Sex and Violence in Zero-G: The Complete “Near Space” Stories, Expanded Edition
Hugo-Award winner Allen Steele‘s stories of the seamier side of space development have been wowing readers and drawing in fans for nearly a quarter of a century, presenting a “lived-in” type of space unknown in movies and television productions. Now, for the first time, Fantastic Books is collecting all of the Near Space stories—everything from 1988’s “Zwarte Piet’s Tale” and “Live from the Mars Hotel” to 2010’s “The Emperor of Mars”—in one complete volume. This 520-page volume with a cover by Ron Miller ($19.99, ISBN: 978-1-61720-358-9) will be a must for every fan and collector’s shelf.
Along with a new-for-this-book introduction, talking about the genesis and growth of his near-future universe, this book carries Steele’s 1999 introduction (for an earlier, partial collection). And in addition to the 20 stories, also included are Steele’s own drawings, upon which several of the stories are based.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Robert A. Heinlein grabbed readers with his coherent view of mankind’s future in space, his “Future History.” He was the first writer to lay out such a vision coherently and graphically. Steele’s “Near Space” (an homage to Larry Niven’s “Known Space”) is even more appealing, immersing the reader in not only the thrill of spaceflight, but the nuts and bolts (and bootlegged stills, sex, and violence) of our real growth into a space-faring civilization.
Originally published as a stand-alone volume in England, Steele’s short novel The Weight was optioned for film production, and appears in this book for its first US publication. Also here are:
* “The Death of Captain Future,” which won the Hugo Award in 1996 and the Seiun Award in 1998.
* “Zwarte Piet’s Tale,” which won Analog‘s AnLab [readers’ choice] Award in 1999.
* “The Emperor of Mars,” which earned Steele his third Hugo Award in 2011.
And “Live from the Mars Hotel” may be the most “out of this world” story in this collection. It was chosen for inclusion on a DVD called “Visions of Mars,” which was designed both to provide a library for future Martian colonists and as a tribute to the generations of writers, artists, and filmmakers who foresaw the exploration of the red planet. That DVD is currently aboard NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander, exploring the arctic plains of Mars.
As Steele says, the past is prelude. The Space Age is about to begin.
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Table of Contents:
Introduction (1999): “The Coming of the Space Age”
Introduction (2010): “Return to Near-Space”
“Walking on the Moon”
The Diamondback Jack Quartet:
     “Free Beer and the William Casey Society”
     “The Return of Weird Frank”
     “Sugar’s Blues”
     “The Flying Triangle”
“The Zoo Team”
“Live from the Mars Hotel”
“The War Memorial”
“Moreau²“
“The Great Galactic Ghoul”
“The Emperor of Mars”
“Zwarte Piet’s Tale”
“The Weight”
“Kronos”
The Captain Future Duet:
     “The Death of Captain Future”
     “The Exile of Evening Star”
“0.0G Sex: A User’s Guide”
“Working for Mister Chicago”
“High Roller”
“Shepherd Moon”
Appendix 1: “Near Space” Timeline
Appendix 2: Spacecraft and Space Station Designs