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: Sunk cost fallacy = UTTER bees.
gollark: > This book is intended as a text for a second or third level undergraduate course in introductory ethical calculus or morality science. Ethical Calculus on the Astral Manifold demonstrates foundational concepts of ZFC+DMR axiomatic moral theory in particularly novel ways. Join an autonomous car as it journeys across the utility isosurface, restricted in phase-space by the physical constraints of spacetime. Follow the thought processes of the man at the lever in the modified manifold trolley problem. Watch as a eigenmoses maximizer behaves in a simulated environment, following an instinct one might find very familiar. These are just a few of many case studies presented, analyzed in detail in a manner both interesting, easy to read, and highly informative. Freshman knowledge of real analytical techniques is recommended but not necessarily required.
gollark: I was hoping for the realization of this random book cover.
gollark: I see.
gollark: What do you mean "morally"? Have you devised some sort of formally specified typed encoding for ethics?

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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