Alpha Centauri or Die!

Alpha Centauri or Die! is a science fiction novel by American writer Leigh Brackett.

Alpha Centauri or Die!
First edition
AuthorLeigh Brackett
Cover artistJack Gaughan
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction
PublisherAce Books
Publication date
1963 (first book publication)
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages121
OCLC33273412

Publication

The novel is a fixup[1] of two earlier short stories, "The Ark of Mars" (first published in the September 1953 issue of Planet Stories) and "Teleportress of Alpha C" (first published in the Winter 1954-1955 Planet Stories). Its first book publication was as half of Ace Double F-187 with Legend of Lost Earth by G. McDonald Wallis.[2]

Summary

In Brackett's future solar system, manned interstellar flight is forbidden with only the government's robotic spaceships being permitted. Attempting to escape the regime, Kirby, a former starship pilot, and his wife Shari construct the "Ark of Mars", a refitted freighter named the Lucy B. Davenport and with their crew set out to a habitable planet around Alpha Centauri. They run through the government blockades and defeat a robotic pursuit ship in battle, before setting out on a five-year voyage to the new planet. However, after arriving, they begin to realize that they are not alone…

Influence and reception

Rich Horton's review was mixed. He felt that the novel didn't have "the frisson of Dunsany-esque fantastical imagery that so drives her best work," concluding that it was "[m]ediocre stuff, really, though Brackett is never unreadable, and I did enjoy the book."[3]

gollark: Cool codes there.
gollark: The trading offer page is actually very helpful for that, since it shows the codes even of named stuff.
gollark: `b5ISs` `ifWV5`
gollark: I just noticed that I have both `is` and `if` codes right now.
gollark: Making up ridiculous justifications for random junk: Fun!

References
  1. Liptak, Andrew (2013-08-05). "A.E. van Vogt and the Fix-Up Novel". Kirkus Reviews.
  2. "F-series Ace Doubles". University of North Carolina Wilmington. Retrieved 2013-06-14.
  3. "Alpha Centauri or Die!, by Leigh Brackett". sff.net. Archived from the original on 2013-06-04. Retrieved 2013-06-14.
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