Bear Essentials by Julie Frost

Julie Frost’s entertaining story Bear Essentials can be found in the Far Orbit anthology.  Bear Essentials is a spaceship voyage story – one of the most familiar Grand Tradition science fiction tropes.  Spaceship voyage stories were a logical progression from the popular sailing ship adventures of last century that featured daring captains who visited strange locations populated by even stranger inhabitants.  Bear Essentials falls within a subset of these spaceship stories; one that revolves around a small vessel crewed mostly by family members. Well ­known SF stories featuring family ­owned or operated ships include The Rolling Stones (The Family Stone in Great Britain) published in 1952 and the TV series Lost in Space (1965 -­1968).

Author Julie Frost continues in this tradition by introducing us to Captain Russell Fisk and his daughter Mandy who pilot the tramp freighter the Inquisitive Tamandua from one potential catastrophe to another. The character of Captain Fisk resonates with the empathetic reader because he isn’t the aloof steely­eyed adventurer. Instead, he is a harried fallible father who worries about everything—his ship, livelihood, crew, passengers, cargo, and his daughter's changing relationship with the mechanic.

In Kevin Bayer’s review of the Far Orbit anthology (Amazon, Goodreads, and Sporadic Reviews) he tells us,   “… And I think my favorite was Bear Essentials, by Julie Frost, about a small trading vessel run by a grumpy man and his adult daughter, along with their small crew. This tale has them transporting a live bear from one world to another, along with an unusual passenger, and discovering something amazing along the way. I definitely want to read more stories about this crew (especially if that bear comes back).”

Cyd Athens’ review at Tangent Online Reviews called Bear Essentials “a fun romp.”

Julie Frost lives in the beautiful Salt Lake Valley in a house full of Oaxacan carvings and anteaters, some of which intersect. Her work has appeared in Cosmos, Azure Valley, Stupefying Stories, and Plasma Frequency. She whines about writing at www.agilebrit.livejournal.com, or you can follow her on Twitter via @JulieCFrost. A prior adventure in this timeline, “Illegal Beagles,” is available for free download at the author’s website www.agilebrit.livejournal.com.

Other Far Orbit stories featured on this blog:

Musings on NASA’s Asteroid Retrieval Project  and Sam Kepfield’s “Open for Business”
Bear Essentials by Julie Frost
Composition in Death Minor by K.G. Jewell
Far Orbit Interview on SciFi4Me.com
Great News from Sporadic Reviews!
Guest Blog on Fantasy Café (they wanted to hear about Grand Tradition SciFi
Good Choice Reading Interviews Far Orbit Authors Tracy Canfield, Jacob Drud, and Kat Otis
My intro for the Far Orbit Anthology
Launch Day!!!
Inspiration… perspiration… exhilaration…