Rescue Stories (A science fiction novelette)
By Andy West
3.5/5
()
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.
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
Read more from Andy West
Lionel Messi and the Art of Living Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEngines of Life: Tales of Evolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Rescue Stories (A science fiction novelette)
Related ebooks
Hunter Patrol Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Gods of Pegana Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInterzone #245 Mar: Apr 2013 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTristan of Dintagell and The Tristan Stone appendix Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhantom in the Factory Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Naming of Kinzel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No End to Snowdrops A Biography Of Kathleen Raine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chosen Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Latency: Hunter Bureau, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Vellum Scribe: An Argolicus Mystery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOdd Magics Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnder the Light: Sandes Chronicles Book 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Deck the Cogs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSecrets of the Moon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWessex Tales: "The Infant and the Hare" (Story 1) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsZenithism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVoices from the Ashes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeep Future Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Second Jungle Book Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Something Witchy This Way Comes: Something Series, #0 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSparkle Pirate: Max and the Multiverse, #6 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMontezuma's Revenge Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Yesterday Never Dies: A Romance of Metempsychosis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heart of Darkness Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5King Candaules Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Man Who Was Thursday Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Final Evolution: The Evaran Chronicles, #15 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInhuman: Hunter Bureau, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Science Fiction For You
Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Annihilation: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silo Series Collection: Wool, Shift, Dust, and Silo Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shift: Book Two of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Camp Zero: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Stories of Ray Bradbury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wool: Book One of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose the Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Flowers for Algernon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Am Legend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frankenstein: Original 1818 Uncensored Version Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cryptonomicon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sarah J. Maas: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Who Have Never Known Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England: Secret Projects, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Troop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dust: Book Three of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Perelandra: (Space Trilogy, Book Two) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blindsight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Time and Again Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How High We Go in the Dark: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Light From Uncommon Stars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Psalm for the Wild-Built Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Rescue Stories (A science fiction novelette)
6 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loved 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 stars2/5Prefaced 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.