The plot of this tale explores themes of immortality, power, and the implications of technological progress. The plot takes place in the future, where an outstanding researcher named Dr. John Thane has discovered a way to obtain biological immortality. Thane's discovery, called as the "immortalizing ray," allows people to live endlessly without the limits of aging or sickness. However, this newfound immortality comes at a cost: those who take the treatment become psychologically static and lose the will to learn or experience new things. A collection of people who have received the preserving ray treatment have formed the "Legion of Lazarus." This group strives to keep the secret of immortality hidden while retaining power and control over society. The narrative follows a protagonist which learns about the Legion and the consequences of their acts. He is torn between revealing the secret of immortality to the rest of the world and keeping it hidden, recognizing the possible benefits and threats it brings to humanity. "The Legion of Lazarus" poses provocative concerns about the ethics of immortality, the pursuit of knowledge, and the delicate balance of power and responsibility.
Edmond Moore Hamilton (October 21, 1904 – February 1, 1977) was a mid-twentieth-century American science fiction writer. He was born in Youngstown, Ohio, and raised in adjacent New Castle, Pennsylvania. He graduated from high school and enrolled in Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, at the age of 14, but dropped out when he was 17. Edmond Hamilton's career as a science fiction writer began with the publication of his short tale "The Monster God of Mamurth" in the August 1926 edition of Weird Tales, which is today considered a classic journal of alternative fiction. Hamilton rapidly established himself as a key member of Farnsworth Wright's amazing circle of Weird Tales writers, which included H. P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. From 1926 to 1948, Weird Tales published 79 works of fiction by Hamilton, making him one of the magazine's most prolific contributors. Hamilton became friends and associates with several Weird Tales veterans, including E. Hoffmann Price and Otis Adelbert Kline; most famously, he had a 20-year connection with near contemporary Jack Williamson, as Williamson recounts in his 1984 autobiography Wonder's Child.
