Alan Edward Nourse 12 min read

Farmer George Barlow senses something wrong the moment his son Tad drives home, a deep uneasiness in his chest, the first sign of a strange yearning that will pull the boy toward the stars.

Alan E. Nourse's 1952 story is a warm, thoughtful adventure and space-opera tale. Sharp, humane golden-age SF. Read it for a well-turned story about the irresistible pull of the frontier and the ache of wanderlust in a young man bound for space, seen through a father's worried eyes, in a tender golden-age piece about longing, family, and the call of the unknown.

In its time

Published in 1952, during the 1950s, post-war optimism meets cold war anxiety.

Reading it

12 min read (a short story, a single idea, delivered and gone).

Illustrated by

W. E. Terry