Angel of Europa

by Allen M. Steele

In Jupiter’s orbit, a mysterious death propels an astronaut into the investigation of a lifetimePartway into a years-long journey, an interstellar research expedition takes up orbit around Jupiter and begins to explore the gas giant’s Ganymede, Callisto, Io and—most importantly—the ice ball known as Europa. For centuries, scientists have wondered what strange alien life forms may lurk beneath the frozen surface of Jupiter’s most mysterious moon. And tragically, the men and women aboard this ship are about to find out.Two scientists go down to the surface of Europa in a small craft piloted by the beautiful, fiery Evangeline Chatelain. After an accident on the surface, only she returns. Her crewmembers suspect her of murder, but Evangeline tells a wild tale of an attack by a terrifying space monster. The astronaut charged with investigating the incident must decide—is she a crazed killer? Or has she just made the greatest scientific discovery in history?  

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Mystery, Novella

82 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 31, 2011

About the author

Before becoming a science fiction writer, Allen Steele was a journalist for newspapers and magazines in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Missouri, and his home state of Tennessee. But science fiction was his first love, so he eventually ditched journalism and began producing that which had made him decide to become a writer in the first place.

Since then, Steele has published eighteen novels and nearly one hundred short stories. His work has received numerous accolades, including three Hugo Awards, and has been translated worldwide, mainly into languages he can’t read. He serves on the board of advisors for the Space Frontier Foundation and is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He also belongs to Sigma, a group of science fiction writers who frequently serve as unpaid consultants on matters regarding technology and security.

Allen Steele is a lifelong space buff, and this interest has not only influenced his writing, it has taken him to some interesting places. He has witnessed numerous space shuttle launches from Kennedy Space Center and has flown NASA’s shuttle cockpit simulator at the Johnson Space Center. In 2001, he testified before the US House of Representatives in hearings regarding the future of space exploration. He would like very much to go into orbit, and hopes that one day he’ll be able to afford to do so.

Steele lives in western Massachusetts with his wife, Linda, and a continual procession of adopted dogs. He collects vintage science fiction books and magazines, spacecraft model kits, and dreams.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Allen Steele, but this novella is a good-looking gourmet burger with NO patty. There’s nothing precisely wrong here as it’s well written, fast-paced and has serviceable story. I just can’t offer any arguments in support of its existence and can’t justify the time I spent reading it.

Like a politician’s soul/heart/conscience…it was mostly vacant and hollow with tumbleweeds floating past where the substance should be and left me feeling cold at the end.

Now Steele can write and enjoy his story-telling style. He reminds me of a slightly edgier version of Asimov and Clarke with updated, 21st century science. All of that is to the good and I loved Coyote and Coyote Rising and believe that series (through the first two books at least) has been one of the better colonization stories this side of Red Mars.

In other words, me and Allen go back a ways and are pretty tight.


Still, there is the missing patty, the lack of soul and the tumbleweeds that I need to address. First, however, here’s a quick overview of the plot:

PLOT SUMMARY:

This is a standalone novella that is takes the form of a murder mystery set around the exploration of Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons. A smart, saucy and almost preternaturally beautiful little tart named Evangeline Chatelain was piloting a bathyscaphe (i.e. an deep water submersible) when she abandoned the two men that were accompanying her and the expedition. Her story is that she was attacked by a large unknown life form and cut lose her colleagues only to save her own life.

No one believes her for two primary reasons. One, Angel had had affairs with both men and the largely female crew hold her in nothing but contempt. Two, the largest life form found in the seas of Europa are the size of baby shrimp and no evidence of anything larger exists.

Otto Danzig, the expeditions arbiter, must determine what happens while avoiding falling for Angel’s all too powerful charms.

THOUGHTS:

A little bit exploration/first contact mission...with added murder mystery...plus possible femme fatale and maybe even the loch ness monster of the frozen seas of Europa. All written by Allen Steele in novella format (my favorite length)...sold.

So I was quite chipper when I sat down with this story last night and I ended up reading it straight through in about an hour (it’s only 90 pages). I was engaged on page one and stayed interested throughout as the mystery investigation progressed and we learn the history of the expedition.

Good, solid plotting and the main character was likeable with those minor flaws that have you thinking "real life regular guy.". Plus the pacing was brisk and the mystery was decently handled.

All of this would normally guarantee that I would bestow at least 3 stars, give it the Fonzi and pronouce “I like it.”

The problem...

The problem is that the payoff was flaccid and unsatisfying. It just didn't warrant the rest of the story. I was seriously like, that’s it? Suddenly I felt like that hour that had just rushed by in seeming entertainment had been a wasted, misspent portion of my life. I was left with nothing to show for it.

Thus, it became the definition of okay…hence two stars is the best I can offer.

I’m not angry, this wasn't bad and I don’t find myself less enamored with Mr. Steele. We're still buds. I just don’t see what this story was meant to accomplish. It was just…there.

Plus, I dished out bucks for the signed, limited first edition from Subterranean and there was even some sweet interior artwork to please the eye. I may be a tad bitter about that.

Overall, 2.0 stars. It's okay to read when its available for cheap, but is not something I can recommend you spend your ducats on.

[John Loyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angel of Europa (2011) 90 pages by Allen Steele

Otto Danzig is woken from hibernation. The last thing he remembers is dying in the airlock when the outer hatch opened. Captain Diaz would have let him stay in hibernation, but he is the ship's arbiter and there has been an incident that requires his services. Evangeline and two scientists were in a bathysphere on Europa investigating the ocean beneath the ice. She claims the observation module of DSV-1 was attacked by a creature, damaged, and she had to cut it loose to save her life.

The science was advanced, a trip to Jupiter was routine, medical technology as shown by the hibernation chamber was able to rebuild Danzig from scratch, but was just window dressing for a fairly good mystery. Not extraordinary, just a hint of cleverness. I think Steele wanted us to feel more struggle [to resist temptation] in the Danzig character, making a comparison with Faust. I never got the feeling that he was in danger of putting his emotions in front of the investigation. Fun read, fast, easy to follow, it was very good, but nothing to push it over the top.

[Maureen Wynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Truly an awful book. I could understand a book written in the 1930s or 40s using the tired tropes of a slutty, sex-starved femme fatale, but for a book written in the 21st century this is just inexcusably sexist, ignorant, and lazy writing.

HERE BE SPOILERS

In addition to the femme fatale cliches ("Evangeline stood out among the women. Nor had she been exactly chaste." "Every unmarried man on the ship wanted her." "it was hard to miss the fact she clearly wasn't wearing a bra today." "just a hint of a lisp that only added to the sensual way in which she spoke" - oh, good grief!), there were some serious lapses in scientific logic in this story. A major plot point hinges on the fact that no one believes Evangeline's story about the creature that attacked the submersible, because it was so much bigger than the other alien life-forms that they had previously seen. They'd only been on Europa for a few weeks, and were only able to explore a very tiny part of the sea under the ice - no biologist worth his salt would EVER assume that just because all they'd seen were creatures the size of brine shrimp there would be nothing larger than that in the sea! Earth seas contain creatures ranging from the size of krill to the size of whales - and many whales survive and thrive eating nothing but krill, so the size of their food in no way limits the size of the whale!

When they finally see the larger creature that attacked the submersible, it's described as having "Two enormous eyes, with bloodless-pink irises and broad black pupils, contracted slightly in the glare" of the submersible's spotlights. First, why would a creature that evolved in a sea covered by MILES of ice ever develop eyes? There are plenty of animals on Earth that evolved in underground caves that are blind, because eyes give no advantage in a dark ecosystem. In an ecosystem that's COMPLETELY dark, eyes would never develop at all, because there's no light. Other sensory systems would probably develop, but they almost certainly would not look like eyes. And if eyes DID somehow develop (due to places where the ice is thin enough to let through some tiny amount of light), they would not "contract slightly" in the glare of a light designed to mimic Earthly sunlight. They would contract completely, and the creature would scream in pain as its eyes' light receptors were completely destroyed in the glare.

These are just a couple of the lapses in logic that destroyed whatever credibility this story had to begin with. The solution to at least one mystery that's posed in the story should have been solved almost instantly, if the captain had just questioned ONE crewman about why he went to the airlock where he found Danzig about to die because the outer airlock door had opened. Surely the Captain would have questioned anyone who was even in the general location of that airlock, let alone the one man who saved Danzig? Dylan knew Evangeline had been at that airlock - why would he NOT have mentioned that to the Captain? This is what is known as an "idiot" mystery, because it's only a mystery because everyone involved with it are idiots.

Maybe Steele's longer work is better than this short novella, but I'll never know, because this story gave me no reason to ever try any of his other work.

[Peter Baran · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know how pretty women use their sex to lure and kill men. You know that right. Well, in the future, they will do that again. And they would have got away with it too if it weren't for you meddling giant prawns and frozen dude.

[Paul Barta · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.2/5: just dumb.

I'll jump out in front and mention the pros of this book: it's short, the first line is solid, and the sake and Costco smoked salmon I had while reading it was fantastic.

Otherwise, this thing is just terrible.

This is science fiction as if everybody involved...the main character, the femme fatale, the captain, the organizers of the expedition, the reader...got kicked in the head by a horse and dropped their IQ by a good 50 points. The plot is ridiculous. The main character is an investigator who does not know how to investigate. Another character, Evangeline,* should be only considered mysterious and more-than-one-dimensional if you got concussed recently. The captain lets the main suspect of a double murder join the investigator on an expedition, alone. The "mystery" itself is zero mystery. Whoever gave the expedition heads an idea of putting someone as obviously unhinged as Evangeline on an important life-finding astronomical mission should, themselves, be shot into space. The whole structure of this book is predicated on not thinking about any of it.

And somehow worse, it doesn't expand or get creative (or even excited!) about anything in science fiction. I'll assume that Steele is a solid writer in his other works, where he may have more opportunity than 90 pages to make a universe and characters expand. But here? There's nothing added. The spaceship itself is a 2001: A Space Odyssey knockoff. The life on Europa is un-creative, simply a shove of Earth-like oceanic life onto a different rock in the Solar System. The life itself is not immediately jumped on as the greatest discovery in human history (it's treated as "bah just shrimp"), but somehow becomes the greatest discovery in human history when a fish-ish thing 15 feet long shows up.** The dialogue during a high-intensity operation is not scientific or interesting...it's barely dialogue. Everything you get in this novella you could get, far better, nearly anywhere else.

*if you don't realize "Evangeline" has "angel" in the name, it's okay. The author will explain that to you in obvious explicit detail, just like he explains every part of this book in obvious explicit detail. Exposition is the height of literature and subtlety is for cowards.
**This is, in this stupid, stupid world, a significant difference, plot point, and somehow, motive for murder.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steele, Allen M. Angel of Europa. Subterranean Press, 2011.
Allen M. Steele’s standalone novella, Angel of Europa, is a straightforward whodunit. On a mission to explore the ice-covered oceans of Europa, Otto wakes after almost being sucked out of the airlock. He has been awakened from a medical coma early because the ship’s captain needs him to investigate the recent deaths of two crew members in a deep-sea submersible. Steele is always good with near-future technology, and his tight plotting would make a good half-hour of television. 4 stars.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

classic science Fiction.

This is great Science fiction that’s easy to pick up and chew through in a few sittings. This is my second Allen Steele book and he’s becoming my go-to science fiction author.

[Keith B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read but well worth it. Great little Sci-Fi mystery.

[B.szoke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good little scifi murder mystery, and a fun read. It was a lot better than I expected.

[Robert Robbins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting enough story. Nice bit of a twist at the end. But there was nothing here that makes me want to rush out and get anything else by this guy.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good. Short Story (91 pages)

[Adam Meek · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short novella about a murder investigation during an expedition to Europa.

[Tim Litz · Rating 4 out of 5]

well done

I wish I could have added the 5th star. Well written from start to finish. Not a complete surprise ending but still well completed.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fast read. The plot was pretty interesting but the execution wasn’t there.

[Zeke Chase · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 5.7 / 10

For as much as I hate to say it, Allen Steele can do better than this. This honestly feels like a story that he wrote back in the late 80s when he was first getting started, and for nostalgia sake, decided to release now. The prose is nowhere near as tight as Steele normally commands, and the story is, well, quite simply lacking. The ending especially seemed rather rushed. For a book that's only 90 pages, he could have added in one more conflict to pace that a little better.

The story takes place during the first manned expedition to the Jovian moon Europa; the ice moon with a 150 kilometre deep global ocean beneath 10 kilometres of surface ice. Otto Danzig, the protagonist, is nearly blown out an air lock near Mars, and put into stasis while nanites repair the extensive damage that nearly killed him. He's awakened early to arbitrate – as the ship's arbiter – a murder mystery. Evangeline Chatelaine, the pilot of the submersible sent down to survey Europa's ocean, has jettisoned the submersible, killing the two scientists aboard when the craft was attacked by a giant sea monster – as she claims.

After ten or so years worth of writing the Coyote Series, which deals with politics and religion and a level of world building we haven't seen from Steele before, he gives us this. The biggest problem, I'd say, is the prose. It just doesn't feel like his. It's too rough. Even in comparison to “Spindrift” which had so many spelling mistakes that it clearly got no more than a once over on editing. Steele normally has very good prose, even taking into account that he's fairly G-rated when it comes to sex and swearing. Here, he says “...the nipples of her breasts.” ...as opposed to the nipples on her face? Tighten it up to simply “nipples”. This is one of many turns of phrase that left me rolling my eyes, which I never do with Steele.

Despite this, it was a quick read, and it was engrossing as always. If you're a hardcore Steele fan, this, of course, is a must read, but if not, it's not worth shelling out the cash for a signed and numbered copy from ebay.

[Lis Carey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Allen Steele is a fantastic storyteller.

I suppose I shouldn't really stop right there. This novelette is a very neatly plotted mystery that takes place in orbit around, and on the surface of, Europa. The International Jupiter Expedition has arrived at Jupiter already having suffered one casualty: their arbitrator, Otto Danzig, was nearly killed in an unexplained airlock accident, and has been in medical hibernation since they crossed Mars orbit. Now, though, the expedition has a worse problem: The bathyscaphe lowered into the Europan ocean has suffered an accident, the two scientists aboard have both been killed. Only the pilot, Evangeline Chatelain, survived and returned to the ship. She reports that a huge undersea creature rammed the bathyscaphe and breached the hull of the observation cabin, forcing her to jettison it in order to escape alive herself.

The problem is that no one believes her.

Captain Diaz orders Danzig awakened, even though he is not yet fully healed, because the expedition needs its arbitrator to conduct an impartial investigation and resolve the question of what happened in the bathyscaphe. Still weak, not completely recovered and moreover just emerged from months of hibernation, Danzig quickly discovers that he'll need to go down to the Europa surface, and take Chatelain with him, Does the giant sea creature exist, and why has no one else seen any sign of it? What about the complicated relationship between Chatelain and the two scientists--both of whom were her ex-lovers?

Then Danzig makes the decision that makes everyone--including him--fear for his safety. He's going into the ocean in the remaining bathyscaphe--with Chatelain as his pilot.

This is very nicely done, with tight plotting and characters nicely developed in the small space of this novelette.

Highly recommended.

I received this book from a friend.

[Andreas · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a serious accident early in the first Jupiter expedition, Otto Danzig was put into medical hibernation to allow him to heal. Now, months later and at Jupiter, he has been woken up to investigate the possible murder of two crew members while exploring the subsurface ocean of Europa.

The nicest thing I can say about this story is that it is a a short story so at least I didn't have to put up with it for very long. The concept and plot are fine, but the characters and cultural mores are cringe-worthy. I have accused Mr. Steele of this before, but his characters are all too often solidly middle-class American prudes from the 1950s, even if they are from other countries, eras and cultures. What is worse, characters from other cultures are caricature-like, written like sloppy stereotypes. Case in point, the antagonist in this story is a sexy French woman, and of course she acts like the American stereotype of a sexy French woman. Apart from that, it seems this story was sent to the publisher without some needed polish and revision. The whole thing isn't nearly as tight as it could be.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=1943

[Benjamin Chandler · Rating 2 out of 5]

A super-short murder mystery on the moons of Jupiter—the book was on sale at Amazon, so I figured, What do I have to lose?

Well, the book wasn't particularly great, just retread gumshoe noir in scifi dressings. The detective, the accused femme fatale, mysterious deaths—they're all there, but they come with no twists or surprises. I wish I could say the author was playing with stereotypes, but it just feels rote. The prose was serviceable, but Allen Steele is no stylist. Ham-fisted literary allusions didn't help.

Steele's talent rests in his ability to create a believable future tech and science knowledge. The spaceships, spacesuits, moonbase, and devices made sense, and Steele addresses space-travel realities such as weightlessness and radiation to give the story a sense of authenticity. It's just too bad the rest felt so lacking.

[David Marshall · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a competent detective novella investigating the death of two scientists as they explore the moons of Jupiter. The solution to the puzzle is quite elegant, but I found the whole to be rather wooden and, unless you're an Allen Steele fan, you should wait for this to be collected rather than buying an expensive limited edition from Subterranean.

http://opionator.wordpress.com/2011/0...

[Jeff Greason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Found this short story when looking for SF that is set within the realistic solar system. I enjoyed it; it's a character driven piece in which the exotic setting (Europa) and the technology that goes with it is merely setting rather than focus. In that sense it reminds me a bit of some of Niven's short fiction -- the science is there, but not what the story is about. Available online at http://subterraneanpress.com/magazine...

[Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great little detective story set in space, without the hard-boiled flavor that has kind of become a cliche the past couple of years. Steele remains one of the most consistent and enjoyable sci-fi writers working today. It's also nice whenever he branches out from the Coyote series. While I do enjoy the Coyote universe, the stakes are sometimes too low when he sets his stories there.

[Carl · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 90 page novella. It was good as good as Steele's writing usually is. I just wish there was more of it. An interstellar mission to the moons of Jupiter as the structure for a pretty simple yet fun murder mystery..not enough. Not enough character interactions or backstory about the mission or the locales. this screams to be remade longer deeper and richer.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short 90 page story published in hardcover. It is a quick read with a twist at the end. It is set in space and on Europa but is more mystery than science fiction. I like what Allen Steele writes and I enjoyed the this story.

[Cindy Matthews · Rating 3 out of 5]

A murder mystery in space--it's not a bad idea, but it's not exactly original. Still, I enjoyed the reading about how future explorers might get beneath the ice surface of Europa and discover the life forms unique to that world. A good novella for a slow summer's day.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now this was fun! I'm hopeful Europa will be in our sights for an exploratory mission within my lifetime. If there's liquid water under that ice, betcha we'll find life similar to Steele's predictions. Enjoy the murder mystery woven in to keep things interesting!

[Linda B · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is more a novella than a book. The story was nothing special. I felt I knew what was going to happen before it did happen. I was hoping for a climactic scene with a new creature, but no such luck.

[John Devenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very easy read. This novella is a science fiction crime procedural with both aspects handled very well.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short science fiction murder mystery.

[Luca Cresta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ancora un bel racconto di Hard-SF con molte venature gialle di Allen Steele. Decisamente la collana BDSL non delude mai!!! Un testo interessante e una storia avvincente.