"On the High Frontier" was an early effort, a cowboy yarn set in space -- long before Firefly came along, we might mention. It's pretty much a Tall Tale and has nearly every gol-danged cliche you can shake a stick at. I added one to this version that was not in the original.
Publisher's Weekly had this to say when it appeared in The Forest of Time and Other Stories:
In his introduction and charming endnotes, Flynn reveals an impish sense of humor that leaches into the stories. ""On the High Frontier"" is the space opera to end all space operas, a wild western hardwired with the argot of cyberpunk that gleefully subverts every cliche of the subgenre. Any author who can nudge readers in the ribs with a line such as, ""Many a spacer has come to grief with his ship tuckered out megaclicks from the nearest gas cloud,"" and make them envision a Gary Cooper type saying it with a straight face, is worth his weight in cybercash, and then some.
There is a wink aimed at the original "Eifelheim" in the passing reference to Nagy hypospace.
Have fun. Or not. It's up to you.
That was a scream, and not a wounded jellybelly scream, neither. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThat thar was one mighty fine story.
ReplyDeleteShucks, weren't nuthin'.
DeleteJust read it aloud to the kids - they liked it a lot.
ReplyDeleteAnd isn't it "T'weren't nothin'"? ;)