Escape Vector: and other stories

by Bryan Young

From the author of LOST AT THE CON and THE SERPENT'S HEAD comes twelve tantalizing stories of science fiction. Collected for the first time, these short works by famed author BRYAN YOUNG take place across the far reaches of the galaxy. This cross section of works document what rebels, bounty hunters, smugglers, journalists, spacers, and colonists might find in the far reaches of space... "Bryan Young is an imaginative writer who has a director's eye, a film historian's perspective, a critic's cynicism, and a genre fan's enthusiasm. It's an interesting mix. I look forward to seeing everything he writes." --Aaron Allston, author of STAR WARS: X-WING: MERCY KILL

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories

232 pages, Paperback

First published September 12, 2015

About the author

Bryan Young (he/they) works across many different media. His work as a writer and producer has been called "filmmaking gold" by The New York Times. He's also published comic books with Slave Labor Graphics and Image Comics. He's been a regular contributor for the Huffington Post, StarWars.com, Star Wars Insider magazine, SYFY, /Film, and was the founder and editor in chief of the geek news and review site Big Shiny Robot! In 2014, he wrote the critically acclaimed history book, A Children’s Illustrated History of Presidential Assassination. He co-authored Robotech: The Macross Saga RPG and has written five books in the BattleTech Universe: Honor's Gauntlet, A Question of Survival, Fox Tales, Without Question, and the forthcoming VoidBreaker. His latest non-fiction tie-in book, The Big Bang Theory Book of Lists is a #1 Bestseller on Amazon. His work has won two Diamond Quill awards and in 2023 he was named Writer of the Year by the League of Utah Writers. He teaches writing for Writer’s Digest, Script Magazine, and at the University of Utah. Follow him across social media @swankmotron or visit swankmotron.com.

Support Bryan on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/swankmotron

Reviews

[Dawn Boardman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Escape Vector is full of delightful fun science fiction stories. Three of the stories contain a delightful bounty hunter named Blackheart who Young only gives us enough of a glimpse of to make me want more. The Gunslinger of Glycon gives me another peak at one my favorite of Young’s protagonists from his novel The Serpent’s Head. The worlds built are as stunning and intricate as space itself and the author brings them to life without bogging down the text with description. My favorite aspect of the anthology, however, is the author brings to life female characters in ways not often seen within the genre. As both protagonist and antagonist, wearing hats of white, black and grey, he explores the idea of the female character as human, not woman, which is refreshing, not only for this specific subgenre of science fiction, but especially for a male author. Space battles, a ghost story, origin stories, bounty hunters, and narrow escapes, Young is able to add something important to the standards of speculative fiction while taking his reader on a thrilling joy ride.

[Alan Zaugg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found myself drawn in and completely engulfed in the short stories of Escape Vector. Bryan Young has written a set of compelling and captivating stories that will take you into an entirely new galaxy. The stories are teasers, appetizers. I can't wait to read more! I love to immerse myself when I read, drifting away into the fictitious worlds and settings. This book allowed me to drift between reality and fiction in such a way, I almost didn't know which realm I really was in. It seemed so real. A brilliant masterpiece.

I highly recommend Escape Vector to anyone, especially if you have a love for science fiction.

[Crisana]

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Review will be added later.

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Escape Vector by Bryan Young was an excellent series of sci-fi, space opera stories.

I'm not the hugest space opera fan, but I've always loved Star Trek and Star Wars, so picking up this book was quite the treat. I hadn't been impressed by past books relating to space, so I wasn't sure what to expect. But, Bryan Young changed my view on Sci-Fi!

This collection of stories was truly a delight! Each story was quite short, but brought the reader into a magnificent universe far away. All of the stories did not connect, but that wasn't a problem! Bryan Young did a great job in making each story separate, and fully intriguing.

If anything, I would have liked all of the stories to connect somehow, but that is just a personal opinion. None of the stories seemed to long, or too short. Some of them I even wanted the story to continue and have more information on these intriguing characters and adventures.

Overall, I enjoyed it! Since I'm typically not a fan of the space opera genre, this was a real treat!

Three out of five stars! Great series of space stories!

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

[Charl · Rating 1 out of 5]

These are not stories. These are story fragments; incomplete and unfinished. A story has, most important of all, an ending! It has a middle, a climax, and a resolution. These are more like the first chapters of or excerpts from much longer stories. Many of them set up a tense situation, then simply end.

Don't waste your time.

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Escape Vector by Bryan Young was an excellent series of sci-fi, space opera stories.

I'm not the hugest space opera fan, but I've always loved Star Trek and Star Wars, so picking up this book was quite the treat. I hadn't been impressed by past books relating to space, so I wasn't sure what to expect. But, Bryan Young changed my view on Sci-Fi!

This collection of stories was truly a delight! Each story was quite short, but brought the reader into a magnificent universe far away. All of the stories did not connect, but that wasn't a problem! Bryan Young did a great job in making each story separate, and fully intriguing.

If anything, I would have liked all of the stories to connect somehow, but that is just a personal opinion. None of the stories seemed to long, or too short. Some of them I even wanted the story to continue and have more information on these intriguing characters and adventures.

Overall, I enjoyed it! Since I'm typically not a fan of the space opera genre, this was a real treat!

Three out of five stars! Great series of space stories!

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.