Stephen Marlowe 1 hr 25 min read

Trumpets ring across the Syrtis Major plaza as the Outworld Federation's banner rises beside Earth's flag, and Alan Tremaine climbs the platform, knowing the cheers are for his murdered father.

Stephen Marlowe's 1954 story is a colorful military space opera of colonial revolt and a fallen leader. Vivid, dramatic golden-age SF. Read it for a rousing tale of worlds throwing off Earth's rule, and a son taking up the cause of his assassinated father.

In its time

Published in 1954, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

1 hr 25 min read (a novella, a full arc in one sitting or two).

Illustrated by

W. E. Terry