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Far Orbit: Speculative Space Adventures (2014)

door Bascomb James (Redacteur)

Andere auteurs: Elizabeth Bear (Voorwoord), Gregory Benford (Medewerker), Tracy Canfield (Medewerker), Eric Choi (Medewerker), Barbara Davies (Medewerker)9 meer, Jakob Drud (Medewerker), Julie Frost (Medewerker), David Wesley Hill (Medewerker), K.G. Jewell (Medewerker), Sam S. Kepfield (Medewerker), Kat Otis (Medewerker), Jonathan Shipley (Medewerker), Wendy Sparrow (Medewerker), Peter Wood (Medewerker)

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Modern space adventures crafted by a new generation of Grand Tradition science fiction writers. Smart, readable, and engaging stories that take us back to a time when science fiction was fun and informative, pithy and piquant-when speculative fiction transported us from the everyday grind and left us wondrously satisfied. Showcasing the breadth of Grand Tradition stories, from 1940s-style pulp to realistic hard SF, from noir and horror SF to spaceships, alien uplift, and action-adventure motifs, Far Orbit's diversity of Grand Tradition stories makes it easy for every SF fan to find a favorite.… (meer)
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Toon 5 van 5
Outstanding

Above average anthology, especially at this price. I wish more of the good authors in this collection had novels published though ( )
  acb13adm | Sep 13, 2023 |
‘Far Orbit: Speculative Space Adventures’ was prompted by an open letter to SF from Elizabeth Bear in which she said that it was all getting too dark and miserable. While admitting that there was room for such dystopian visions, she opined for more of the optimistic, upbeat yarns of successful go-getters that had prevailed in the early decades of the genre, up to the sixties. Editor Bascomb James took up the challenge and produced this book, specifically to give us stories in the ‘Grand Tradition’.

The first story certainly features successful go-getters. ‘Open For Business’ might have been titled ‘The Men Who Sold Asteroid 2009 BT.’ Sam Kepfield has a trio of entrepreneurs launching an expedition to stake a claim to this mineral-rich celestial body. Memories of Heinlein are inevitably invoked but the story is fresh and entertaining in its own right. Furthermore, it might come true and soon.

There are a couple of SF trader tales in the grand tradition here. In ‘Obsidianite’, author Kat Obis gives us Janessa, a feisty female profit seeker and her pilot, Darion. They answer a distress call from the colony of New Galilee but find the mission complicated by her ex-husband and an exploding volcano. A good plot with a neat twist in the tail.

Bitter ex-partners and rivals feature again in ‘A Trip To Lagasy’ by Barbara Davies. This time it’s scientists after a rare plant. I note that both these stories of vile old boyfriends are by women but wisely make no comment.

More trading in ’Saturn Slingshot’. Space piracy is often deemed far-fetched but David Wesley Hill makes it believable. Powered by a solar sail, the good ship Serendipity makes decade long voyages between the inner planets, the Jovian moons and the Kuiper belt. Captain D’Angelo Jones was born onboard, like most of the crew, nearly all of whom are related to him by blood or marriage. The author has a lot of hard science to put over but manages most of the info dump smoothly in the first four pages, leaving the rest for the pirate attack. With the captain’s fearless fighting wife in danger, it evolves into a surprisingly stirring yarn. As the world turns increasingly to fantastical galactic space opera, I find myself fonder of feasible fables set in our own solar system. (Frank Ochieng doesn’t have a monopoly on alliteration in reviews.)

‘Bear Essentials’ by Julie Frost is light entertainment about another trading ship, this one with a family on board. With not much work about Russell Fisk contracts to transport a bear to a monastery where it will be worshipped. I was pleasantly reminded of ‘Space Family Stone’ and ‘Jerry Was A Man’ by Heinlein. Stories in the grand tradition are bound to remind you of the old greats.

Arthur C. Clark, for example, was brought to mind by ’From A Stone’. Writer Eric Choi is an aerospace engineer, which lends a distinct air of verisimilitude to his story. The Harrison Schmidt is sent to investigate a rock that may have come from outside the solar system and the crew finds some interesting features in it. In truth, it’s ‘Rendezvous With Rama’ on a small scale but nicely done. The disparaging references to ‘government science’ are odd to me. Privatised science didn’t get us into space, though it may take us on the next steps for profit and certainly wouldn’t bother with exploration out of sheer curiosity. At least, the pro/private industry attitude is accompanied in several stories by an honest appraisal of just how brutal and inhuman profit-seeking individuals and corporations can be given half a chance.

As an example, Martice, the ruthless, slave keeping businessman in ‘A Game Of Hold’em’ by Wendy Sparrow. Texan Moses and his partner Ajax are trying to get beef import contracts for their company on the barren, dusty world of Baru. To ingratiate them with Martice, top man round them there parts, Ajax arranges a game of poker. The stakes get higher and higher as the game progresses. A nitpicker might say this isn’t really SF, just a cowboy yarn set in space but, consarn it!, it’s a great story and that justifies its inclusion anywhere. It would have made a fine episode of the late lamented TV series ‘Firefly’.

Assassins are not sympathetic characters for me but K.G. Jewell’s ’Composition In Death Minor’ is an interesting tale with a few intriguing twists. Sophie Devine is on Callisto to kill a female named Quail who stole from her client. The technological background seems authentic, as does the harshness of space exploitation managed by private enterprise, at least for the people on the bottom of the heap.

The uplift needed after such grimness is provided by Peter Wood’s ’Spaceman Barbecue’. Hank lives in a trailer near Mentone, North Carolina, a town with three filling stations and six Baptist churches but no spaceport. This is disappointing for Commander Matt Brannigan of Space Command when he crashes his rocket nearby. Gung-ho warrior Matt inevitably – deliberately? – reminds one of Buzz Lightyear but the story is very readable and great fun.

Klingon Scholar Tracy Canfield won favourite of the year 2008 for her story ‘Starship Down’ in an ‘Analog’ readers poll. In a future where humanity has been accepted into a Coalition of Planets, albeit as a junior member, Okalini Yee is studying Bunnies on the planet Myosotis. These are sentient but stupid herbivores who stand three metres high on their back legs. Read it and you’ll soon see why smart, nerdy ‘Analog’ readers would like this one. I did, too. (Isn’t it time ‘Analog’ went digital?)

‘Backscatter’ by Gregory Benford is hard, cold SF about a prospector stuck on a lonely asteroid after her ship crashes. ‘Charnelhouse’ is an alien tomb mystery by Jonathan Shipley. ‘The Vringla/Racket Incident’ is an amusing tale of alien babysitters told in letters by Jacob Drud. These round out the collection.

A jolly fine collection it is, too, a worthy response to Elizabeth Bear’s call to arms. The stories certainly fit into the ‘Grand Tradition’ and if that’s the kind of stuff you like – I do! – then it’s worth your money.

Eamonn Murphy
This review first appeared at https://www.sfcrowsnest.info/

( )
  bigfootmurf | Aug 11, 2019 |
This is a collection of modern science fiction in the classic style, it has a positive feel and dystopias aren't allowed, at least not in a grim pass the razor blades sort of way. I really enjoyed the collection and there are a few authors in there that I need to go and see what else they've written.

I bought this anthology because I have been thinking about submitting stories for publication, and I saw an article that there would be a follow-up anthology called Apogee from the same anthologist. Also I like reading science fiction, and short stories are easier to read when I'm studying (and I'm in the middle of B203, which is a real monster). Having read the stories in it I was inspired, I've outlined a story and written a couple of thousand words towards it.

I started reading this just before Christmas, and read the stories in one or two sittings each over the Christmas break, largely in snatched chunks between other things. A week or three after reading them a number still stand out. I'll outline them in order in the kindle version I read rather than ranking by preference.

'Open for Business' by Sam S Kepfield
A very believable take on how asteroid mining might start. A group of university friends with the right sort of degrees and work experience hatch a plan for grabbing an asteroid and putting it in orbit so that it can be mined. The consequences were very entertaining and absolutely what you might expect.

'Starship Down' by Tracy Canfield
A lovely take on intervention with less advanced aliens. In both cases. Humans are tasked with helping out a race of space rabbits (not actual rabbits, but their behaviours are similar) by more advanced aliens in return for technology. The main character is out on her own thousands of miles from the next nearest human and giving medical aid to the bunnies. She's also trying to teach them things that might be useful to advance themselves, like a concept of time and numbers bigger than 'some'. It reminded me of some of the Iain M Banks stuff I'd read in terms of the consequences of intervention in others affairs (although I cannot imagine Banks going there with giant bunnies!)

'A Game of Hold 'Em' by Wendy Sparrow
This is one that could just as easily be set in the pre-civil war Southern states of America. However it isn't a tale that's just had its setting switched. It shows a futuristic take on slave holding and the methods to keep people in thrall. Very thought provoking.

'From a Stone' by Eric Choi
How do you tell if something is natural or constructed by intelligence? This is a take on funding constrained scientific exploration of the solar system and an unexpected find. Bureaucracy gets in the way of a time constrained scientific mission, stopping on the way back from somewhere else the mission has 72 hours to catalogue the asteroid. After that the window for return to Earth is closed. The story is a detailed and believable first person one from the scientists. You get a sense of their wonder and excitement and wish to know more.

PS this isn't all the stories in the volume, just the ones that made me think and/or stuck in my head. I don't think any of the others were bad or not worth reading, these just stood out for me. Your mix may well be different.
( )
  jmkemp | Jul 5, 2016 |
Far Orbit is a wonderful collection of short science fiction stories.

A few of the standout stories to me were:

Open For Business, by Sam Kepfield, is a tale of (practically current day) entrepreneurs starting up an asteroid mining company, and the fall out from doing so.

Composition in Death Minor, by Kevin Jewell, where a cellist assassin has to make a choice.

Spaceman Barbecue, by Peter Wood, is a Twilight Zone-esque throwback with a happy ending.

A Game of Hold'em, by Wendy Sparrow, is an Old West tale set on a colony world.

And I think my favorite was Bear Essentials, by Julie Frost, about a small trading vessel run by a grumpy man and his adult daughter, along with their small crew. This tale has them transporting a live bear from one world to another, along with an unusual passenger, and discovering something amazing along the way. I definitely want to read more stories about this crew (especially if that bear comes back).

Need a quick fix of good old-fashioned science fiction? Far Orbit is it!


An eARC of Far Orbit was provided to me by the publisher for review (thanks!).
( )
  kevbayer | Jun 20, 2014 |
I received an ARC from Goodreads in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really cool anthology of Grand Tradition science fiction. There were stories I definitely liked better than others, but I enjoyed the range of pieces included. On the whole, the stories contained realistic and 3-dimentional female characters,which I absolutely loved. James included a brief description of the style of the piece as well as a short biography on the author preceding each story. This worked ready well and added depth to the book as a whole. There was not a single story that I did not like, some I felt were just okay, most were good, and a few were extremely amazing. Four fell into the last category and include "Compositon in Death Minor", "Spaceman Barbeque", "From a Stone", and "A Trip to Lagasy". I would strong recommend these four stories. Here is my review for each story individually:

"Open for Business" (Sam S. Kepfield)- 2 stars- This was were much a Jules Verne style piece that had a good plot, but overall I didn't find very interesting.

"Composition in Death Minor" (K. G. Jewell)- 5 stars- Great storyline, beautiful imagery, poetic yet violent. And Sophie was a total bad ass.

"Spaceman Barbeque" (Peter Wood)- 4 stars- Very funny. Charming story.

"Obsidianite" (Kat Otis)- 3 stars- Pretty good. I liked the character development and plot issues.

"Starship Down" (Tracy Canfield)- 2-stars- One of my least favorites. The story did not interest me very much, but it had amazing world setup and great descriptions.

"Backscatter" (Gregory Benfold)- 2-stars- Another one I couldn't really get into. Really good characters though.

"A Game of Hold'em" (Wendy Sparrow)- 3-stars- This one was definitely strange. It was good, but at times I felt the author tried too hard.

"From a Stone" (Eric Choi)- 4-stars- Really cool story. Very open-ended, which was a little disappointing but a fantastic piece nonetheless.

"Charnelhouse" (Jonathan Shipley)- 3-star- Another cool story with a disappointing cliff-hanger ending. Really confusing though. Didn't seem to go into enough depth in characters' backgrounds.

"Bear Essentials" (Julie Frost)- 3-stars- Cute. A little predictable.

"The Vringla/Racket Incident" (Jakob Drud)- 3-stars- Really cool epistolary setup but the storyline was really confusing.

"A Trip to Lagasy" (Barbara Davies)- 4-stars- Great story. I love the different time frames going on between past and present.

"Saturn Slingshot" (David Wesley Hill)- 3-stars- Nice adventure plotline but lacked character development.

Overall I thought this was a great SF anthology and highly recommend it. ( )
  CareBear36 | May 7, 2014 |
Toon 5 van 5
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» Andere auteurs toevoegen

AuteursnaamRolType auteurWerk?Status
James, BascombRedacteurprimaire auteuralle editiesbevestigd
Bear, ElizabethVoorwoordSecundaire auteuralle editiesbevestigd
Benford, GregoryMedewerkerSecundaire auteuralle editiesbevestigd
Canfield, TracyMedewerkerSecundaire auteuralle editiesbevestigd
Choi, EricMedewerkerSecundaire auteuralle editiesbevestigd
Davies, BarbaraMedewerkerSecundaire auteuralle editiesbevestigd
Drud, JakobMedewerkerSecundaire auteuralle editiesbevestigd
Frost, JulieMedewerkerSecundaire auteuralle editiesbevestigd
Hill, David WesleyMedewerkerSecundaire auteuralle editiesbevestigd
Jewell, K.G.MedewerkerSecundaire auteuralle editiesbevestigd
Kepfield, Sam S.MedewerkerSecundaire auteuralle editiesbevestigd
Otis, KatMedewerkerSecundaire auteuralle editiesbevestigd
Shipley, JonathanMedewerkerSecundaire auteuralle editiesbevestigd
Sparrow, WendyMedewerkerSecundaire auteuralle editiesbevestigd
Wood, PeterMedewerkerSecundaire auteuralle editiesbevestigd
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Modern space adventures crafted by a new generation of Grand Tradition science fiction writers. Smart, readable, and engaging stories that take us back to a time when science fiction was fun and informative, pithy and piquant-when speculative fiction transported us from the everyday grind and left us wondrously satisfied. Showcasing the breadth of Grand Tradition stories, from 1940s-style pulp to realistic hard SF, from noir and horror SF to spaceships, alien uplift, and action-adventure motifs, Far Orbit's diversity of Grand Tradition stories makes it easy for every SF fan to find a favorite.

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