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The Big Jump
''The Big Jump'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Leigh Brackett, centered on the first crewed expedition to Barnard's Star. Publication The novel was first published in the February 1953 issue of '' Space Stories''. Its first book publication was in the early Ace Double D-103 with Philip K. Dick's first novel, ''Solar Lottery''. Summary The novel begins with the entire Solar System waiting for the news of the first successful interstellar expedition to Barnard's Star, a mission named "The Big Jump". However, only one crewman, Ballantyne, returns, half-dead and with a body so changed he's barely human. The protagonist Comyn attempts to uncover the truth about the Big Jump and his missing friend, crewman Paul Rogers. Comyn speaks with Ballantyne and gains valuable information about a planet around the star and what the crew had found there. In an attempt to rescue Rogers, he meets the Cochrane family, who have monopolized in-system travel. Comyn claims to know det ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leigh Brackett
Leigh Douglass Brackett (December 7, 1915 – March 18, 1978) was an American science fiction writer known as "the Queen of Space Opera." She was also a screenwriter, known for ''The Big Sleep'' (1946), '' Rio Bravo'' (1959), and '' The Long Goodbye'' (1973). She also worked on an early draft of ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980), elements of which remained in the film; she died before it went into production. In 1956, her book '' The Long Tomorrow'' made her the first woman ever shortlisted for the Hugo Award for Best Novel, and, along with C. L. Moore, one of the first two women ever nominated for a Hugo Award. In 2020, she won a Retro Hugo for her novel ''The Nemesis From Terra'', originally published as "Shadow Over Mars" (''Startling Stories'', Fall 1944). Early life and education Leigh Brackett was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her father died when she was very young; her mother did not remarry. She was a tomboy, "tall" and "athletic". She attended a private ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ace Books
Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mysteries and westerns, and soon branched out into other genres, publishing its first science fiction title in 1953. This was successful, and science fiction titles outnumbered both mysteries and westerns within a few years. Other genres also made an appearance, including nonfiction, gothic novels, media tie-in novelizations, and romances. Ace became known for the ''tête-bêche'' binding format used for many of its early books, although it did not originate the format. Most of the early titles were published in this "Ace Double" format, and Ace continued to issue books in varied genres, bound ''tête-bêche'', until 1973. Ace, along with Ballantine Books, was one of the leading science fiction publishers for its first ten years of operation. The death of owner A. A. Wyn in 1967 set the stage for a later decline in the publishe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barnard's Star
Barnard's Star is a red dwarf about six light-years from Earth in the constellation of Ophiuchus. It is the fourth-nearest-known individual star to the Sun after the three components of the Alpha Centauri system, and the closest star in the northern celestial hemisphere. Its stellar mass is about 14% of the Sun's. Despite its proximity, the star has a dim apparent magnitude of +9.5 and is invisible to the unaided eye; it is much brighter in the infrared than in visible light. The star is named after E. E. Barnard, an American astronomer who in 1916 measured its proper motion as 10.3 arcseconds per year relative to the Sun, the highest known for any star. The star had previously appeared on Harvard University photographic plates in 1888 and 1890. Barnard's Star is among the most studied red dwarfs because of its proximity and favorable location for observation near the celestial equator. Historically, research on Barnard's Star has focused on measuring its stellar characte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Stories
''Space Stories'' was a pulp magazine which published five issues from October 1952 to June 1953. It was published by Standard Magazines, and edited by Samuel Mines. Mines' editorial policy for ''Space Stories'' was to publish straightforward science fiction adventure fiction, adventure stories. Among the better-known contributors were Jack Vance, Gordon R. Dickson and Leigh Brackett, whose novel ''The Big Jump'' appeared in the February 1953 issue. Publication history and contents The early 1950s saw dramatic changes in the world of U.S. science fiction (sf) publishing. At the start of 1949, all but one of the major magazines in the field were in pulp magazine, pulp format; by the end of 1955, almost all had either ceased publication or switched to digest size, digest format.Ashley (1976), p. 106. Despite the rapid decline of the pulp market, several new science fiction magazines were launched in pulp format during these years. ''Space Stories'' was one of the last of thes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
