Project Gutenberg
2020-01-26
Public domain in the USA.
134
Leiber, Fritz
1910
1992
Leiber, Fritz Reuter
Mack
The Snowbank Orbit
Produced from Worlds of If Science Fiction, September 1962
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
"The Snowbank Orbit" by Fritz Leiber is a science fiction short story published in the early 1960s. The narrative revolves around a fleet of spaceships, led by the crew of "Prospero", who find themselves in the midst of an interstellar war against an enigmatic enemy while navigating the treacherous atmosphere of Uranus. The blend of military strategy and speculative science enables a gripping exploration of humanity's struggle in the face of overwhelming alien forces. The story follows the character Grunfeld and his crew as they execute desperate measures to survive after being pursued by enemy ships. As they approach Uranus, they confront not only the planet's hostile atmosphere but also the realization that the enemy they face might not be merely alien ships, but rather sentient beings that exist as part of the very fabric of space. With a mix of tension and philosophical reflection, the crew grapples with their fate, ultimately leading to a climactic and thought-provoking conclusion that leaves readers pondering the nature of life beyond Earth. The narrative deeply explores themes of fear, survival, and the broadening definition of life itself. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Reading ease score: 73.2 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read.
en
Science fiction
Short stories
War stories
Space ships -- Fiction
Human-alien encounters -- Fiction
PS
Text
Category: Short Stories
Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy
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