The Rim of Space

The Rim of Space (1961) is the debut science fiction novel by Australian author A. Bertram Chandler. The novel forms a part of the author's "Rim Worlds" series of stories.[1][2]

The Rim of Space
AuthorA. Bertram Chandler
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
SeriesRim Worlds
Genrescience fiction
PublisherAvalon Books, New York
Publication date
1961
Media typePrint
Pages220 pp
Preceded by– 
Followed byBring Back Yesterday 

Plot outline

The novel follows the adventures of Derek Calver, one of Chandler's early major characters. The novel sees Calver joining up with the Rim Runners in order to undertake an exploration of desolate planets. He joins the crew of Lorn Lady and accompanies it to various planets on the Galactic Rim.

Reception

Floyd C. Gale of Galaxy Science Fiction in 1961 rated The Rim of Space 3.5 stars out of five, stating that "All the elements of the salty sea are in Chandler's deep space thriller ... Art it may not be, but likable it certainly is".[3] Mark Yon of SFFWorld noted in 2016 the dated sexism of the book but found: "This was a book that rose above its rather low expectations. Expecting fast-paced, low quality pulp fiction, I was surprised how contemplative and well thought out the book was. It’s a great read, which, although typically 1950’s pulp and thus unlikely to blaze a trail through SF fiction, is entertaining enough to hold interest and make me want me to read more. Surprisingly reminiscent of early Poul Anderson for its literacy and often melancholic mood, this is an old gem that’s worth a read."[4]

gollark: Did you just randomly decide to calculate that?
gollark: Well, you can, or also "it would have about the same mass as the atmosphere".
gollark: Wikipedia says that spider silk has a diameter of "2.5–4 μm", which I approximated to 3μm for convenience, so a strand has a 1.5μm radius. That means that its cross-sectional area (if we assume this long thing of spider silk is a cylinder) is (1.5e-6)², or ~7e-12. Wikipedia also says its density is about 1.3g/cm³, which is 1300kg/m³, and that the observable universe has a diameter of 93 billion light-years (8.8e26 meters). So multiply the length of the strand (the observable universe's diameter) by the density of spider silk by the cross-sectional area of the strand and you get 8e18 kg, while the atmosphere's mass is about 5e18 kg, so close enough really.
gollark: Okay, so by mass it actually seems roughly correct.
gollark: So, spider silk comes in *very* thin strands and is somewhat denser than water, interesting.

See also

Notes

An early version of this novel was published in the January 1959 of Astounding Science Fiction as a novella under the title "To Run the Rim".[5][6]

Dedication: "To Susan, who belongs on the Rim".[2]

References
  1. Austlit - The Rim of Space by A. Bertram Chandler
  2. A. Bertram Chandler - The Rim of Space
  3. Gale, Floyd C. (December 1961). "Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf". Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 144–147.
  4. "SFFWorld Archive: The Rim of Space by A. Bertram Chandler" by Mark Yon, SFFWorld, 21 May 2016
  5. Austlit - "To Run the Rim" by A. Bertram Chandler
  6. A Bertram Chandler - "To Run the Rim (Article)"
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