Impact Parameter and Other Quantum Realities

by Geoffrey A. Landis

Reading more like a news report from the future than contemporary fiction, this collection of short stories combines hard science with rich emotionalism to explore myriad realities. Stories in this collection include of Mars, mathematical theorems from a very unlikely source, how Sherlock Holmes deals with a parasitic alien, the horrors of a hopeless war, and a voyage into a black hole.

Contents:
A Walk in the Sun (1991)
Impact Parameter (1992)
Elemental (1984)
Ecopoiesis (1997)
Across the Darkness (1995)
Ouroboros (1997)
Into the Blue Abyss (1999)
Snow (1998)
Rorvik's War (1995)
Approaching Perimelasma (1998)
What We Really Do Here at NASA (1994)
Dark Lady (1995)
Outsider's Chance (1998)
Beneath the Stars of Winter (1993)
The Singular Habits of Wasps (1994)
Winter Fire (1997)

Genres: Science Fiction, Collections

330 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2001

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Landis is an accomplished poet, a NASA scientist, and an excellent technical writer, all of which abilities he combines to good effect in this collection of his short stories, several of which have been award-nominated. My favorite is probably A Walk in the Sun (which reminds me of the best of Hal Clement's work), though there's a wide range of styles and topics represented. Joe Haldeman contributes an interesting introduction. Good stuff for science fans!

[Riju Ganguly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Geoffrey A. Landis writes hard science fiction stories with a profoundly human core. That makes his stories special. That also makes a lot of his stories very-very bleak.
Out of the sixteen stories included in this superlative collection, several fall to the espeically bleak variety. Several others lose themselves in highfalutin physics that's unimaginable, apart from having not much to do story-wise. Some stories were light and fluffy.
But there were several outstanding stories, as well. In my opinion they were~
1. A Walk in the Sun;
2. Into the Blue Abyss
3. What We Really Do Here at NASA
4. Outsider's Chance
5. The Singular Habits of Wasps.
Also, Joe Haldeman's "Foreword" and the author's "Afterword: About the Stories" were magnificent.
Overall, if you like hard scifi with a dash of irreverence and a mug of weariness about humanity, this collection would be just for you.
Recommended.

[Terry Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am recently back from Balticon 48. Geoffrey Landis was there to receive the 2014 Heinlein Award, given for 'outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings that inspire the human exploration of space." As the convention was winding down, at a kaffeeklatsch, Dr. Landis fielded questions which were mostly science rather than SF- fair enough; not only has he won a Nebula, two Hugos, a Locus, and two Rhysling Awards for his poetry, but he's also a NASA scientist, an electrical engineer, a PhD in solid state physics, holds eight patents, and has published over 300 scientific and technical papers. He's worked on Mars missions (prompting Joe Haldeman to remark in the introduction to this book that Landis is the only SF writer to have actually been to Mars), solar energy, solar sail propulsion, and is currently working on technology to allow a vehicle to land, survive, and perform experiments on Venus.

Geoffrey Landis is the kind of hero Heinlein would admire: a scientist and an engineer, at home in theory and practice, widely read and expert in many fields, and also a poet and philosopher. Someone wrote of RAH that 'he wore imagination as his private suit of clothes.' That's true of Geoffrey Landis as well; the clothes in this case are overalls, working clothes, as he spins stories of hard science fiction that are based on a no-nonsense view of what science is. His stories, no matter how imaginative (and Ecopiesis, for instance, is very imaginative), are steeped in plausibility. When Dr. Landis gives you an explosion, you can be sure that the blast could have, would have, occurred that way.

Of the stories, the first, "A Walk in the Sun", is my favorite; it has the warm glow of a Heinlein juvenile. I had the sense that RAH was looking over my shoulder and nodding approval. Winter Fire was also excellent, and you'd do well to read the Afterward for a glimpse into the mind of a working writer of hard science fiction. There are 16 stories here, and I guarantee you'll find something to your liking.

[YH · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite sci fi writer and his short stories collection

[Tanya Spackman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic short story collection. I think Mr. Landis may be my new favorite short story author. Every single story in this collection is a winner.

[Howard Brazee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good hard science stories by a current NASA employee. I especially liked his Hugo winning story "A Walk In The Sun", but they were all top notch.

[H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the best SF short stories ever.

"Landis's finest success transcends mental acuity and dazzling storytelling: he gives "hard" science fiction a heart." --Publisher's Weekly

"One of the best hard science-fiction writers ever. He really knows his stuff." --Gregory Benford

I completely agree.

Fiction
1990, Nebula Award, best short story ("Ripples in the Dirac Sea")
1992, Isaac Asimov's Reader's Poll, Brazil, best short story ("Ripples in the Dirac Sea")
1992, Isaac Asimov's Readers Award, best short story ("Walk in the Sun")
1992, Hugo Award, best short story ("A Walk in the Sun")
1992, Electronic SF Award, best short story ("A Walk in the Sun")
1993, Analog Analytical Laboratory Award, best nonfiction ("Demon Under Hawaii")
2001 Locus Award, best first novel (Mars Crossing)
2003, Hugo Award, best short story ("Falling Onto Mars")
2009, Analog Analytical Laboratory Award, best novelette ("The Man in the Mirror")
2011, Sturgeon award, best short science fiction ("The Sultan of the Clouds")
2014, Robert A. Heinlein Award, "bestowed for outstanding published works in science fiction and technical writings that inspire the human exploration of space."
NonFiction
2009, Analog Analytical Laboratory Award, best novelette ("The Man in the Mirror")

Buy this book.

[Doug Farren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I met Geoffrey back in 2012 at the Astronomy Launch Pad Workshop. I finally got around to getting a signed copy of this book from him a few weeks ago when we met up at the Cleveland Concoction (we only live about an hour from each other). I started reading it as soon as I could.

This is, perhaps, one of the best collection of hard science fiction short stories I've ever read. I say this not because I know the author, but because it is true. Geoffrey Landis is not your run-of-the-mill science fiction author. He's an engineer at NASA and has some hardware rolling around on Mars. If you enjoy reading science fiction with an emphasis on keeping the science real without turning the story into a lecture, then pick up a copy of this book and start reading. Warning--you won't want to put it down!

[Sara]

Approaching peremilisma
black hole
i want survive
but what after that
black hole
change my name
change my earth
aproaching dark end
dark vesion
i didnt think stright
dew grass slam my foot
am i unqeu
am i what i am
dark hole
black vesion
my mix memory told everthing
forget color
forgive my eyes
meet what remain
dark black hole
what after
pain
blood
what after that
black dark hole

[Emmalyn Renato · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of (mostly hard) science fiction short stories written between 1984 and 1999, several of which have been nominated for various awards, with the short story 'A Walk in the Sun' winning the Hugo in 1992.

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of 'hard' SF stories from a writer who is also a physicist. Among the standouts are:

* "A Walk in the Sun" - typical hard SF problem story: how to stay alive on the moon while waiting to be rescued
* "Elemental" - an atypical hard/fantasy SF stories that works for me
* "Approaching Perimelasma" - hard SF at its hardest: a journey into a black hole
* "What We Really Do Here at NASA" - funny and a shot at NASA conspiracy theorists
* "The Singular Habits of Wasps" - a hard SF story wrapped up in a Sherlock Holmes story

[Devon · Rating 1 out of 5]

November 2011. I only read a few of the short stories in this collection, which were not very compelling. The best was "A Walk in the Sun" about the astronaut who crashes on the moon and has to keep walking to stay in the sunlight to survive, which might be worth 3 stars on its own. "Impact Parameter" was an interesting idea but predictable throughout with a cute twist at the end. "Into the Blue Abyss" was neither compelling nor believable. "Elemental" was annoying. The other short stories were not interesting enough to get me past the summary.