Asteroid of Fear

Description

Asteroid of Fear is a great, action-packed science fiction story by Raymond Z. Gallun. Written and first published in 1951, the story features dangerous that settlers have to face on a colony on an asteroid, but unlike in many other stories of the Golden Age of science fiction, the dangers in this book do not come from extraterrestrial beings, but from fellow humans.

The protagonist of the story is John Endlich, a settler on the asteroid called Vesta charged with the task of farming his plot of land in order to produce food for the asteroid miners working on Vesta. He goes on a short vacation to Earth and on his way back he gets into a fight with one of the miners, a man called Neely, who threatens Endlich and his family with some sort of sabotage.

John and his family live in stress and are continuously watchful of the miner, but then things seem to settle and John also gets his first crops. To celebrate success, Endlich goes to the miner’s bar to show the workers his tomatoes and he gets into a fight with Neely again. He drags Neely to the farm where he holds him at gunpoint, forcing him to eat tomatoes until he throws up.

Many have criticized the novel for featuring characters that usually appear in cowboy stories, but Asteroid of Fear has undeniable merits as well. The book comes with wonderful descriptions of the asteroid as well as accounts of the cataclysm that has torn it off Planet Earth and of the ecosystem frozen for millions of years that gradually comes back to live when atmosphere is created by the settlers, making Asteroid of Fear definitely worth reading for those passionate about science fiction, as well as for those who are just looking for some entertaining, quick read.
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