A press release from Mark Harding of Mutation Press:
Rocket Science—an anthology of 17 original science fiction stories, and five non-fiction essays on space exploration—will be launched at Olympus, the UK Eastercon in April.
In the spirit of Mutation’s mission to add to bibliodiversity, the stories were selected by an open call for submissions. The authors, selected from a range of nationalities, are a mixture of published fiction writers, professional astrophysicists and aerospace engineers.
Too much science fiction seems to rely on magical technology or trivializes the astonishing size and wonder of the real universe. Though it is difficult, dangerous and expensive to get into space, the rewards for doing so more than outweigh any risk or cost. It may even prove to be the human race’s only hope of survival. Given all that, science fiction’s predilection for action-adventure stories set in galactic empires does feel like a squandering of the genre’s potential. The stories and essays in Rocket Science are about the real world, either now or in the future. They are about real science—not just rocket science, but also quantum physics, genetics, computer science… They are not just stories of exploration, but family dramas, love triangles, alternate histories, hubris…
The editor, Ian Sales’ writing has appeared in Jupiter, Postscripts, Alt Hist, and the anthologies Catastrophia (PS Publishing), Vivisepulture (Anarchy Books) and The Monster Book for Girls (theExaggeratedpress). Rocket Science is his first anthology. Ian reviews books for Interzone, and is represented by the John Jarrold Literary Agency. His website is at iansales.com.
Rocket Science: Contents
“Tell Me A Story” by Leigh Kimmel
“Fisher’s Gambit” by Stephen Gaskell
“Final Orbit” by Nigel Brown
“Launch Day” by David L Clements
“Incarnate” by Craig Pay
“Dancing on the Red Planet” by Berit Ellingsen
“Making Mars a Nicer Place, in Fiction… and Fact” by Eric Choi
“Pathfinders” by Martin McGrath
“A Biosphere Ends” by Stephen Palmer
“Slipping Sideways” by Carmelo Rafala
“Conquistadors” by Iain Cairns
“Going, Boldly” by Helen Jackson
“The Complexity of the Humble Spacesuit” by Karen Burnham
“Why Barnaby Isn’t Aboard the ISS Today” by Gary Cuba
“Not Because They Are Easy” by Sam S Kepfield
“The Taking of IOSA 2083” by CJ Paget
“A Ray of Sunshine” by Bill Patterson
“The Brave Little Cockroach Goes to Mars” by Simon McCaffery
“Sea of Maternity” by Deborah Walker
“The New Tenant” by Dr Philip Edward Kaldon
“Waverider Entry Spacecraft: A History” by Duncan Lunan
“Dreaming at Baikonur” by Sean Martin
Recommended Further Reading
Related articles previously published on SFScope:
Rocket Science aims to realistically depict space travel and its hazards (30 July 2011)