Inverarity is not a Scottish village

A collection of hard SF short stories spanning an entire century of near-future history.

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."

( For astronauts, beamjacks, prospectors and colonists, soldiers and gangsters and rebels in space... )

Verdict: These stories are all love letters to an earlier generation of science fiction, but the Near Space series is thoroughly modern SF. I think Allen Steele is underrated, and since I have always loved space adventures and short stories that all fit into an epic arc, this collection gets my Highly Recommended tag.

Also by Allen Steele: My reviews of Coyote and Apollo's Outcasts.

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My complete list of book reviews.

A novel of interstellar exploration.

Coyote marks a dramatic new turn in the career of Allen Steele, Hugo Award-winning author of Chronospace. Epic in scope, passionate in its conviction, and set against a backdrop of plausible events, it tells the brilliant story of Earth's first interstellar colonists - and the mysterious planet that becomes their home...

The crime of the century begins without a hitch. On July 5th, 2070, as it's about to be launched, the starship Alabama is hijacked - by her captain and crew. In defiance of the repressive government of The United Republic of Earth, they replace her handpicked passengers with political dissidents and their families. These become Earth's first pioneers in the exploration of space...

Captain R. E. Lee, their leader. Colonel Gill Reese, the soldier sent to stop Lee. Les Gilles, the senior communications officer, a victim of a mistake that will threaten the entire mission. Crewman Eric Gunther, who has his own agenda for being aboard. His daughter, Wendy, a teenager who will grow up too quickly. Jorge and Rita Montero, ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances. And their son Carlos, who will become a hero in spite of himself.

After almost two-and-a-half centuries in cold sleep, they will awaken above their destination: a habitable world named Coyote. A planet that will test their strength, their beliefs, and their very humanity...

In Coyote, Allen Steele delivers a grand novel of galactic adventure - a tale of life on the newest of frontiers.

( Not quite a SF classic, but deserves to be well-regarded. )

Verdict: Coyote is exactly what it says on the cover. Allen Steele writes good solid hard SF without being a crank or exercising his fetishes (how sad is it that this makes him above average for SF writers?) and this first interstellar colony offers challenges, surprises, and a decent cast of characters.

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My complete list of book reviews.