Captain Future: The Guns of Pluto

The Return of Ul Quorn #Vol. 2, Book 2

by Allen M. Steele

At the edge of the Solar System, CAPTAIN FUTURE and the Futuremen discover a plot of interstellar proportions as they confront THE GUNS OF PLUTO. “Cold Hell” was what they called the Sputnik Planitia Penal Colony on the toughest, deadliest penitentiary in all of space, a lock-up so remote and forbidding that it was built within an immense iceberg and is guarded by a race of cannibals. Considered escape-proof, Cold Hell was where the worst of the worst were sent, never to be dealt with again…until now. The mysterious Black Pirate has returned, in one swift move blowing open the cell block doors and taking hostages. He’s made demands for the liberation of his hostages, demands only one man can Curt Newton, the adventurer known as Captain Future. Yet, as Curt and his strange crew race across the solar system, are they unwittingly entering a cunning trap laid for them by an old enemy?Strap in for the second installment of an epic space adventure by multiple Hugo Award-winning author ALLEN STEELE as he reinvents one of the classic Golden Age heroes of science fiction, Edmond Hamilton’s CAPTAIN FUTURE.

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Pulp, Science Fiction Fantasy

207 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 3, 2020

About the author

Before becoming a science fiction writer, Allen Steele was a journalist for newspapers and magazines in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Missouri, and his home state of Tennessee. But science fiction was his first love, so he eventually ditched journalism and began producing that which had made him decide to become a writer in the first place.

Since then, Steele has published eighteen novels and nearly one hundred short stories. His work has received numerous accolades, including three Hugo Awards, and has been translated worldwide, mainly into languages he can’t read. He serves on the board of advisors for the Space Frontier Foundation and is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. He also belongs to Sigma, a group of science fiction writers who frequently serve as unpaid consultants on matters regarding technology and security.

Allen Steele is a lifelong space buff, and this interest has not only influenced his writing, it has taken him to some interesting places. He has witnessed numerous space shuttle launches from Kennedy Space Center and has flown NASA’s shuttle cockpit simulator at the Johnson Space Center. In 2001, he testified before the US House of Representatives in hearings regarding the future of space exploration. He would like very much to go into orbit, and hopes that one day he’ll be able to afford to do so.

Steele lives in western Massachusetts with his wife, Linda, and a continual procession of adopted dogs. He collects vintage science fiction books and magazines, spacecraft model kits, and dreams.

Reviews

[Dale Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Curt Newton had been making a name for himself. Of course, it wasn't the name that HE would have chosen but he couldn't argue that CAPTAIN FUTURE had begun to feared by villains and criminals throughout the system. So it was with a little despair when he had recently completed a mission to Venus that demanded he stop members of the terrorist group STARRY MESSENGER only to find the the first rue love of his life was one of those he must stop...and she wasn't scared by his name at all.

Now, he is interrupted in his attempt to return home after the last mission and is sent to the extreme edge of the solar system....with that old flame still in tow on his ship. And...that mission will soon reveal loyalties and betrayals he had never thought of...and enemies long thought dead.

Allen Steele has delivered the second in a proposed trilogy and it's a great one. Steele states how much discovering Captain Future reprints in his early years formed his imagination and lead him to become the prolific and excellent writer that he has become (my words)… and it can be seen in this his 4th entry into the world of Edmund Hamilton's Captain Future. His love for the character comes through in each chapter and page as he has captured the atmosphere and joy of the original stories and given them a modern spin to make the more relevant to newer, younger readers.

With the final book 1,500 LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME looming on the horizon, the anticipation grows.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captain Future was one of the most famous pulp heroes of the World War Two era. He starred in his own magazine in a series of adventure novels, most of which were written by Edmond Hamilton. Allen Steele revamped and refurbished and rebooted the character for modern and more mature readers with his novel Avengers of the Moon, which was published by Tor Books in 2017. It was supposed to be the first in a trio, but with the untimely passing of the renowned David Hartwell, the editor of the project, Tor made the ill-advised and unfortunate decision to not continue with the series. The publisher of Amazing Stories magazine (talking about reboots!) published the first part of the second novel six months or so ago under the (questionable) title of Captain Future in Love, and The Guns of Pluto is the second part. Another installment is listed as forthcoming at the end of the book, 1,500 Light Years From Home. This one ends on a cliffhanger, as did the previous installment, but that's kind of de rigueur for pulp serials, even if I do usually find it annoying. This one picks up the storyline of Hamilton's The Magician of Mars pretty well, and Curt, Otho, Grag, and Simon (along with two agents of the Interplanetary Police Force, Curt's girlfriend Joan and her boss Ezra), find themselves on their way Pluto in the trusty Comet II another pulse-pounding adventure. They also have Curt's old girlfriend (who's become an agent for the criminal organization) along in custody, which provides some tension with Joan. There were a couple of points that I didn't like (one of the main characters is disposed rather hastily for no apparent reason, and I wasn't convinced by a tribe of Plutonian cannibals), but overall it's a fine space opera adventure. In true pulp tradition, I'm anxious for the next issue! This one also contains a Captain Future story by Edmond Hamilton from a 1950 issue of Startling Stories magazine, which was also a lot of fun. It was neat to compare Steele's version side-by-side with the original. The stories are nicely illustrated, but the cover is rather poor.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second edition of Amazing Selects with Edmond Hamilton’s Captain Future starring in The Guns of Pluto by Allen Steele. This adventure is the second installment of Steele’s trilogy of The Return of Ul Quorn, sequel to Avengers of the Moon. Great read with clever plotting. Can’t wait to get my eyeballs on the conclusion. Plus this edition includes a bonus reprint of Hamilton’s “The Harpers of Titan,” a story in which the Brain takes center stage, with the rest of the crew in supporting roles

[John Loyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK/Good. ~2.9 stars. Captain Future, Curt Newton, and the Futuremen are returning to the moon with their prisoner when the get a message that the Black Pirate has orchestrated a breakout of the prison base on Cold Hell. He is demanding a ransom for Captain Lamont (of the ship they hijacked) and an unspecified prisoner.

On the contrived vs. clever scale, it is leaning heavily toward the former. What I would have liked is more of the old girlfriend, current girlfriend. There are a couple of mentions of it, Otho or Grag kids him about it, and he speaks to Joan for a page, but no real character development out of it. Maybe it's the constraint of keeping in line with the series. "Captain Future in Love" warned us that there'd be cliffhangers. Yep, cliffhanger. There are some inconsistencies in character. The black pirate, hijacked the ship with minimal casualties and let most of the rest free. At the prison break he just out and out murdered every single guard. Then asks for trust, for the Futuremen to deliver the ransom by coming to him unarmed. When he gets the chance to kill Curt, he doesn't immediately do it.

[Laurence Hidalgo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do like Allen Steele's reimagining of Captain Future. The Guns of Pluto has lots of action and plot twists that I'm sure many readers could see coming. That said, it's still a good story and ends with a nice cliffhanger.

The second, short story, The Harpers of Titan, for some reason caught me by surprise. At first I didn't get that it was a completely different story until I checked the table of contents and saw that it was written by Edmond Hamilton. That explains a lot, since the prose is quite different from the story by Allen Steele. It did have a satisfying ending.