Short Science Fiction · Character

Eugene Taylor

Thirty, carefree, and happily broke, Gene Taylor bursts into Sills's laboratory with a joke and stays to watch a chemist chase the Nobel Prize.

major

Also known as Taylor, Gene

First appearance: The Magnificent Possession

As a major figure in Short Science Fiction, Eugene Taylor is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Sills' cheerful friend who witnesses the discovery and urges him to keep it secret.

In the storyThe Magnificent PossessionOpen this moment free

See Eugene Taylor in The Magnificent Possession Book page

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Taylor is Sills's younger, cheerier foil — a man with no money and no worry about it, who teases his friend's bald head and gloomy outlook while genuinely marveling at the ammonium amalgam trick. His easy exuberance and his grab for the Ammonaline flask mark him as both audience and accomplice. He matters because his skepticism and appetite for risk pull Sills's private obsession out into the world.

Continue beside the text

The fuller portrait of Eugene Taylor sits in Reading Lens — open the free preview to keep reading with notes on the page.

See Eugene Taylor in The Magnificent Possession

Character Web

10 connections

A slice of how Eugene Taylor sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Rivalry
Professional
Other

Character groups

Key narrative figures
Familial and archetypal figures

+5 more in the full Character Web

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

The emotional and psychological peak occurs when the Astronomer bitterly declares the crash landing a total lo…

Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.

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Relationships

Walter Sills
rivalry · negative
Eugene Taylor and Walter Sills are antagonists, possibly competing for power or… How this plays out →
J. Throgmorton Bankhead
professional · ambivalent
Walter Sills
rivalry · negative
Eugene Taylor and Walter Sills are antagonists, possibly competing for power or… How this plays out →
Walter Sills
rivalry · negative
Eugene Taylor and Walter Sills are antagonists, possibly competing for power or… How this plays out →
J. Throgmorton Bankhead
professional · ambivalent
J. Throgmorton Bankhead
professional · ambivalent

Walter Sills
Eugene Taylor and Walter Sills are antagonists, possibly competing for power or ideological dominance in a corporate or political setting.
J. Throgmorton Bankhead
Eugene Taylor and J. Throgmorton Bankhead are colleagues or rivals in a corporate or political environment, with frequent interactions suggesting negotiation or conflict.
Walter Sills
Eugene Taylor and Walter Sills are antagonists, possibly competing for power or ideological dominance in a corporate or political setting.
Walter Sills
Eugene Taylor and Walter Sills are antagonists, possibly competing for power or ideological dominance in a corporate or political setting.
J. Throgmorton Bankhead
Eugene Taylor and J. Throgmorton Bankhead are colleagues or rivals in a corporate or political environment, with frequent interactions suggesting negotiation or conflict.
J. Throgmorton Bankhead
Eugene Taylor and J. Throgmorton Bankhead are colleagues or rivals in a corporate or political environment, with frequent interactions suggesting negotiation or conflict.

Relationship notes

How these ties play out is in the reading companion — open the free preview.

See Eugene Taylor in The Magnificent Possession

In the story

Eugene Taylor appears across 3 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Chapter companion notes

Spoil-light check-ins for Eugene Taylor unlock in the free preview.

See Eugene Taylor in The Magnificent Possession