Project Gutenberg 2019-01-21 Public domain in the USA. 123 Fontenay, Charles L. 1917 2007 Fontenay, Charles Louis Escape Velocity Produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, October 1954 Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net "Escape Velocity" by Charles L. Fontenay is a science fiction novel written during the mid-20th century. The book centers on the intense psychological and physical struggle between two astronauts, Kraag and Jonner, who find themselves stranded on an asteroid after a crash. As the pair confront the brutal realities of survival, the underlying themes of betrayal, fear, and the instinct for self-preservation come to the fore. The narrative unfolds as Kraag, motivated by a desire to eliminate competition, murders their navigator Stein to ensure that he can outlast Jonner until rescue arrives. As Jonner realizes that survival is not guaranteed and that Kraag intends to kill him, he employs both cunning and adaptability. The conflict escalates into a deadly game of cat and mouse, with each character employing physical and psychological tactics to gain the upper hand. The novel explores the characters' motivations, ultimately revealing a tragic irony when Jonner uses Kraag’s own bullets to execute a lethal plan that takes advantage of the unique environment of the asteroid. The story culminates in a poignant commentary on the extremes of human nature when survival is at stake. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 84.4 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Science fiction Survival -- Fiction Murder -- Fiction Weapons -- Fiction Asteroids -- Fiction PS Text Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy Category: Novels 79515 2025-07-23T10:23:32.356366 text/html 75963 2019-01-21T18:30:04 text/html 566345 2025-07-23T10:23:34.261415 application/epub+zip 566686 2025-07-23T10:23:32.732368 application/epub+zip 90838 2025-07-23T10:23:32.520388 application/epub+zip 608376 2025-07-23T10:23:35.569398 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 601154 2025-07-23T10:23:34.053385 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 125918 2022-09-26T16:46:53.772426 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 71779 2025-07-23T10:23:32.131372 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 71719 2019-01-21T18:30:04 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 19312 2025-07-23T10:23:35.696367 application/rdf+xml 24413 2025-07-23T10:23:32.592373 image/jpeg 4707 2025-07-23T10:23:32.556382 image/jpeg 461047 2019-01-21T18:30:04 application/octet-stream application/zip 26747 2019-01-21T18:30:04 application/octet-stream application/zip 462315 2025-07-23T10:23:32.374370 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia