Fitz-James O'Brien is less known a name than Edgar Allan Poe or H.P. Lovecraft, yet it should not be overlooked. In prose and verse the Irish-American who bore this name was an accomplished writer. He combined fantastic creations with the new technology contemporary to his age. For good reason he is considered a precursor of science fiction.
The Diamond Lens, the major work in the book, explores the vices of greed, obsession, infatuation, irresponsibility and duplicity in man. The work raises ethical questions pertaining to scientific advances. For example, is the loss of innocent human life ever justifiable for the advancement of science? Mr. Linley, the main character of the Diamond Lens, kills a Jew. He justifies his action by claiming it was done in the "interests of science." In this, Fitz-James is prescient, recalling in the minds of moderns the horrors of the concentration camps.
While this slim volume is in itself not the best of 19th century American fiction, it gives a survey of the themes upon which subsequent, better-known, authors would draw.