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Rescue Stories (A science fiction novelette)
Rescue Stories (A science fiction novelette)
Rescue Stories (A science fiction novelette)
Ebook45 pages32 minutes

Rescue Stories (A science fiction novelette)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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About this ebook

“It’s very straightforward,” stated the culture-officer, with an edge of self-satisfaction. “If we can’t survive long enough for the natives to reach the required level of civilisation naturally, why then we’ll simply accelerate their development so they get there much sooner, when we are still alive and wholly capable!”

When their ship crashes, the post-human crew of the Hermes launch a desperate bid to accelerate the technological development of the primitive natives, so that when the crew awake from hibernation they might find a civilisation eager and able to repair the ship. Memetically primed to search out an assist God's Hidden Angels, how will the natives react when they finally encounter the post-human crew?

Rescue Stories was a runner-up in the BSFA 50th Anniversary Short Story Competition.

Andy West is a rising star of the SF world and this is first title for Greyhart Press. His short fiction has recently appeared in anthologies alongside such authors as Neil Gaiman, Stephen Baxter, Charles Stross, and Sarah Pinborough. He has co-written a novel with Ian Watson.

This Greyhart Press e-book is a novelette, a perfect length to enjoy in one sitting over a lazy lunchtime.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateMay 16, 2011
ISBN9781458112378
Rescue Stories (A science fiction novelette)
Author

Andy West

I don't even remember learning to read, it seemed like I always could. From the beginning I was always very interested in books; but factual books as much as fiction. Physics, the big picture of the Universe, this was an early love, and Carl Sagan an inspiring hero, which all led to a degree in that subject. But Evolution has been my most passionate intellectual hobby during later decades (I was born in 1958 by the way). Most of my stories tend to have an underpinning of evolutionary mechanisms, from the 'big engines of history' to the tricksy workings of individual memes. How evolution applies to, and operates within, sentient societies, is the juicy core of the fruit for me. Though I've lightened up on a couple lately, it has been said by some that many of my stories are not for the faint hearted, though they leave a lasting impression : ) I'm a member of the most excellent Northampton Science Fiction Writer's group; see our webpage here (with big thanks to Mark West): http://northamptonsfwritersgroup.blogspot.com/ Some publication details: My novella 'Meme' was serialised across four issues of the webzine 'Bewildering Stories', also featuring in the editor's choice edition issued April 07. SF shorts are: 'Impasse' in the (print) themed anthology 'Dislocations' from Newcon Press (August 07), 'Rescue Stories' in a special edition of Focus, a magazine of the British Science Fiction Association (March 09), 'Mano Mart' in 'Shoes, Ships and Cadavers' from Newcon Press (October 10), 'Empirical Purple' in the 'Matters Most Extraordinary' (on-line) anthology (March 11), 'The Curator', which won the University of Central Lancashire's SF competition prize and will be published as an interactive ebook later in 2011, and a story inside 'Fables from the Fountain', a linked-theme anthology published in April 2011 by NewCon Press and featuring a stellar cast of award-winning authors, of which Neil Gaiman, Stephen Baxter, Charles Stross, and Liz Williams are merely a sample. Andy West – April 2011

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Rating: 3.6666666833333337 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Loved this story, future humans not quite as super as they would like to think, best laid plans and all that. Found the characters very engaging and enjoyed finding out about their ways as the story unfolded. One of this author's best stories so far.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Prefaced with some quotes on religion from Thomas Mann and George Santayana, thisstory is the tale of a space vessel containing far future humans that crashes on a world with primitive sentients, The 'humans' have lost gender identity but have rather silly names based on stars. They come up with a survival solution that is, to say the least, audacious. Rather overlong, but has a nice twist.

Book preview

Rescue Stories (A science fiction novelette) - Andy West

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