Book Review: George Hay’s Flight of the “Hesper” (1952)

This is the 21st post in my series of vintage generation ship short fiction reviews. While not technically a short story, George Hay’s novel clocks in at a mere 112 pages. I’ve decided to include it in my series. While I have dabbled in the more esoteric as of late, thanks go out to all who have joined some part of my read-through already. I’ve also compiled an extensive index of generation ship SF–expanded from a monograph by Simone Caroti–if you wish to track down my earlier reviews on the topic and any that you might want to read on your own.1

Previously: Poul Anderson’s “The Troublemakers” (1953)

Next Up: TBD

2/5 (Bad)

In 2019, I made the resolution to read all the pre-1985 science fiction on the theme of generation ships available in English. I’ve made substantial progress, especially on the short story front! Last year I posted the 20th installment of my short story read-through.2 I’ve covered authors from John Brunner to Judith Merril. As I mentioned above, I’ve decided to include George Hay’s short novel Flight of the “Hesper” (1952) in my series. Unfortunately, no online copies exist to link.

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Updates: Recent Science Fiction Purchases No. CCCXXXIV (Robert Silverberg, Best SF of 1979, C. L. Moore, George Hay)

Spring semester in the books! It’s now time to read (and go on vacation).

Which books/covers/authors in the post intrigue you? Which have you read? Disliked? Enjoyed?

1. Invaders from Earth and To Worlds Beyond, Robert Silverberg (1980)

From the back cover: “The Ganymedians had a rich, peace culture, peaceful culture extending back hundreds of thousands of years in human time. But the soil of their Jovian moon held uncountable riches in the form of the nuclear fuels Earth so desperately needed. It was a pattern that had been repeated many times in humanity’s bloody history; in Asia, in Africa, in the American West–but the nations of mankind were not ready to make the same mistake again. So when the Corporation decided it wanted those fissionables whether the Ganymedians wanted to give them up or not, they knew they had a job of selling of their hands, to swing the weight of public opinion behind them. And that was a job for Ted Kennedy, ad-man supreme. Kennedy’s record showed he could sell the public on just about anything. Even genocide.”

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