Stellaris: People of the Stars

Edited

by

Les Johnson & Robert E. Hampson

(Baen, September 2019, pb, 193 pp.)

Reviewed by Kevin P Hallett

This anthology contains ten science fiction stories themed around humanity’s quest to expand out to the stars and the many challenges they will face. With very few exceptions the stories are strong page turners. Scattered among the stories are six essays on various challenges that humanity will face, ensuring the anthology is a broad exploration of space colonization in the future.

“Burn the Boats” by Sarah A. Hoyt

After one hundred years, a solar flare almost wipes out the colonists on Gloriana in this SF short. The survivors will exhaust their food long before the ecology can recover, and now look to their leaders for a plan.

Another planet in their solar system is home to a different group of colonists, genetically modified to survive on their frozen Europa-like planet. Can the two colonies reach agreement on how they can all survive and continue to expand humanity’s fragile foothold in this sector of space?

The story dealt with an interesting aspect of colonization and had an engaging pace and style.

“Bridging” by William Ledbetter

In this interesting SF novelette, Judel is an engineer on the planet and Sofie an engineer on its moon. Since the arrival of the original colonists, generations ago, each group has adapted to their respective gravities. The histories between the two peoples isn’t good, and history would say Sofie’s people initially betrayed Judel’s ancestors and left them to die on the barren surface of the planet.

Now a joint engineering project involving Judel and Sofie offers a chance at cooperation and a way to put aside the transgressions of their ancestors. But prejudice is always ready to come knocking on humanity’s door as it has throughout history.

This character-driven story was engaging and a pleasure to read.

“Stella Infantes” by Kacey Ezell and Philip Wohlrab

The colonists were on a one-way mission to settle Bonfils in this SF short. They will be the first to colonize this Earth-like planet. But even Earth-like implies differences that will need some DNA modifications to prosper.

The rules forbid any pregnancies until they have established the colony and its food supply. So, when the ship’s medical doctor becomes pregnant it creates problems, but it also offers the colony new opportunities for thriving when they arrive at Bonfils.

This was a story that read easily but lacked any sense of mystery or suspense.

“At the Bottom of the White” by Todd McCaffrey

Cin is a crewmember of the Valrise, a trading spaceship that is renewing contact with the abandoned colony of Arwon. The trader’s technology far exceeds Arwon’s sectarian government that starves its disaffected minorities.

Unaware of the nuances in such a charged political environment, Cin and the other members of the ship’s crew try to trade. Only to find themselves suddenly embroiled in the brutal politics of subjugation and faced with tough choices. Cin must risk going ‘down to the white’, if she’s to help the people.

This was an interesting character-centric story with its fair share of intrigue and action.

“Pageants of Humanity” by Brent Roeder

In this short SF tale, the author describes an intercolony pageant designed to determine which colonies can consider themselves to still be human. Each decade the baby and beauty pageants determine that humanity.

The baby pageant tests their interfertility, while the organizers loosely model the beauty pageant on the ancient Earth model with swimsuit, evening gown, and interview sections to see how attractive the colonists are.

The story was a lecture on how to measure humanity, disguised as a dialog between pageant presenters. It had little to offer as a normal story.

“Time Flies” by Kevin J. Anderson

Anderson’s short science fiction story introduces the trading spaceship Time’s Arrow that visits the far-flung colonies of humanity’s expansion. Travelling for centuries the crew can induce slow time to avoid aging.

After ten thousand years of roaming, which has felt like less than a year of conscious time, one crew member has had enough and leaves the ship to live out his life in normal time. Could this be the start of the end for what many of the crew thought was a timeless odyssey through the galaxy?

This was an entertaining story that introduced some intriguing aspects of humanity and how it needs companionship.

“Nanny” by Les Johnson

In this poignant SF short, Angela is growing up in a secure location with almost five hundred other children, dreaming of the day Nanny lets her and the other children outside.

Nanny keeps them safe, not wanting to lose any more children, but also keeps the truth from them. In time, the first fifty children reach a maturity that earns them freedom and the first batch of children learn some truths. But it isn’t until Nanny reaches an age where humans die, that Angela learns the whole truth about humanity’s quest for the stars.

This intriguing story had a wonderful pace to it and in the end pulled at the heart strings.

“Those Left Behind” by Robert E. Hampson

Mace and Sandy are siblings from a dysfunctional family in this SF novelette. Genetically modified for a space colony mission, the brother and sister return home for one last Thanksgiving dinner, only to discover that their alcoholic father has finally ‘seen the light’.

But unbeknownst to them all, is that unsavory people have befriended the parents. Mace and Sandy soon discover that some of those who will be left behind don’t agree with humanity’s evolutionary drive.

Though the subject matter has been explored many times, this was a pleasing and easy to read character-driven plot that steadily built its pace throughout the story.

“The Smallest of Things” by Catherine L. Smith

The colonists are testing the exoplanet Thorbia for colonization in this SF novelette. Molly, the microbiologist, has found a strange difference in the DNA structure of the local flora. And when they expand the research to live rats and rabbits, they find that something is killing them in minutes.

The clock is ticking on whether to release the two thousand colonists waiting in stasis. Can the various science disciplines work together to find a solution to counteract the smallest of things?

This was an intriguing and nicely paced story that gave a side helping of a layman’s introduction to microbiology.

“Exodus” by Daniel M. Hoyt

The government has delayed the Exodus launch to Proxima Centauri over the last two decades in this short SF story. The hope is that the science will catch up to the need, and Ginny is working on part of that technology, developing cryonics for deep space hibernation. She’s bet her scientific career on the new technology, alienating her parents who believe scientists should save Earth first.

Ginny has earned her prestigious position on the team developing the technology, and, motivated by the certainty that she is making the difference she always dreamed of, she avoids any romantic connections. Then some unexpected news wipes out her contributions and tears her life apart.

This was an interesting story that showed some of the real issues that will face humanity’s first push for the stars.

This was an enjoyable collection of science fiction dealing with colonizing the stars. In the collection were several gems and the overall quality was high.