Sex and Violence in Zero-G

Near Space

by Allen M. Steele

All the stories of Allen Steele's award-winning "Near Space" series?now in an expanded and revised second edition! Since its first publication in 1999, Sex and Violence in Zero-G has become one of the most long-sought and hard-to-find of Steele's books. At last, this massive collection is back in print?complete with a new introduction, five additional stories, and a revised timeline. Includes the Hugo Award-winning novella "The Death of Captain Future" and the Hugo Award-winning novelette "The Emperor of Mars." Reviews from the first "Sex and Violence in Zero-G collects some important work by an author who has become one of the finer hard science fiction writers around? definitely a worthwhile collection." ?Sci-Fi Weekly (A-) "Steele's vision of the future offers a great departure from the idea that Space is for the elite." ?Tangent Online "For those of you unfortunate enough to have not yet discov

Genres: Science Fiction, Collections, Speculative Fiction, Anthologies

420 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

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

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This hit my sweet spot - it's a damn shame that Allen Steele wasn't around a decade or two earlier, because his stories are easily as good as those written by many of the Grand Old Masters. They're just out of style nowadays, so I had never even heard of his "Near Space" series until I picked this book up at a convention.

I don't really think much of the title (I guess it's supposed to sound "edgy" or eye-catching), but yes, there is indeed sex and violence in zero-G in some of these stories. Mostly, however, they are space yarns set in a hard SF near future, spanning the entire 21st century. Allen Steele wrote all these stories from the late 80s to the beginning of the 21st century, but having them collected here made for a better continuous read, as they are arranged chronologically so you can see the unfolding of the results of events in earlier stories, a generation or two later.

Altogether, there are 20 stories in this volume, plus a few author's notes and illustrations. They range from the early days of near-future lunar colonies, to the gradual colonization of the inner solar system, to the formation of new political entities (leading, inevitably, to the first wars). Then into the middle of the 21st century, with colonies being established even further out, and AIs and genetic engineering becoming more advanced. And finally, the end of the 21st century, with the solar system now nearly as "settled" as post-colonial Earth.

Not every story was a home run, but I am giving the entire collection 5 stars because it was just really fun to read some unabashed hard science fiction that will please anyone who was a fan of Asimov and Heinlein back in the day. Since these stories were written more recently, though, they aren't as dated - the predicted technology still reads as both futuristic and plausible, not yet having assumed that rayguns-and-vacuum tubes rust that unfortunately afflicts older sci-fi when judged by people now reading it in the century it presumes to be describing. (Steele was, however, still a bit optimistic - he had us going back to the Moon in 2010. Alas.)

My favorites were probably Kronos, which tells the story of the Titan Plague, and the Hugo-wining Captain Future Duet, which is both a tribute to the pulp sci-fi of the 30s and 40s and a continuation of the events that happened in some of the earlier stories. Live from the Mars Hotel, a nostalgic tale about Martian colonists becoming rock stars back home, The Great Galactic Ghoul, another "mystery in space," and The Weight, about a long, tragic trip to a godforsaken outpost and back, were also memorable. But really, all were worth reading in their own right.

Highly recommended for all aficionados of traditional SF.

[Dani Kollin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this series of short stories and I must say, I'm blown out of the water. My reading of Mr. Steele's work is, admittedly a fluke. I was scheduled at the last minute (along with my brother) to interview Mr. Steele as the Guest of Honor at the 2011 Conjecture science fiction conference in San Diego. Since I hadn't read anything by him, I figured a collection of short stories would give me a wider spectrum from which direct the interview. What started out as a "drop everything you're reading" assignment has turned into a wild romp into what the author himself refers to as "Near Space."

In short, Mr. Steele has created a series of unquestionably believable tales that all take place within relative spitting distance of Earth. As such they feel much more real than any other science fiction story I've ever read. In fact, one story, "Walking on the Moon" comes close to ranking up there with one of my favorite short stories of all time, Ray Bradbury's "The Wilderness." Both tales illustrate an aspect of the future that is far more psychological than technical. And ultimately a good story needs to be visceral in order to succeed. Steele, like Bradbury succeeds mightily. The collection doesn't have the poetic insouciance of Bradbury but there's only so much poetry in SF I can take (and Bradbury is it). However, Steele is real. Steele is gritty. Steele is my kind of SF.

I had the pleasure of getting an advanced readers copy of the above work from Mr. Steele himself. Here's what he had to say: "The 2nd edition, which will be published by Fantastic Books sometime or another, includes my most recent stories in the Near-Space series, including "The Emperor of Mars", which won a Hugo a couple of weeks ago (Aug 2011). It also has "The Death of Capture Future", my first Hugo winner, "Zwarte Piet's Tale", which was also a Hugo nominee, and my fist published story, "Live from the Mars Hotel", which is included in the Visions of Mars disk that's on the Phoenix Lander that landed on Mars a couple of years ago (and which, in turn, was the inspiration for "Emperor"). If you read nothing else in the collection -- it's pretty long -- those are the stories you should check out."

My advice? Read it all. The only disappointment I had with this superb collection is that I finished reading it.

Dani

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent collection of short stories. The first set started slowly for me, written for publications so all had the same setup. But then started to pull me in the center and really strong after that. A lot of stories build on one another. 'Emperor of Mars' was a favorite

[Andreas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This expanded edition contains all previously published Near Space short stories and novelettes. The stories range from action to reflection, from joy to melancholy. The stories are presented chronologically, starting from the beginning of the Near Space timeline, in more or less the present era, and ending with the advanced colonised solar system of Mr. Chicago.

As he mentions in the introduction, Mr. Steele has been labelled a "Space Romantic", and this is rather accurate. His stories are infused with an infectious sense of wonder about space exploration in the near future. His focus on the working stiff rather than the movers and shakers gives rise to interesting reflections and themes. Having read all or some of the Near Space long fiction is not a pre-requisite for reading this collection, though it will fill in some of the background.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/2018/07/...

[Hruotland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn’t finish.
Suffers from serious zeerust, especially “Live from the Mars Hotel”. Set in the 2020s and the way for the world to hear from a new band is through a tape and a release by a record company. On vinyl even.

I don’t blame the author for not predicting YouTube and music streaming. But it does makes the stories dated.

[Daniel S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

quite good

I’ve been reading home since Orbital Decay first came out in stores. This collection really takes me back. I wish that all of Near Space were available on Audible. I would pre-purchase them all and read them straight through! 🤓🚀

[Mark Catalfano · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked "Sugar's Blues," "War Memorial," "The Emperor of Mars," "Zwarte Piet's Tale," "The Exile of Evening Star," and "High Roller"

[Alison C · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Sex and Violence in Zero-G is aptly subtitled "The Complete 'Near Space' Stories" and is a collection of short stories and novellas by Allen Steele depicting his take on human colonization of the solar system over a period of roughly 100 years. This edition is an "expanded" one that reorganizes the stories previously collected in the original, 1998 edition of the book and adds a few "linking" segments as well. The collection includes some very well-known stories in the timeline ("Live from the Mars Hotel," "The Emperor of Mars," "The Death of Captain Future") and others not so well-known; placed all together in chronological order, the reader gets a good sense of how Mr. Steele's ideas developed and gelled over time. Although I like his "Coyote" series more than the "Near Space" stories, both have the unusual and very welcome aspect of being "hard" science fiction involving characters for whom the reader actually comes to care; very few hard sf writers can pull this off, but Mr. Steele does so with grace and aplomb.

A word must be taken to describe the actual text of this edition, however. As a member of Early Reviewers on LibraryThing, I initially received (free!) an e-book of this title, but I gave up trying to read it after a very short time because the text was so completely rife with misspellings, dropped words and other sloppy editing. Liking this author as I do, I went ahead and ordered (and paid for) the physical book, hoping those problems would have been resolved in the print edition. They haven't been. Taking just a random 30-page sequence, I came across something like 25 typos and other errors, ranging from words that were left out of sentences (which were clearly not stylistic in nature, I mean sentences such as "Captain Zimmerman immediately sent word to Ceres Station, which in turn urgent requests to..."), letters left out of words ("eve if most the of crew" when "even" was clearly the word meant) to adding in "not" when it doesn't belong in the sentence ("Because those stories aren't not about the drab, lifeless planet where he's stuck, but instead a planet of native Martians...." etc.) to describing someone as "a thin young woman in his mid-thirties" where it's clear this is not genderbending future-speak but simply an accident. These problems are found throughout the entire book, sometimes several times in a single paragraph, and it simply won't do. Although I like the author and want his book to sell well, I would really encourage people to buy the 1998 edition and to specifically boycott this 2010 edition from Fantastic Books of New York (www.FantasticBooks.biz) until they clean up their act. This kind of sloppiness is just unacceptable and the publisher should be told so.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of all the short fiction in Steele's history of the beginnings of human colonization of the solar system. These stories were originally published starting in the late 1980's, so a lot of the earlier stories do feel dated with mentions of people in the 2020's dealing with the Soviet Union and listening to CD's. The timeline is also very optimistic with heavy space industrialization and moon missions happening around 2010. The stories set later in time were generally more interesting since they felt less dated and were mostly written later as Steele became a better writer.

The main problem with the stories is that they are almost all done in the style of someone retelling a story from the past in an almost journalistic fashion, so there is really no suspense or character development, just a straightforward retelling of what happened. What is interesting in most of the stories is the non-glamourous view of what life in space could really be like for the ordinary people trying to work there.

My favorite stories in the collection were probably the two Captain Future stories and "The Emperor of Mars".

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read about two thirds of the short stories in this compilation. That's enough that I'm going to call it "Read" instead of "Abandoned." Any given short story or novel of Steele's I tend to only like, but I do love the universe, so to speak, that he sets them in. That being the 21st century, written, mostly, in the late eighties through late nineties about the about the whole of the years between 1999 and 2100, with a lot of outer space action and politics taking place within the solar system--on the moon, on space stations orbiting Earth, on space ships flying between these local planets, etc. He's got this whole little framework of "near space" stories, and I totally love the way that hangs together, connecting a world we can very much relate to to one that's wildly different a hundred years from now.

Anyway, lots of good stories in this volume, and they often relate well to some of his novels.

[Frederick Gault · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good working man's science fiction. A series of linked short stories about what the 21st century and space exploration might actually look like. No soaring flights of fancy, just hard science about what might be possible - with lots of fights, xeno-plagues, break away political factions on various asteroids, spaces stations, gas giant moons, Mars and Luna. Throw in a few wars and sudden death in the unforgiving vacuum and you've got a jolly good read.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite the unfortunately off-putting title of this particular volume, Steele's "Near Space" universe is my pick as the best such series since Heinlein. It's a gritty and occasionally grim look at life and work in space in the near future. This book collects the short works that frame the novels. The three Diamondback Jack stories alone are worth the price of admision. Good stuff!

[Victoria Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the science fiction stories in 'Sex and Violence in Zero-G: The Complete "Near Space" Stories, Expanded...' by Allen Steele. If you are in the mood to read some short stories, I recommend this book.

[Clark Wierda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a view of what is now an alternate history as we have not developed space like we should.

The stories are fairly easy to read and quite interesting as snapshots in this future that could have been.

This might have gotten 4 stars, but the editing leaves much to be desired.

[Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a superset of Rude Astronauts. And it's awesome.

[JT · Rating 4 out of 5]

Verging on a 5.