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Outbound
The award-winning science fiction novelette from award-winning writer Brad R. Torgersen. "Outbound" first appeared in the pages of Analog Science Fiction and Fact Magazine, going on to earn the praise of readers and authors alike. Bestseller Dean Wesley Smith said, "[a] great story in Analog. That rocked me. Wonderful science fiction at its best. Well done." Dr. Jonathan Vos Post said, "Deeply human, fiercely envisioned, metaphysical and physical, tragic and yet filled with hope. This is an astonishingly mature and profound work of fiction." The story eventually went on to win the Analog Analytical Laboratory ("AnLab") Readers' Choice award for its category, 2011.
- GenresScience Fiction
53 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 6, 2011
2 people are currently reading
17 people want to read
About the author
Brad R. Torgersen
80 books75 followersWho is Brad?
Brad R. Torgersen is a full-time healthcare tech geek by day, and United States Army Reserve Warrant Officer on weekends. He is a Writers of the Future winner, as well as a contributing author for Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, and Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine—the latter awarding him the “AnLab” readers’ choice prize for best novelette, 2010. Presently, Torgersen is a Campbell nominee for Best New Science Fiction writer, Hugo nominee, for his novelette, “Ray of Light,” and also a Nebula nominee, for the same novelette. Married, with one daughter, Brad is back home in the Rocky Mountain West, after spending fourteen years living and working in various places around the Puget Sound.
Brad R. Torgersen is a full-time healthcare tech geek by day, and United States Army Reserve Warrant Officer on weekends. He is a Writers of the Future winner, as well as a contributing author for Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, and Analog Science Fiction and Fact magazine—the latter awarding him the “AnLab” readers’ choice prize for best novelette, 2010. Presently, Torgersen is a Campbell nominee for Best New Science Fiction writer, Hugo nominee, for his novelette, “Ray of Light,” and also a Nebula nominee, for the same novelette. Married, with one daughter, Brad is back home in the Rocky Mountain West, after spending fourteen years living and working in various places around the Puget Sound.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 29, 2016
If you're in between reads and can't decide what to read this is a great place to spend about an hour with a book. After reading I felt a full novel could have been written to tell this story but the impact of a novella was still impressive.
Several thought provoking concepts are explored in this short work. The characters come to life immediately. This is good old fashion science fiction.
Several thought provoking concepts are explored in this short work. The characters come to life immediately. This is good old fashion science fiction.
July 17, 2013
The review title says it all. "Outbound" is jam packed with science-fictional tech, but what drives this story are the characters, the gripping, edge-of-your-seat emotions, and the realism of it. Brad Torgersen has a way of getting into the heads of his characters and showing us their every fear, regret, and gut-wrenching emotion as if it were happening to him and not some fictitious character. This type of writing is what makes Brad's stories so popular. I'm not old enough to remember the Golden Age of science fiction, but if stories from that era were as fantastic as some of the older readers say they were, this story would fit right in as a 24-carat gold nugget.
April 11, 2022
Space refugee's
I throughly enjoyed this book and found it interesting and inspiring. Let's hope we never destroy this beautiful planet but it's not inconceivable with what's happening in the Ukraine. The technology of interfacing inside a machine might be possible onday.
I throughly enjoyed this book and found it interesting and inspiring. Let's hope we never destroy this beautiful planet but it's not inconceivable with what's happening in the Ukraine. The technology of interfacing inside a machine might be possible onday.
August 22, 2012
Torgersen hits *another* home run out of the park. He sucks you into the story, and keeps throwing (believable) twists and turns in.
This was the third Torgersen story I've read on my new Nook, and this one seemed to especially resonate with me. Torgersen manages to combine some standard science fiction technologies with very realistic, flawed, human characters.
While the end isn't really a cliffhanger, I found myself wanting to find out What Happened Next! (If I read the fine print correctly, I didn't have to wait very long.)
Good story structure, characters I cared about, and Torgersen didn't back away from examining belief systems without simply dismissing them. A tip of the hat to him and J. Michael Stracynzski (Babylon 5) for being honest enough to do that.
Aug. 21, 2012.
This was the third Torgersen story I've read on my new Nook, and this one seemed to especially resonate with me. Torgersen manages to combine some standard science fiction technologies with very realistic, flawed, human characters.
While the end isn't really a cliffhanger, I found myself wanting to find out What Happened Next! (If I read the fine print correctly, I didn't have to wait very long.)
Good story structure, characters I cared about, and Torgersen didn't back away from examining belief systems without simply dismissing them. A tip of the hat to him and J. Michael Stracynzski (Babylon 5) for being honest enough to do that.
Aug. 21, 2012.
July 22, 2012
Reviewed as part of the 2012 Hugo Voter packet.
Outbound follows Miroslaw Jaworski who's evacuated from an Earth orbiting station just in time, as it is destroyed, and Earth rendered uninhabitable shortly after, when war breaks out. Despite the factions involved in the war being destroyed, their automatic weapons continue to wage war, destroying any human habitations in the Solar System. Miroslaw and a few others flee out of the solar system, towards the Juiper Belt, following the path taken by the Outbound decades or centuries before. It was well written and paced, with a satisfactory ending, and I enjoyed reading it.
Outbound follows Miroslaw Jaworski who's evacuated from an Earth orbiting station just in time, as it is destroyed, and Earth rendered uninhabitable shortly after, when war breaks out. Despite the factions involved in the war being destroyed, their automatic weapons continue to wage war, destroying any human habitations in the Solar System. Miroslaw and a few others flee out of the solar system, towards the Juiper Belt, following the path taken by the Outbound decades or centuries before. It was well written and paced, with a satisfactory ending, and I enjoyed reading it.
November 14, 2013
Upon reading this novella, one can most certainly appreciate why it has been so successful - it's really, really good. Full of heart and soul, it's an emotional roller coaster like I've never experienced before in a science fiction story. Not without Torgersen's trademark hard sci-fi elements, the story is one of love and loss, pain and hope and, above all, humanity. Read it, you'll love it.
August 10, 2016
This book sucked me in right from the start. The setting, characterisation, the little technical touches, all conveyed a sense of realism that allowed the author to explore ideas and the nature of humanity. A really good tale of hard SF.
December 31, 2012
A very interesting premier story. I think Torgersen has much to contribute into the world of science fiction.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews