Tribute by Jack Skillingstead - A Short Story Review

A mission to Mars goes badly.  NASA is defunded.  Corporations are nearly the only players left in space.

But what of science?  What of exploration?

How can these higher pursuits be served when the profit motive is the only thing left in space?

It's an interesting story, especially for those voices who do not see the value of a government funded space agency. 

I found this last story of the collection very thought provoking.  The missions to Mars are terrific storytelling but the bigger questions of corporate priorities in space lingered in my mind.

There is room enough in outer space for all the players, if you ask me.




Jack Skillingstead's web site - https://www.jackskillingstead.com/

Jack Skillingstead

Rare (Off) Earth Elements - A Sam Gunn Tale by Ben Bova - A Short Story Review

I've been a long-time fan of Bova's.  I consider him the Clive Cussler of space.  His writing, although much more nuanced are still firmly "pulpy."  Bova's villains are often psychologically damaged, greedy or
mustache-twirlingly evil.

But there is a special place for Sam Gunn, who is a comical rogue that flitters in and out Bova's novels but more often lives in stand-alone short stories.  He is an opportunist who is constantly seeking, and losing, his fortunes.

This story hinges on asteroid mining and the limitations placed upon the activity by the Outer Space Treaty.  In order for an individual or a country to have a legal claim to the minerals of a body in space the claim must be made from the object itself.  A "flag" must be planted.

That's a pretty onerous legal detail but it forces interested parties into space, where adventure awaits.  When you think about it, it's a rather human clause.  We have a long history of exploration and this method of flag planting has long been acknowledged as the correct way to go about things.

In this little gem, the plans of a nation are pitted against the motivations of an individual.

I liked this story very much.

Ben Bova's website - http://benbova.com/

Ben Bova

The Rabbit Hole by James Gunn - A Short Story Review

What are conditions like inside a wormhole?

James Gunn takes a stab at some serious alternate reality in this story.

A message form an alien culture  is decoded and instructions to build a ship capable of entering a wormhole to travel to a distant solar system is discovered.

The ship is built and flown where directed.

Hold on to your brains as life inside is difficult to understand and manipulate.

I thought Gunn did a great job of making such a challenging environment light and fun to read.

It stands apart from the other stories in that it is less blue-collar Hard SF than scientific Hard SF.


I enjoyed it very much and found it quite cinematic in my mind.  I kept seeing Event Horizon blended with Memento.

James Gunn's Wikipedia page -  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_E._Gunn_(writer)

James Gunn

Ten Days Up by Curtis C. Chen - A Short Story Review

I will say, in this first sentence, the story did not work for me.

It was very well written, I loved the story about two workers on a routine run up and down a space elevator.

Things go wrong on the way up and one of the crew is trapped outside with an oncoming solar storm making things worse.

Man vs environment is a terrific plot construct but sadly there was just too much channeling of MacGyver for me to believe in the plausibility of it.

I think the author tried very hard to amp up the danger when he did not have to.  Being stuck outside, in a hard vacuum, with a solar flare en route was plenty of peril for one person to deal with.  Adding orbital mechanics to it was just a bit too much for me.

Everything else about the story was excellent, I loved the interaction with ground control and the worn-in routine of working on a space elevator. 


Curtis Chen is an author to look for.

Curtis C Chen's website - https://curtiscchen.com/

Curtis C Chen

Malf by David D Levine - A Short Story Review

Asteroid mining, automated and on a contract basis.  This is the ultimate gig-economy job.

What if asteroids were mined remotely and brought back to Earth, splashed into the ocean, recovered, and the minerals extracted?

Great idea. But, since it’s for-profit companies that are doing the mining, getting the asteroids ready and guided to Earth is a job best contracted out.

This, of course, opens the process to non-standard methods of operation.

This story reminded me of the recent demonstration of hacking into driver-less cars.  The author poses the question; what would happen if someone hacked into the propulsion systems of an inbound asteroid and changed its course?

This was an excellent story.

David D Levine's website - https://daviddlevine.com/

David D Levine

Windshear by Angus McIntyre - A Short Story Review

A rescue mission in the cloud tops of Venus!

Remember - the premise of the entire collection is: what if space exploration continued without NASA?  When the private sector is involved profits are paramount to decision making.

Scientific studies are being done by one corporation in the upper atmosphere of Venus.  However, the crew rotation is contracted out to another company.  Something goes wrong during the docking procedures.

The decisions to be made are obvious to those people in the thick of the situation.  But the suits back on Earth have other ideas.

Terrific stuff!

Angus McIntyre's website - https://angus.pw/

Angus McIntyre

Airtight by Michael Capobianco - A Short Story Review

More mining of the asteroids shenanigans.

This one is about contract and mineral rights negotiations from deep space.

The rules are pretty clear, a business cannot stake a claim on a body in space unless a human sets foot on it, physically.  But the negotiations are difficult because the rights to the body actually go the human who’s feet are on said body.  Corporations foot the bill getting a person out there but must negotiate a finder’s fee when the astronaut has proven that he or she has landed.

This can get tricky.  To say more would be spoiling it.


Excellent story.

Michael Capobianco’s ISFDB page - http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?3153

Michael Capobianco

Iron Pegasus by Brenda Cooper - A Short Story Review

Cynthia and her robot companion Harry are travelling between asteroids, in their mining ship, when they receive a distress call and are obligated to reply.

There is something off about the situation as it is being transmitted by the companion robot of the ship in question.

I enjoyed the lived-in feel of the asteroid belt, sure there are folks about, making a living from the ores but the distances are incredible and it is a very lonely career.

I enjoyed how practical and yet human Cynthia’s relationship was with her robot companion.  They are very much a team.


This was an excellent mystery with an undertone of danger that required careful navigation.

A terrific addition to the collection.  I am very happy that I made the purchase.

Brenda Cooper’s website - http://www.brenda-cooper.com/

Brenda Cooper

Around the NEO in 80 Days by Jay Werkheiser - A Short Story Review

When getting to orbit is an everyday occurrence that’s the future I want to inhabit.

In this story, airships are used to lift up to a floating transfer station in the mesosphere, the very top of the atmosphere, where one transfers to an orbital ascender to make the final push to space.  This takes more time but eliminates rockets, a very interesting idea.

But that is not the focus of the story, in it a rich industrialist takes a bet with a fellow billionaire to race to a Near Earth Object and back within 80 days.

But there is an obstacle in the industrialist’s way.

What I liked about this story was how the characters were no different than people today.  There is no empire and culture to learn, no alien influence and no time travel.  It’s just people being people with their egos and conflicting aspirations.  Only the technology has changed.

I liked this one very much.

Jay Werkheiser’s website - http://jaywerkheiser.blogspot.com/

Jay Werkheiser

Orpheus’ Engines by Christopher McKitterick - A Short Story Review

This is the kind of hard SF that I like.

A private corporation, JoveCo, has a mining station orbiting Jupiter to extract hydrogen from the atmosphere of the gas giant.

Nina Galindo is dispatched to the station to help resolve a problem.  There are native creatures alive in the upper atmosphere who seem to be trying to communicate with the humans.  But there is something else, there is another signal buried under the repeating “GO AWAY” which is encrypted  and far more complex.

I found the story rich in imagery, I felt like I was watching a movie instead of reading a book.  And it’s not because it was so well described, it was just the opposite, the author gave just enough information to frame a scene and I was able to colour it all in.

The orbital station was a marvel and how the story relied on it’s structure to uncover the mystery was part of the fun of it.

This story stood out in the collection.

Christopher McKitterick’s website - http://christopher-mckitterick.com/

Christopher McKitterick

The Ultimate Space Race by Jaleta Clegg - A Short Story Review

I’m a fan of The Amazing Race and The Amazing Race Canada so this story spoke to me.

What this story did was take television, corporate sponsorships, consumerism and social networking forward into an unsettling place.

The Ultimate Race pitted seven teams, in small space ships, on a race from an orbiting casino, New Vegas, to Mars’ moon Phobos and back.  But it was told from the point of view of a fan watching the show from home.

Honestly, the forward projection of media is not that outlandish, it feels very, very plausible.

I Loved this story.

Jaleta Clegg’s website - https://jaletac.com/

Jaleta Clegg

In Panic Town, On The Backward Moon by Michael F Flynn

Talk about the look and feel of a space western.

The story starts in a saloon, where a stranger walks in, and leaves something valuable with the owner of the establishment. 

This is the kind of SF I love; high tech, set in the future but still populated by recognizable people.

The object stored in the saloon's safe was stolen and the person who stole it has made enemies all over Mars.  Now he is dead and the object is gone.

In my mind's eye I could see all the dust, grit and roughness of life on Mars.

Flynn was able to create a giant backdrop in few pages.  Once I was done reading the setting lived on in my head.  The world he created was so rich, I felt as though I had read a novel.

Terrific stuff.

Sunrise on Mercury by Robert Silverberg

The story is of a follow up mission to land in the Twilight Belt of Mercury. The band of area that is neither on the night side, being too cold, nor being exposed to direct sunlight, which would bake the crew and ship into ash. 

The mission is threatened by a suicidal member of the crew. 

When we discover why the crewman threatened himself and the mission, well, that’s what makes the story interesting. 

Nicely done. Although the dialogue felt a bit stiff, it still held my interest. 

I found the story fun and interesting. I couldn’t help thinking that it would make a terrific Netflix Original series. 

Robert Silverberg's website: http://www.robert-silverberg.com/index.html 

A Walkabout Amongst The Stars by Lezli Robyn

Yes.  I really liked this one.

One of my favorite space fantasies is to seek out one of  the Voyager probes, polish the Golden Record, refuel the tanks and restock the RTGs and send it on it's way.

It's like archeology.

In this story, somebody beat humans to it!  All of Voyager 1's systems mysteriously power up after going dark two years before.

Tyrille Smith goes out with her AI robot, IRIS, to investigate.  I loved that robot, by the way.  What a wonderful companion.

It's a mystery that turns into a sudden first contact event.

My goodness this was terrific fun.

I must seek out Leslie Robyn's work. - https://lezlirobyn.com/

The Race For Arcadia by Alex Shvartsman

What an excellent and unexpected story.

There is a new race to a distant planet.  The Russians want to be first to land a person on it, for the prestige and glory of being first.

But it's a risky mission.  Knowing that the Chinese and the Americans are committed to their own landings, they embark on a daring one-way trip.  By making the ship smaller and lighter Russia can beat the other countries to Arcadia.

This was particularly relevant given the recent discussion of mounting a one-way trip to land people on Mars.  Thankfully that idea has been canceled.

Still...

The Russian mission takes the idea of making the ship lighter one step further and that gives the story a sinister, dark twist.



This was imaginatively thought out.

Loved it.

Alex Shvartsman's website - https://alexshvartsman.com/

Excalibur by Jack McDevitt

This one was so believable I actually looked up the fictional NASA mission the story was about.

What if Voyager 2 saw something unexpected when it passed Neptune?

A reporter stumbles across a mission called Arkon 1, but when he starts asking questions about it he is met with some resistance. 

I was rather disappointed the story only ran for 11 pages.  I wish it could have gone longer. 

Well done indeed. 

Jack McDevitt's website - https://www.jackmcdevitt.com/

Tombaugh Station by Robin Wayne Bailey

Scientists and engineers going slowly crazy on the surface of Pluto.

What started off quietly and tense devolved into an action piece that did not seem to fit the first third of the story.

Although beautifully realized with the emotional repercussions of volunteering to work on a one-way mission to advance science and humanity. The battle sequence could have been edited out and the story would still have worked.

The story is centered on the death of a fellow old-timer scientist of Tombaugh Station, one of the first to land on Pluto.  There is something strange about the death, too many things went wrong all at once.

Nothing grabs me more than a mystery in space.

Too bad the author tried to make it two kinds of stories at once.

It did not work for me.


Robin Wayne Bailey's Wiki pages is - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Wayne_Bailey