Station in Space

by James E. Gunn

At one time, outer space was seen as the last frontier, the final challenge to human ingenuity. But those days are gone as the galaxy becomes the stomping ground for humans encountering strange new machinery and green-faced Martians. Depicted with stark realism and meticulous detail, this novel tells of the dangers, despair and unbelievable pleasurethat awaits the men and women who are to populate the first ever station in space.

Genres: Science Fiction

172 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

American science fiction author, editor, scholar, and anthologist. His work from the 1960s and 70s is considered his most significant fiction, and his Road to Science Fiction collections are considered his most important scholarly books. He won a Hugo Award for a non-fiction book in 1983 for Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction. He was named the 2007 Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Gunn served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, after which he attended the University of Kansas, earning a Bachelor of Science in Journalism in 1947 and a Masters of Arts in English in 1951. Gunn went on to become a faculty member of the University of Kansas, where he served as the university's director of public relations and as a professor of English, specializing in science fiction and fiction writing. He is now a professor emeritus and director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, which awards the annual John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel and the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award at the Campbell Conference in Lawrence, Kansas, every July.

He served as President of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1971–72, was President of the Science Fiction Research Association from 1980-82, and currently is Director of The Center for the Study of
Science Fiction. SFWA honored him as a Grand Master of Science Fiction in 2007.

Gunn began his career as a science fiction author in 1948. He has had almost 100 stories published in magazines and anthologies and has authored 26 books and edited 10. Many of his stories and books have been reprinted around the world.

In 1996, Gunn wrote a novelization of the unproduced Star Trek episode "The Joy Machine" by Theodore Sturgeon.

His stories also have been adapted into radioplays and teleplays:
* NBC radio's X Minus One
* Desilu Playhouse's 1959 "Man in Orbit", based on Gunn's "The Cave of Night"
* ABC-TV's Movie of the Week "The Immortal" (1969) and an hour-long television series in 1970, based on Gunn's The Immortals
* An episode of the USSR science fiction TV series This Fantastic World, filmed in 1989 and entitled "Psychodynamics of the Witchcraft" was based on James Gunn's 1953 story "Wherever You May Be".

Reviews

[Joachim Boaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...

"James Gunn’s Station in Space (1958) is an interconnected series of stories that form a cohesive chronologically organized whole tracking the development of human exploration into space (Earth –> first space flight –> first space station –> second space station –> Mars). Because multiple characters reappear in later stories and the earlier events all have a direct [...]"

[Ruskoley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a perfect journey into space. Lots of psychology, lots of daring, lots of marvel/wonder. Precisely what one would expect in a great science fiction. There are surprises to be had, interesting theories, psychological intensity, creepy scenarios, and human realities. It's easy to hand out 5*'s to this book.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The stories were written in the 1950's, but were enjoyable. (Razor approved)

[Nadia Jessica Anaya Codina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me encantó este libro! La manera en que el autor se enfoca en las relaciones humanas y en el impacto del viaje espacial en la sociedad y los individuos.

[Emilio Arias H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Novela dividida en cinco cuentos (lo que se llama un fix-up), donde la conquista del espacio está a la orden del día y Estados Unidos pone en órbita varios satélites artificiales (con dinero privado e incluso con engaños, ¿capitalismo?). Hija de su época (mediados de los años 50), esta novela se centra más en el aspecto psicológico y humano que en la pugna política con la Unión Soviética en la carrera espacial; es más, solo en dos ocasiones se menciona a la Unión Soviética y al comunismo.

Se habla mucho de los sueños. De sueños rotos, pero también de sueños avivados, de esos que renuevan las ganas de vivir. Los sueños traen consigo muchas cosas: decepciones, dolor, sufrimiento. Pero al final los sueños son los que nos mantienen vivos. Porque hacen movernos, inquietarnos, ser curiosos, anhelar conquista, aventura. Y la conquista del espacio es un sueño que impulsa a que la humanidad no pierda su condición y siga adelante.

Mis puntajes:
-"La caverna de la noche": 4
-"Fraude": 3
-"La gran rueda": 4
-"El barril de pólvora": 4
-"El espacio es un sitio solitario": 5

[William Pugsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best, most realistic and forward thinking collection of related stories about the beginning of space exploration in the tiny area above Earth. Written 10 years before Clarke's 2001, there are similarities. The stories and characters are grounded, the science is good. The psychology, though proven to be wrong with real astronauts, seems logically correct and still possible. The last page of the last story, Space is a Lonely Place, reaveals how space exploration has in fact turned out. Details of rockets also were very prescient. A real classic that should be better known.

[Burning Thoughts · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually quit readling halfway through. It's a sci fi from the mid-50s, which I didn't realize when I bought the ebook. It had a certain naive charm, since it was written before Sputnik and Explorer.

A couple of themes were
1. Space exploration was a way to ensure employment of Earth's masses
2. The loneliness of space might induce looniness.

Gunn's points, although often with merit, were too laboriously made for my taste.