Cities In Space

The Endless Frontier #III

by Jerry Pournelle (Editor), John F. Carr (Editor), Michael Cassutt

Someday in the near future, our pioneer spirit will take us to the stars. But how will be organize our colonies? What unforeseen dangers will we face? And who will be chosen to go? Now today's masters of science fiction offer some startling possibilities...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN investigates the mystery of a lead coffin, launched from a radioactive moon base.
ROBERT SILVERBERG welcomes a newcomer without eyes to a new world where the blind lead the blind.
JERRY POURNELLE launches Earth politics into space...along with Earth greed and corruption.
NORMAN SPINRAD explores science-fact-and-fiction, from classic Robert A. Heinlein to cyberpunk William Gibson.

Contents:
- Introduction by Jerry Pournelle
- Consort (1975) by Jerry Pournelle
- The Free Agent (1981) by Michael Cassutt
- What Are These Lagrange Points, Anyway? by Doug Beason
- The Christmas Count (1991) by Henry Melton
- Three Poems:
— The Lagrange League Stationary Habitats by William John Watkins
— When Silver Plums Fall by Bruce Boston
— High Flight by John Gillespie MaGee, Jr.
- Lifeguard (1987) by Doug Beason
- New Worlds In Space by Norman Spinrad
- The Software Plague (1985) by John Park
- Blindsight (1986) by Robert Silverberg
- Access To Space: SSX by Jim Ransom
- Ghost Town (1983) by Chad Oliver
- Poppa Was A Catcher (1987) by Steven Gould
- In Appreciation: Robert A. Heinlein by Jerry Pournelle
- The Long Watch (1949) by Robert A. Heinlein

Cover illustration by Syd Datton

Genres: Science Fiction, Anthologies, Fiction, Short Stories

259 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1991

About the author

Dr Jerry Eugene Pournelle was an American science fiction writer, engineer, essayist, and journalist, who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte, and from 1998 until his death maintained his own website and blog.

From the beginning, Pournelle's work centered around strong military themes. Several books describe the fictional mercenary infantry force known as Falkenberg's Legion. There are strong parallels between these stories and the Childe Cycle mercenary stories by Gordon R. Dickson, as well as Heinlein's Starship Troopers, although Pournelle's work takes far fewer technological leaps than either of these.

Pournelle spent years working in the aerospace industry, including at Boeing, on projects including studying heat tolerance for astronauts and their spacesuits. This side of his career also found him working on projections related to military tactics and probabilities. One report in which he had a hand became a basis for the Strategic Defense Initiative, the missile defense system proposed by President Ronald Reagan. A study he edited in 1964 involved projecting Air Force missile technology needs for 1975.

Dr. Pournelle would always tell would-be writers seeking advice that the key to becoming an author was to write — a lot.

“And finish what you write,” he added in a 2003 interview. “Don’t join a writers’ club and sit around having coffee reading pieces of your manuscript to people. Write it. Finish it.”

Pournelle served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 1973.

Reviews

[Kevin · Rating 1 out of 5]

AKA “Jerry Pournelle Whines Instead of Editing,” this is a collection of stories from the 80s and 70s, only some of which have anything to do with the book’s supposed topic. I should have taken the introduction, which is a rant about the evils of the Soviet Union, the need for Star Wars, the genius of Dan Quayle, and how the editor knows better than NASA, as a warning. If I hadn’t gotten this book for 20 cents, I’d feel insulted (as it is, I still feel a bit fooled—I mostly picked up the book because it had a promising-sounding story by Robert Heinlein—the collection was partially in his honor—but that especially brief story did not make up for the rest of the collection).

[Norman Howe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This anthology serves many purposes: It contains short stories, novellas, poems, novelettes, essays about the colonization of space, and a tribute to Robert A. Heinlein. There are two very good stories, "The Long Watch" (1949), by Heinlein and "Poppa was a Catcher" (1987) by Steven Gould. While I am not a fan of Jerry Pournelle's politics, I like his writing and editing.