Chapter II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/ii.md)
- [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/iii.md)
- [Where the World Is Quiet](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters/where-the-world-is-quiet.md)

HTML index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_27_se/chapters