The Star and the Rockets

by Harry Turtledove

True in 1954, Joe Baumann hit 72 home runs for the Roswell Rockets, the most exciting thing to happen to Roswell since the alien landing. Not to imply a causal relationship. Well, maybe a little one...in Harry Turtledove's The Star and the Rockets. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Sports, Baseball, Aliens, Ebooks

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 22, 2011

About the author

Dr Harry Norman Turtledove is an American novelist, who has produced a sizeable number of works in several genres including alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy and science fiction.

Harry Turtledove attended UCLA, where he received a Ph.D. in Byzantine history in 1977.

Turtledove has been dubbed "The Master of Alternate History". Within this genre he is known both for creating original scenarios: such as survival of the Byzantine Empire; an alien invasion in the middle of the World War II; and for giving a fresh and original treatment to themes previously dealt with by other authors, such as the victory of the South in the American Civil War; and of Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

His novels have been credited with bringing alternate history into the mainstream. His style of alternate history has a strong military theme.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

He doesn’t remember much of what happened that cold January night. Most of what he does remember is missing part of Milton Berle and getting the nice tip. Sometimes he thinks there’s more to it, but less and less as the days go by.

He doesn’t talk about it. What’s to say? Nothing that makes sense. Nothing anybody will believe. He can’t even joke about it, the way Berle made a joke out of Lamont Cranston. People in Roswell don’t laugh at jokes about flying saucers.

another alt-history story from harry turtledove, this one featuring a part-time gas station attendant/part-time minor league ballplayer named joe bauman whose unremarkable baseball career is about to get a boost into legacy-territory by a carful of...out-of-towners.

after reading this, i couldn't help wanting a flipside version of the story—the serialized adventures of a bunch of eco-friendly, generous-tipping, fedora-rocking...out-of-towners driving through the night doling out arbitrary favors like little four-fingered angels.



read it for yourself here:

https://www.tor.com/2009/11/17/the-st...

come to my blog!

[TL *Humaning the Best She Can* · Rating 4 out of 5]

A chilly January night in Roswell. Joe Bauman has discovered that’s normal for eastern New Mexico. It gets hot here in the summer, but winters can be a son of a bitch. That Roswell’s high up—3,600 feet—only makes the cold colder. Makes the sky clearer, too. A million stars shine down on Joe.

One of those stars is his: the big red one marking the Texaco station at 1200 West Second Street. He nods to himself in slow satisfaction. He’s had a good run, a hell of a good run, here in Roswell. The way it looks right now, he’ll settle down here and run the gas station full time when his playing days are done.


Maybe the driver’s thinking it over. Joe eyes him, trying to pretend he’s not doing it. The fellow’s funny-looking, which is putting it mildly. Joe wonders if he is a guy. He’s sure not very big—he’s got the seat shoved all the way forward. His face is smooth as a girl’s, maybe even smoother. But he’s got on a white shirt, a jacket with lapels, sunglasses even though it’s nighttime, and a fedora with no hair—no hair at all—sticking out from under it. Joe sees there are two more in the car with him, one in front and one in back. They both look and dress like the fellow behind the wheel, poor bastards..


This one I liked more :) A fun short story with a bit of sci-fi thrown in. I got the feeling Joe's visitors may have helped him a bit in his game but I could be wrong.

I liked how the sci-fi portion didn't play a big part in the story but was just in the background, watching (so to speak).

The story is broken up into five pages, it'd a fairly quick read that kept my attention the whole time :). I didn't want it to end haha but it ended on a good note.

Would recommend, happy reading!

Read the story here

[Jokoloyo · Rating 3 out of 5]

By noticing the author, we can expect the alternate history sub genre, blend it with secret history.
It might help to enjoy the story if aware with Joe Bauman long-held homer record.

[Badseedgirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently aliens like baseball also.

[RBSProds · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Star, a Star, Stars, Rockets and Roswell. Well-done historical fiction, Harry Turtledove! Four FASCINATING Stars. A Tor.com short story. And a fantastic illustration by Chris Buzell. 21 pages.

[H. R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice. No spoilers here. A superior, fun, short story from turtledove.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75