What do you think?
Rate this book
Rails Across the Galaxy
The aliens are coming—riding an interstellar vehicle no one on Earth could have predicted. All aboard!
Would interstellar visitors from a civilization more advanced than our own bring solutions to our problems? And even if they did, what could we offer in return.
The trouble with going to someone Older and Wiser for help is that their ideas of what you need may be very different from your own.
* The City of Ul Chalan • novelette by Richard K. Lyon
* Rails Across the Galaxy (Part 1 of 3) • serial by Richard K. Lyon and Andrew J. Offutt [as by Richard Lyon and Andrew Offutt]
* Rails Across the Galaxy (Part 2 of 3) • serial by Richard K. Lyon and Andrew J. Offutt [as by Richard Lyon and Andrew Offutt]
* Rails Across the Galaxy (Part 3 of 3) • serial by Richard K. Lyon and Andrew J. Offutt [as by Richard Lyon and Andrew Offutt]
This story was originally serialized in four issues of Analog circa 1973 and 1982 with illustrations by Frank Kelly Freas and Jack Gaughan.
Would interstellar visitors from a civilization more advanced than our own bring solutions to our problems? And even if they did, what could we offer in return.
The trouble with going to someone Older and Wiser for help is that their ideas of what you need may be very different from your own.
* The City of Ul Chalan • novelette by Richard K. Lyon
* Rails Across the Galaxy (Part 1 of 3) • serial by Richard K. Lyon and Andrew J. Offutt [as by Richard Lyon and Andrew Offutt]
* Rails Across the Galaxy (Part 2 of 3) • serial by Richard K. Lyon and Andrew J. Offutt [as by Richard Lyon and Andrew Offutt]
* Rails Across the Galaxy (Part 3 of 3) • serial by Richard K. Lyon and Andrew J. Offutt [as by Richard Lyon and Andrew Offutt]
This story was originally serialized in four issues of Analog circa 1973 and 1982 with illustrations by Frank Kelly Freas and Jack Gaughan.
ebook
Published January 1, 1982
1 person want to read
About the author
Richard K. Lyon
20 books1 followerRichard K. Lyon was a research scientist, inventor and writer, with a PhD in physical chemistry from Harvard. His hobbies included collecting pulp SF magazines and writing. Tales from the Lyonheart, a recent collection of his stories is available from Wild Cat Books. A selection of his previously unpublished stories will appear in TQF over the next couple of years.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 30, 2025
I read this collaborative space opera novel by Andrew J. Offutt and Richard K. Lyon as a three-part serial in Analog magazine when it appeared in their August and September issues in 1982. It came to mind recently as I was finishing Timothy Zahn's Quadrail series, and I thought I'd like to read it again only to find that it has never been published in book form. Bummer! I remember it as a fun and funny first-contact space opera set in the near-future world of 1996 that was very enjoyable. The galactic civilization is founded on an economy and transportation system of rails across the galaxy, which is very cool to someone who worked in the rail industry for a quarter century. Someone really should do a physical edition, and then---all aboard!
Displaying 1 of 1 review