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Heaven Chronicles
The Outcasts of Heaven Belt
They came from the distant planet called Morningside on a desperate quest for aid from Heaven Belt. Heaven Belt -- the fabulous asteroid system that was, so legend said, as rich as old Earth. But before the starship Ranger could even explain its mission, it was attacked by the people of the outermost asteroid. For civil war had long since transformed the Belters into isolated societies slowly dying out for lack of technology and natural resources. Crippled, with most of its crew dead, the Ranger soon became a valuable technological prize fought over by everyone in the Belt. And for the Ranger's crew, what began as a mission of hope became a breathtaking race for survival.
198 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 1978
5 people are currently reading
371 people want to read
About the author
Joan D. Vinge
135 books446 followersJoan D. Vinge (born Joan Carol Dennison) is an American science fiction author. She is known for such works as her Hugo Award-winning novel The Snow Queen and its sequels, her series about the telepath named Cat, and her Heaven's Chronicles books.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 14, 2024
You know how sometimes a book looks perfect, and then you read it, and it’s nothing special? This book was exactly the opposite. For not looking like anything special (and suffering from an ultra-cheesy tagline), The Outcasts of Heaven Belt was pretty damn good.
May 17, 2014
Ironic, isn't it; that we began with everything and Morningside with nothing … and look who failed."
"We almost failed too-more than once." Betha stared at the wall, looking through time. "So did Uhuru, and Hellhole, and Lebensraum. But we had help."
"From where?"
"From each other. Planets like Morningside are so marginal any small setback becomes a disaster … but they're the most common kind of habitable world; they're all like Morningside in our volume of space. But our worlds are within reach of one another. We set up a trade ring, and when one of us falls flat, the rest pick it up and put it back together. And that's how we survive. That's all we do; we survive. But it's enough … it'll have to be enough forever, now that our journey here has failed.
"We have our own ironies, you know.… Morningside was settled after a major political upheaval on Earth. Our nearest neighbor now, Uhuru, was settled by some of our former ‘enemies' after their own empire on Old Earth fell. Need makes stranger bedfellows than politics ever did."
When a ship from a group of self-sufficient but poor planets travels to the asteroid based society of Heaven Belt desperately hoping to set up trade agreements with a much richer society, the Rangers is attacked as soon as it enters the system, and the surviving crew find out that a civil war has left the societies of Heaven Belt disunited and on the brink of disaster.
The Ranger's crew didn't go all out for revenge after losing members of their family, and I liked the themes of co-operation and finding non-violent solutions to life-threatening problems. , but the book was over really quickly after that, leaving me wanting more. I see there is a related novella called "Legacy", so I will have to get hold of a copy.
"We almost failed too-more than once." Betha stared at the wall, looking through time. "So did Uhuru, and Hellhole, and Lebensraum. But we had help."
"From where?"
"From each other. Planets like Morningside are so marginal any small setback becomes a disaster … but they're the most common kind of habitable world; they're all like Morningside in our volume of space. But our worlds are within reach of one another. We set up a trade ring, and when one of us falls flat, the rest pick it up and put it back together. And that's how we survive. That's all we do; we survive. But it's enough … it'll have to be enough forever, now that our journey here has failed.
"We have our own ironies, you know.… Morningside was settled after a major political upheaval on Earth. Our nearest neighbor now, Uhuru, was settled by some of our former ‘enemies' after their own empire on Old Earth fell. Need makes stranger bedfellows than politics ever did."
When a ship from a group of self-sufficient but poor planets travels to the asteroid based society of Heaven Belt desperately hoping to set up trade agreements with a much richer society, the Rangers is attacked as soon as it enters the system, and the surviving crew find out that a civil war has left the societies of Heaven Belt disunited and on the brink of disaster.
The Ranger's crew didn't go all out for revenge after losing members of their family, and I liked the themes of co-operation and finding non-violent solutions to life-threatening problems. , but the book was over really quickly after that, leaving me wanting more. I see there is a related novella called "Legacy", so I will have to get hold of a copy.
September 7, 2007
This is a shelf of books that, counter to most popular fiction, offer nonviolent solutions to their plots.
First up, this 1982 novel about a desperate attempt to establish interstellar trade between colonies that have lost touch with Earth is really a good story of creative nonviolence used to avert war and arrive at a win-win solution to a multitude of problems. It's also a good read with sympathetic characters and surprising plot twists.
First up, this 1982 novel about a desperate attempt to establish interstellar trade between colonies that have lost touch with Earth is really a good story of creative nonviolence used to avert war and arrive at a win-win solution to a multitude of problems. It's also a good read with sympathetic characters and surprising plot twists.
November 9, 2021
2 desperate factions fighting for the ownership of a new coming ship to their doomed star system. No good or bad guys here. Nice debut novel by hugo award winning Joan D. Vinge, interesting story but I was expecting something more elaborated for a Locus nominee novel. 3 stars.
March 6, 2017
If you liked Babylon 5, with its emphasis on intercultural conflict and diplomacy, you might appreciate this story. A small ship ventures from the frontier planet of Morningside to seek the renowned technology of the Heaven Belt system, only to find that their destination is a disaster zone, decimated by civil war. After an unprovoked attack, the surviving crew find themselves caught between warring factions. Rotating points of view enable readers to see all sides of the conflict; there are no simple "bad guys" here. I'd have liked to see parts of the story developed more fully, but it's an impressive first novel, thoughtful and intelligent.
December 21, 2013
A starship arrives in the Heaven system, hoping to trade, only to discover that in their years of transit, the system has suffered a severe civil war... and now their own spaceship is a prize every faction feels they need in order to survive.
I read this work because I read an article suggesting that the author and her now ex-husband, but still friend, (Vernor Vinge) later decided that the book takes place in the world of Vernor's Zones of Thought universe, seen in A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky, but especially the latter. Furthermore Joan Vinge was considering writing, with Vernor's permission, a novel (which might include a rework of this story itself) where the characters from this book meet Vernor Vinge's Pham Nuwen character, one of my favorites. So when I saw the book in a used bookstore, I picked it up to see what I might be getting in for.
First, it is easy to see the novel fitting in the Zones of Thought universe, perhaps with a tiny bit of modification, but even that might not be needed. One of the two cultures uses the convention of counting time in seconds, kiloseconds (4 ksec is a little over an hour), gigaseconds, etc., which can be a bit awkward to those of us using conventional timescales, but it is distinctive. Moreover, the theme of the work, that a civilization spanning a single star system is prone to disaster that it can't pull itself out of, especially if it doesn't have an Earth-like planet to retreat to for a low-technology dark age, and trade from other systems is essential. So yes, I could immediately buy it as taking place in the same universe.
As a story? It's a little flat and dry. But, it should be stated that it's Joan Vinge's first published novel (and written based on notes from Vernor Vinge, who also helped edit, but this was in the period where his writing wasn't all that memorable either), and her later works I recall being much better (including her Hugo-winning The Snow Queen written only a couple years later). It's more interesting as a curiosity than a compelling story, decent but nothing memorable. However, if the author ever completes the story with Pham Nuwen in it, I absolutely will read that.
I read this work because I read an article suggesting that the author and her now ex-husband, but still friend, (Vernor Vinge) later decided that the book takes place in the world of Vernor's Zones of Thought universe, seen in A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky, but especially the latter. Furthermore Joan Vinge was considering writing, with Vernor's permission, a novel (which might include a rework of this story itself) where the characters from this book meet Vernor Vinge's Pham Nuwen character, one of my favorites. So when I saw the book in a used bookstore, I picked it up to see what I might be getting in for.
First, it is easy to see the novel fitting in the Zones of Thought universe, perhaps with a tiny bit of modification, but even that might not be needed. One of the two cultures uses the convention of counting time in seconds, kiloseconds (4 ksec is a little over an hour), gigaseconds, etc., which can be a bit awkward to those of us using conventional timescales, but it is distinctive. Moreover, the theme of the work, that a civilization spanning a single star system is prone to disaster that it can't pull itself out of, especially if it doesn't have an Earth-like planet to retreat to for a low-technology dark age, and trade from other systems is essential. So yes, I could immediately buy it as taking place in the same universe.
As a story? It's a little flat and dry. But, it should be stated that it's Joan Vinge's first published novel (and written based on notes from Vernor Vinge, who also helped edit, but this was in the period where his writing wasn't all that memorable either), and her later works I recall being much better (including her Hugo-winning The Snow Queen written only a couple years later). It's more interesting as a curiosity than a compelling story, decent but nothing memorable. However, if the author ever completes the story with Pham Nuwen in it, I absolutely will read that.
June 1, 2024
A bit dated, but this was Vinge's first novel, though th Hugo Award-winning The Snow Queen made it out the blocks first. Vinge was writing The Snow Queen (then named Carbunkle) just as Outcasts was being serialised in Analog magazine over three issues - February, March & April 1978. Just the year before Analog published the short story she first gained prominence with - Eyes of Amber, though I reckon her View From a Height published in Analog later on in 1978 is her best short work.
The Outcasts of Heaven Belt is no classic, but it gives the reader a decent, somewhat 'hard sf' yarn. Vinge's Heaven, a solar system lacking a habitable planet but packed full of asteroids, is in itself a unique creation. Into that mix she throws in a civil war that has robbed the Heaven system of its wealth. Add-in a visiting unarmed spacecraft from a nearby star, seeking to open trade relations but unaware that the Heaven system is a mere shadow of its former glory, and there's a political drama set to go.
One of the novels unusual features is the willingness for Vinge to have many of the characters go against their natural inclinations. Many stories might have that registered with one character, but the The Outcasts of Heaven Belt has almost half-a-dozen characters willing to confront what might be regarded as their normal loyalties and behaviour.
The dramatic finale provides a decent conclusion. Outcasts though is better viewed as the first stuttering work of an author who would improve with every published title.
The Outcasts of Heaven Belt is no classic, but it gives the reader a decent, somewhat 'hard sf' yarn. Vinge's Heaven, a solar system lacking a habitable planet but packed full of asteroids, is in itself a unique creation. Into that mix she throws in a civil war that has robbed the Heaven system of its wealth. Add-in a visiting unarmed spacecraft from a nearby star, seeking to open trade relations but unaware that the Heaven system is a mere shadow of its former glory, and there's a political drama set to go.
One of the novels unusual features is the willingness for Vinge to have many of the characters go against their natural inclinations. Many stories might have that registered with one character, but the The Outcasts of Heaven Belt has almost half-a-dozen characters willing to confront what might be regarded as their normal loyalties and behaviour.
The dramatic finale provides a decent conclusion. Outcasts though is better viewed as the first stuttering work of an author who would improve with every published title.
November 5, 2022
3.75 stars, rounded up! For a book I picked pretty much randomly off the science fiction shelf of my local used-bookstore, this was a surprisingly interesting and good read. Joan D. Vinge has a clear and expressive writing style and an eye for characterization, creating characters you genuinely want to hear more about. I would love to read more about the society of Morningside, and loved the surprise of a polyamory-oriented lifestyle described in the novel without being sensationalized. The writing is engaging, not heavy on the technobabble or futuristic slang like many in the genre; as someone who often struggles to follow along with science fiction and fantasy worldbuilding, I appreciated its clearness and the complexity that was established without becoming confusing.
The one place where I felt the book struggled was the ending. It's tough, in a plot that centers entirely around anthropological dynamics and nonviolent conflict resolution, to create an ending compelling enough to feel climactic. I could see all the layers Vinge had incorporated in an effort to increase suspense, and it worked- but not as much as I think it needed to in order for the book to be truly successful. The resolution felt slightly abrupt as a result. But still, this was a highly enjoyable story and an excellent brief/quick read!
The one place where I felt the book struggled was the ending. It's tough, in a plot that centers entirely around anthropological dynamics and nonviolent conflict resolution, to create an ending compelling enough to feel climactic. I could see all the layers Vinge had incorporated in an effort to increase suspense, and it worked- but not as much as I think it needed to in order for the book to be truly successful. The resolution felt slightly abrupt as a result. But still, this was a highly enjoyable story and an excellent brief/quick read!
December 9, 2018
Maybe I didn't read closely enough, but I found the setting disorienting and the characters hard to keep track of in my mind. The main character was both decisive and wishy-washy, which makes no sense to me (or you, probably). And she was ALWAYS emotional, which was annoying. It was really hard to get invested in the story or care about any of the characters, many of whom were all dealing with pressing personal issues that never really got fully fleshed out or developed. I felt as if I was receiving this story, not directly from the mind of the author, but hearing it secondhand from an unreliable narrator through a brick wall covered with Vaseline.
July 14, 2020
Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
"The title of Joan D. Vinge’s first novel, The Outcasts of Heaven Belt (1978), is an homage to The Outcasts of Poker Flat (1869) by the turn of the century western writer and poet Bret Harte. He is famous for his depictions of resourceful women in California pioneer settlements. Vinge creates a resourceful female captain of a powerful but weaponless spaceship [...]"
"The title of Joan D. Vinge’s first novel, The Outcasts of Heaven Belt (1978), is an homage to The Outcasts of Poker Flat (1869) by the turn of the century western writer and poet Bret Harte. He is famous for his depictions of resourceful women in California pioneer settlements. Vinge creates a resourceful female captain of a powerful but weaponless spaceship [...]"
December 29, 2018
6/10. Media de los 2 libros leídos de la autora: 6/10
Yo lo tengo como "Los proscritos del cinturón del cielo", de Edhasa Nebulae
Yo lo tengo como "Los proscritos del cinturón del cielo", de Edhasa Nebulae
September 26, 2025
"Call me daddy."
"No. I'm going to call you something so much more cringe that everyone around us will constantly be throwing up at zero Gs, because we're in space."
Captain Betha Torgussen and one of her husbands, Clewell "Pappy" Welkin survive the attack that happens immediately on entering the range of the planet that they were coming to have a friendly exchange of trade and knowledge with. So that ruined the five year trip from their planet to Heaven, a planetary system that was fantastic the last time anyone visited a century ago. Then some greasy teens with silly names try to take over their ship. Bird Allyn and Shadow Jack are feral, but they find out that they can take the first showers of their lives here and they start to calm down and trust Betha and help her run the ship. Meanwhile, Wadie just woke up next to a prostitute, so he's a character too.
This book is a big allegory of societies and the way things could be, but the writing is muddy and the characters and events don't always make sense, like when Betha is trading the cat with the Tiriki for hydrogen and Wadie starts talking even though he wasn't in the room! That's on Heaven, the decadent planet, where everyone votes on everything through television screens and the whole world is governed by the tyranny of the mob. Wadie wears lace, because he's decadent, except I kept thinking, "Like Prince?" Lace has lost all meaning as a symbol in the last fifty years, I guess.
Bird Allyn and Shadow Jack are from the authoritarian society with meager resources. Bird Allyn has a deformed hand and Shadow Jack has a deformed sister, so they have to work in the gardens, which is lovely because they're gardens, but bad because they're exposed to radiation. And their families make them be pirates?
Betha, her favorite husband Eric, her oldest husband Pappy, and the rest of their loving, cosy, radiant, equal, plural family, are the ideal society. They're generous, they play guitar, they practice free love, and they put GRASS GREEN SHAG CARPET IN THE CONTROL ROOM OF A SPACESHIP! GRASS GREEN SHAG CARPET IN THE CONTROL ROOM OF A SPACESHIP! It's the 70s.
Why did they bring one cat into space? Why is that cat okay with zero gravity? Why bring five years of cat food into space? Does the spaceship have a mouse problem? Why is the cat the only trade good that they have? Why bring the cat with you when attempting to trade the cat to the Tiriki family? Why bring your only bargaining chip to the table like that? Why didn't the Tirikis kill them and take the cat? Why didn't they assume that the Tirikis would kill them and take the cat?When bringing your only trade good, who is a cat, to the Tiriki family to trade for hydrogen, why not bring cat food and litter box? Are they planning to let the Tiriki family watch this cat starve quickly? Are they assuming that this society that has not seen an animal in one hundred years has cat food?
The writing was muddy. Betha was an angry person. There was that weird thing on Bird Allyn's world where the man's wife had a deformed baby and the council decreed the man should kill it and it was dead? and then he handed it to Wadie and it died? and then the man stuck it out of the airlock? and it died? and then Wadie goes to the gardens and the man is still running around trying to kill the baby? I get that it was evocative of a soulless culture where an imperfect baby cannot live because society has no resources, but what was happening? Where was the editor?
This book was okay. The bad writing made the clash of allegorical planets less heavy-handed, thank God. It was okay to read but I wouldn't recommend it. Joan D. Vinge grew as an author and won a Hugo later on, so I'd read that book.
"No. I'm going to call you something so much more cringe that everyone around us will constantly be throwing up at zero Gs, because we're in space."
Captain Betha Torgussen and one of her husbands, Clewell "Pappy" Welkin survive the attack that happens immediately on entering the range of the planet that they were coming to have a friendly exchange of trade and knowledge with. So that ruined the five year trip from their planet to Heaven, a planetary system that was fantastic the last time anyone visited a century ago. Then some greasy teens with silly names try to take over their ship. Bird Allyn and Shadow Jack are feral, but they find out that they can take the first showers of their lives here and they start to calm down and trust Betha and help her run the ship. Meanwhile, Wadie just woke up next to a prostitute, so he's a character too.
This book is a big allegory of societies and the way things could be, but the writing is muddy and the characters and events don't always make sense, like when Betha is trading the cat with the Tiriki for hydrogen and Wadie starts talking even though he wasn't in the room! That's on Heaven, the decadent planet, where everyone votes on everything through television screens and the whole world is governed by the tyranny of the mob. Wadie wears lace, because he's decadent, except I kept thinking, "Like Prince?" Lace has lost all meaning as a symbol in the last fifty years, I guess.
Bird Allyn and Shadow Jack are from the authoritarian society with meager resources. Bird Allyn has a deformed hand and Shadow Jack has a deformed sister, so they have to work in the gardens, which is lovely because they're gardens, but bad because they're exposed to radiation. And their families make them be pirates?
Betha, her favorite husband Eric, her oldest husband Pappy, and the rest of their loving, cosy, radiant, equal, plural family, are the ideal society. They're generous, they play guitar, they practice free love, and they put GRASS GREEN SHAG CARPET IN THE CONTROL ROOM OF A SPACESHIP! GRASS GREEN SHAG CARPET IN THE CONTROL ROOM OF A SPACESHIP! It's the 70s.
Why did they bring one cat into space? Why is that cat okay with zero gravity? Why bring five years of cat food into space? Does the spaceship have a mouse problem? Why is the cat the only trade good that they have? Why bring the cat with you when attempting to trade the cat to the Tiriki family? Why bring your only bargaining chip to the table like that? Why didn't the Tirikis kill them and take the cat? Why didn't they assume that the Tirikis would kill them and take the cat?When bringing your only trade good, who is a cat, to the Tiriki family to trade for hydrogen, why not bring cat food and litter box? Are they planning to let the Tiriki family watch this cat starve quickly? Are they assuming that this society that has not seen an animal in one hundred years has cat food?
The writing was muddy. Betha was an angry person. There was that weird thing on Bird Allyn's world where the man's wife had a deformed baby and the council decreed the man should kill it and it was dead? and then he handed it to Wadie and it died? and then the man stuck it out of the airlock? and it died? and then Wadie goes to the gardens and the man is still running around trying to kill the baby? I get that it was evocative of a soulless culture where an imperfect baby cannot live because society has no resources, but what was happening? Where was the editor?
This book was okay. The bad writing made the clash of allegorical planets less heavy-handed, thank God. It was okay to read but I wouldn't recommend it. Joan D. Vinge grew as an author and won a Hugo later on, so I'd read that book.
Read
October 15, 2021No recollection of this one, beyond the cover. I *think* I read it, back in the day....
I've read others of her stuff around then, and (basically) no memories, except cover art, She did get a luscious Whelan cover for "The Snow Queen": https://reiszwolf.wordpress.com/2021/...
So I guess she remains best known as “Vernor’s Ex”….
I've read others of her stuff around then, and (basically) no memories, except cover art, She did get a luscious Whelan cover for "The Snow Queen": https://reiszwolf.wordpress.com/2021/...
So I guess she remains best known as “Vernor’s Ex”….
October 6, 2017
Full review on my podcast, SFBRP episode #002.
January 19, 2022
Different, but poor execution. Characters thin. Science moderately okay. Surprisingly very little conflict. Poor resolution.
October 16, 2025
Me ha gustado el contexto de un futuro remoto en el que hay viajes interplanetarios sin saltarse las leyes de la física. De hecho los viajes dentro del sistema planetario se hacen lentos porque así es la naturaleza. También me ha parecido interesante cómo han evolucionado las diferentes culturas que aparecen y su forma de enfrentarse a los problemas. La reflexión principal, que la colaboración es necesaria y que sin ella estamos abocados a la extinción, la veo desarrollada de forma demasiado pesimista, aunque hay algo de razón en su planteamiento.
March 10, 2011
You can't tell at all from reading it, but this is set in Vernor Vinge's zones of thought universe, and parts of it are supposed to be co-written by him. So, interesting for that, and for being Joan Vinge's first novel.
abandoned
March 26, 2014I've liked other books by this author, but I just couldn't get into this one.
September 17, 2011
I enjoyed the world building and the characters, but something about the last third felt a bit flat to me.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews