What do you think?
Rate this book
The Other Side of Nowhere
The RIM STAR seemed to be an ordinary enough spaceship bound for the planet Handel on a routine mission. Then young Braden, a merchant-space officer, discovered that there was something all wrong about the RIM STAR... — The captain was wrong, the crew mutinous, and there was even something wrong with the passengers. The ship was in deadly danger...
For centuries space travelers had dreaded a place they called the Other Side of Nowhere--a place in the universe where up was down, where right was wrong, and where all direction was lost...
To save the RIM STAR Braden had to bring the ship to the place of nightmare, the Other Side of Nowhere...
For centuries space travelers had dreaded a place they called the Other Side of Nowhere--a place in the universe where up was down, where right was wrong, and where all direction was lost...
To save the RIM STAR Braden had to bring the ship to the place of nightmare, the Other Side of Nowhere...
142 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
30 people want to read
About the author
Murray Leinster
908 books124 followerssee also:
Will F. Jenkins
William Fitzgerald Jenkins
Murray Leinster was a nom de plume of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an award-winning American writer of science fiction and alternate history. He wrote and published over 1,500 short stories and articles, 14 movie scripts, and hundreds of radio scripts and television plays.
An author whose career spanned the first six decades of the 20th Century. From mystery and adventure stories in the earliest years to science fiction in his later years, he worked steadily and at a highly professional level of craftsmanship longer than most writers of his generation. He won a Hugo Award in 1956 for his novelet “Exploration Team,” and in 1995 the Sidewise Award for Alternate History took its name from his classic story, “Sidewise in Time.” His last original work appeared in 1967.
Will F. Jenkins
William Fitzgerald Jenkins
Murray Leinster was a nom de plume of William Fitzgerald Jenkins, an award-winning American writer of science fiction and alternate history. He wrote and published over 1,500 short stories and articles, 14 movie scripts, and hundreds of radio scripts and television plays.
An author whose career spanned the first six decades of the 20th Century. From mystery and adventure stories in the earliest years to science fiction in his later years, he worked steadily and at a highly professional level of craftsmanship longer than most writers of his generation. He won a Hugo Award in 1956 for his novelet “Exploration Team,” and in 1995 the Sidewise Award for Alternate History took its name from his classic story, “Sidewise in Time.” His last original work appeared in 1967.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 11, 2025
The Other Side of Nowhere was serialized in the March and April issues of John W. Campbell's Analog magazine in 1964, during the time when Analog was printed in an unusually large "bedsheet" format, under the remarkably unimaginative title Spaceman. It was the cover story for the March issue, with a very nifty yellow-brown-gold John Schoenherr painting that makes me wonder if it wasn't a leftover from Schoenherr's illustration of Herbert's Dune. Berkley released their mass market paperback edition in May of that year with a kind of confused cover by the ubiquitous Richard Powers and with the current title. It's a perfectly fine story of warped space and pirates, and the ship Rim Star, and new officer Braden who has to save the day so the colony can be built, who still finds time for a little chaste romance with the pert Diane. Nothing outstanding, but good space opera fun that would have been right at home as part of the Winston young reader's series, for example.
March 1, 2026
This is a really good story about Braden, who is attacked by five men on the way to a 'job interview' with the skipper of the Rim Star, a spaceship that's taking a vast amount of cargo to Handel's Planet.
Braden gets the job as mate on the Rim Star and is then shocked to find that the five men who attacked him are the crew.
The skipper tells Braden he suspects the crew are space pirates who took over a vessel called Melpomene and killed people on board including members of the skipper's family,
Well, the skipper is entirely correct. Braden leads the resistance and keeps the passengers safe, but the pirates are persistent so Braden has to use the ultimate sanction to overcome the pirates, he takes the Rim Star to the Other Side of Nowhere where up is down, left is right, and right is wrong. The pirates become disoriented and Braden manages to overcome them and land the Rim Star on its destination planet.
Braden gets the job as mate on the Rim Star and is then shocked to find that the five men who attacked him are the crew.
The skipper tells Braden he suspects the crew are space pirates who took over a vessel called Melpomene and killed people on board including members of the skipper's family,
Well, the skipper is entirely correct. Braden leads the resistance and keeps the passengers safe, but the pirates are persistent so Braden has to use the ultimate sanction to overcome the pirates, he takes the Rim Star to the Other Side of Nowhere where up is down, left is right, and right is wrong. The pirates become disoriented and Braden manages to overcome them and land the Rim Star on its destination planet.
August 11, 2024
When I read this novel, I rated it "B -", This translates to a Goodreads score of 3 stars. Perhaps 2 1/2 stars would be more accurate, but Goodreads says half stars are more astrological than astronomical.
My rating system:
Since Goodreads only allows 1 to 5 stars (no half-stars), you have no option but to be ruthless. I reserve one star for a book that is a BOMB - or poor (equivalent to a letter grade of F, E, or at most D). Progressing upwards, 2 stars is equivalent to C (C -, C or C+), 3 stars (equals B - or B), 4 stars (equals B+ or A -), and 5 stars (equals A or A+). As a result, I maximize my rating space for good books, and don't waste half or more of that rating space on books that are of marginal quality.
It is possible that 2 1/2 stars would be a more accurate rating, but Goodreads says half stars are more astrological than astronomical.
My rating system:
Since Goodreads only allows 1 to 5 stars (no half-stars), you have no option but to be ruthless. I reserve one star for a book that is a BOMB - or poor (equivalent to a letter grade of F, E, or at most D). Progressing upwards, 2 stars is equivalent to C (C -, C or C+), 3 stars (equals B - or B), 4 stars (equals B+ or A -), and 5 stars (equals A or A+). As a result, I maximize my rating space for good books, and don't waste half or more of that rating space on books that are of marginal quality.
It is possible that 2 1/2 stars would be a more accurate rating, but Goodreads says half stars are more astrological than astronomical.
November 30, 2021
Τίποτε το ιδιαίτερο. Αν αντικαταστήσεις το διαστημόπλοιο με μια καραβέλα, την υπερώθηση με πανιά και τα μπλάστερ με αρκεβούζια, θα μπορούσε να ήταν ένα πειρατικό μυθιστόρημα σε κάποια εξωτική θάλασσα του 17ου αιώνα.
January 3, 2019
Ehhhh. A little bit disappointing.
March 29, 2022
2.5 stars rounded up. The prose is repetitive at times, the plot fairly simple. There's enough there if you're a fan of old school SF, but not much more.
October 2, 2014
An Ok 'space pirate' yarn.
February 21, 2015
1980 grade A
2009 grade B-
Out of date. OK if speed read or skimmed.
2009 grade B-
Out of date. OK if speed read or skimmed.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews