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High Noon on Proxima B
It’s always high noon on Proxima Centauri b. Original stories about the final frontier.
YOU TELL ’EM THE SPACE COWPOKES A’COMIN’ AND HELL IS COMIN’ WITH ’EM!
Adventure! Danger! Revenge! And a mail-order robot gunslinger in a wedding dress? Only in the wildest parts of space could this happen. It’s time again to get in your ramshackle rocket ship and journey to the universe’s western territories with this follow-up to Gunfight on Europa Station .
Meet the employees of a space bordello as they’re drawn together to pull a con on a con. Or the crew filming a Western on a colony ship only to fight gravity and each other. Or a soldier on a backwater planet hiding from her past when it—and the military—finally tracks her down. Each voyage invokes the type of Western yarns you’ve loved before, but with a science fiction upgrade you’ll get to enjoy anew.
Taking you on this ride are another set of astounding space opera authors such as Walter Jon Williams ( Hardwired ), Susan R. Matthews ( Under Jurisdiction ), Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore ( Star Trek ), Brenda Cooper ( Project Earth ), Milton Davis ( Changa’s Safari ), Hank Swchaeble ( Moonless Nocturne ), Peter J. Wacks ( Caller of Lightning ) and more!
Ten tales of the West . . . not as it was , but as it might be !
Praise for Gunfight on Europa
“An enjoyable selection of hard SF stories that consistently entertain, with several that are really rather good.” — Tangent Online
“Gunfight on Europa Station is another creative anthology from Baen Books, which has delivered many times before . . . It’ll give you a home where the aliens roam—and its immense fun for it.” — Warped Factor
Praise for Straight Outta Dodge
“A dark, diverting anthology of 14 original tales, the third in a series. . . . By tossing weird fiction concepts into western settings, these tales give rise to unusual what-ifs. . . . [T]he ever-enjoyable Joe R. Lansdale is on hand with ‘The Hoodoo Man and the Midnight Train,’ an energetic tale of a mystical gunfighter, and Harry Turtledove presents the delightful ‘Junior & Me,’ set in an alternate world in which evolution favored reptiles rather than mammals, and the ornery galoot narrating the yarn is actually a highly evolved dinosaur. The result is an amusing . . . bunch of stories.” —Publishers Weekly
Praise for Straight Outta
“The authors were having fun. Even when they are not playing the stories for laughs, they are taking an opportunity to . . . tell a story with a fresh twist, and expand out of their expected boundaries.” — The Galveston County Daily News
YOU TELL ’EM THE SPACE COWPOKES A’COMIN’ AND HELL IS COMIN’ WITH ’EM!
Adventure! Danger! Revenge! And a mail-order robot gunslinger in a wedding dress? Only in the wildest parts of space could this happen. It’s time again to get in your ramshackle rocket ship and journey to the universe’s western territories with this follow-up to Gunfight on Europa Station .
Meet the employees of a space bordello as they’re drawn together to pull a con on a con. Or the crew filming a Western on a colony ship only to fight gravity and each other. Or a soldier on a backwater planet hiding from her past when it—and the military—finally tracks her down. Each voyage invokes the type of Western yarns you’ve loved before, but with a science fiction upgrade you’ll get to enjoy anew.
Taking you on this ride are another set of astounding space opera authors such as Walter Jon Williams ( Hardwired ), Susan R. Matthews ( Under Jurisdiction ), Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore ( Star Trek ), Brenda Cooper ( Project Earth ), Milton Davis ( Changa’s Safari ), Hank Swchaeble ( Moonless Nocturne ), Peter J. Wacks ( Caller of Lightning ) and more!
Ten tales of the West . . . not as it was , but as it might be !
Praise for Gunfight on Europa
“An enjoyable selection of hard SF stories that consistently entertain, with several that are really rather good.” — Tangent Online
“Gunfight on Europa Station is another creative anthology from Baen Books, which has delivered many times before . . . It’ll give you a home where the aliens roam—and its immense fun for it.” — Warped Factor
Praise for Straight Outta Dodge
“A dark, diverting anthology of 14 original tales, the third in a series. . . . By tossing weird fiction concepts into western settings, these tales give rise to unusual what-ifs. . . . [T]he ever-enjoyable Joe R. Lansdale is on hand with ‘The Hoodoo Man and the Midnight Train,’ an energetic tale of a mystical gunfighter, and Harry Turtledove presents the delightful ‘Junior & Me,’ set in an alternate world in which evolution favored reptiles rather than mammals, and the ornery galoot narrating the yarn is actually a highly evolved dinosaur. The result is an amusing . . . bunch of stories.” —Publishers Weekly
Praise for Straight Outta
“The authors were having fun. Even when they are not playing the stories for laughs, they are taking an opportunity to . . . tell a story with a fresh twist, and expand out of their expected boundaries.” — The Galveston County Daily News
368 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Published March 26, 2024
8 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
David Boop
66 books32 followersDenver-based author David Boop is a single dad and returning college student. Dave was a journalist before turning to fiction.
Hes published a dozen short stories and written two short films. His stories have appeared in magazines like Tales of the Talisman and SF Trails and in the anthologies Wondrous Web Worlds and Space Pirates. A fixture on the convention circuit, hes spoken at such literary gatherings as Mile High Con, Coppercon and Norwescon.
His novel, She Murdered Me with Science, debuted in August.
General interests include noir, Mayan history, and The Blues. He enjoys watching anime and playing GO.
Series:
* Noel Glass Mystery
Series contributed to:
* Full-Throttle Space Tales
Hes published a dozen short stories and written two short films. His stories have appeared in magazines like Tales of the Talisman and SF Trails and in the anthologies Wondrous Web Worlds and Space Pirates. A fixture on the convention circuit, hes spoken at such literary gatherings as Mile High Con, Coppercon and Norwescon.
His novel, She Murdered Me with Science, debuted in August.
General interests include noir, Mayan history, and The Blues. He enjoys watching anime and playing GO.
Series:
* Noel Glass Mystery
Series contributed to:
* Full-Throttle Space Tales
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Want to read
February 6, 2023Seen at WJW's. He has a story in it!
TOC @Baen: https://www.baen.com/Chapters/9781982...
TOC @Baen: https://www.baen.com/Chapters/9781982...
April 28, 2023
Fun Western Sci-fi
High Noon on Proxima B is the best anthology I've read in quite some time.
As always with anthologies, there's a story or two that doesn't resonate with every reader. So as was the case with me. One story in particular, for me, felt it was a little over complicated, as I got the western elements but the sci-fi part I didn't understand at all.
However, every story was good enough that I didn't skip any. Plus now I want to read the other book(s) in this series.
High Noon on Proxima B is the best anthology I've read in quite some time.
As always with anthologies, there's a story or two that doesn't resonate with every reader. So as was the case with me. One story in particular, for me, felt it was a little over complicated, as I got the western elements but the sci-fi part I didn't understand at all.
However, every story was good enough that I didn't skip any. Plus now I want to read the other book(s) in this series.
April 18, 2023
Very much was thinking of the new West World (ha! even one of the stories is called West. World.). For fans of genre mash ups!
July 5, 2023
This follows on to Boop’s collection Gunfight on Europa Station. This has another ten stories which transplant common Western themes and tropes into outerspace of the near- to far-future. This collection was tighter and more refined than the stories in Gunfight. It’s still an odd niche, but this was fun to read!
My favorites, in the order they appear:
* Justice and Prosperity is Milton J. Davis’ take on left-for-dead revenge. When space pirates murder an innocent family of asteroid miners, justice will be served by a geek loner and the murdered family’s repurposed domestic robot. A cut above, this was enjoyable and well-written.
* Five Mules for Madame Calypso sees Thea Hutcheson craft a story of a bordello ship with a grifter problem. Crafted better than the premise might suggest, this is a clever tale which also has an element of satisfying, non-lethal revenge. (Also, a great title.)
* Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore’s Past Sins starts with a sheriff breaking up a routine barfight, and then spirals into mystery, deception, violence, and just maybe a shot at redemption for a former hero. Solid story and good writing combine for a great read.
* Walter John Williams’ West. World. is a hysterically funny take on making a Western film, in space, in the distant future, told from the perspective of an oppressed 2nd 2nd assistant director. Very creative, and entirely entertaining.
For this one, it would be very hard to find a story which I didn’t like – there were a couple I preferred less than others, naturally enough. Boop’s curation and editing here is solid. The collection once again has a wide range of stories and writing styles which should offer up something for almost anyone with any interest in either the SF or Western genres to enjoy.
My favorites, in the order they appear:
* Justice and Prosperity is Milton J. Davis’ take on left-for-dead revenge. When space pirates murder an innocent family of asteroid miners, justice will be served by a geek loner and the murdered family’s repurposed domestic robot. A cut above, this was enjoyable and well-written.
* Five Mules for Madame Calypso sees Thea Hutcheson craft a story of a bordello ship with a grifter problem. Crafted better than the premise might suggest, this is a clever tale which also has an element of satisfying, non-lethal revenge. (Also, a great title.)
* Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore’s Past Sins starts with a sheriff breaking up a routine barfight, and then spirals into mystery, deception, violence, and just maybe a shot at redemption for a former hero. Solid story and good writing combine for a great read.
* Walter John Williams’ West. World. is a hysterically funny take on making a Western film, in space, in the distant future, told from the perspective of an oppressed 2nd 2nd assistant director. Very creative, and entirely entertaining.
For this one, it would be very hard to find a story which I didn’t like – there were a couple I preferred less than others, naturally enough. Boop’s curation and editing here is solid. The collection once again has a wide range of stories and writing styles which should offer up something for almost anyone with any interest in either the SF or Western genres to enjoy.
March 26, 2023
The best stories were "High Noon on Proxima B" and “West. World.”
The other were a mixed bag.
The other were a mixed bag.
June 4, 2025
This wild-west-in-space anthology contains the following stories:
"Justice and Prosperity" — A solid revenge tale. Could have taken place in the Murderbot universe.
"Five Mules for Madame Calypso" — A tale of rough justice. Felt like a Battlestar Galactica episode.
"Past Sins" — A tale of the demons from the past not staying there. This one gave me Mandalorian vibes.
"The Last Round" — A weaker entry into the collection. It tried to do too much, and cover too much time, too quickly. It's message was also a bit muddled. To top it off, it had a very obvious Chekov's gun .
"High Noon on Proxima Centauri B" — Another highlight. This one, featuring a marshal trying to stop an assassin before they kill their marks, also gave me Mandalorian vibes.
"Black Box" — The weakest story yet. None of the human characters — the captain, the commander, the rebel citizen — were likeable. It seems we were supposed to be sympathetic to the AI black box, but I just don't have that in me considering the current technological climate.
"The Planet and the Pig" — While this felt more like an old adventure serial than a 'space western', it was an exceptionally well done story, and one of my favorites of the collection.
"Harley Takes a Wife" — This story had a levity in it not found in any others, while still being firmly in the space western genre, and it was a delightful change of pace.
"Warlock Rules" — This story was such a good introduction to this world, and to its broader conflict, that I want to continue reading more of it — while it is self contained, it's also a great jump off point for a longer work. It felt like something that could have happened to Firefly's Malcolm Reynolds except with aliens from John Scalzi's Old Man's War universe.
"West. World." — This was a delightfully cute tale. However, while it fits the literal definition of space western — they're filming a period Western film in outer space — it doesn't fit with the tone and spirit of the rest of the stories, so it's a weird choice have it end the collection.
Overall, I enjoyed this a great deal.
"Justice and Prosperity" — A solid revenge tale. Could have taken place in the Murderbot universe.
"Five Mules for Madame Calypso" — A tale of rough justice. Felt like a Battlestar Galactica episode.
"Past Sins" — A tale of the demons from the past not staying there. This one gave me Mandalorian vibes.
"The Last Round" — A weaker entry into the collection. It tried to do too much, and cover too much time, too quickly. It's message was also a bit muddled. To top it off, it had a very obvious Chekov's gun .
"High Noon on Proxima Centauri B" — Another highlight. This one, featuring a marshal trying to stop an assassin before they kill their marks, also gave me Mandalorian vibes.
"Black Box" — The weakest story yet. None of the human characters — the captain, the commander, the rebel citizen — were likeable. It seems we were supposed to be sympathetic to the AI black box, but I just don't have that in me considering the current technological climate.
"The Planet and the Pig" — While this felt more like an old adventure serial than a 'space western', it was an exceptionally well done story, and one of my favorites of the collection.
"Harley Takes a Wife" — This story had a levity in it not found in any others, while still being firmly in the space western genre, and it was a delightful change of pace.
"Warlock Rules" — This story was such a good introduction to this world, and to its broader conflict, that I want to continue reading more of it — while it is self contained, it's also a great jump off point for a longer work. It felt like something that could have happened to Firefly's Malcolm Reynolds except with aliens from John Scalzi's Old Man's War universe.
"West. World." — This was a delightfully cute tale. However, while it fits the literal definition of space western — they're filming a period Western film in outer space — it doesn't fit with the tone and spirit of the rest of the stories, so it's a weird choice have it end the collection.
Overall, I enjoyed this a great deal.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews