Ad Astra

By: Jack Campbell

Narrated by: Adam Verner

In this collection of short stories, New York Times best-selling author Jack Campbell explores what kinds of problems mankind might face as our horizons expand.

"Lady Be Good": The Lady Be Good is an old ship, running obscure routes with her loyal first officer Kilcannon and reclusive captain. When Kilcannon decides to rescue the survivors of an attack on a Vestral Company ship, a mysterious new passenger thanks him by asking difficult questions about the Lady, with unexpected answers.

In "Kyrie Eleison," the Verio, shipwrecked centuries ago on an out-of-the-way planet, and the descendants of the ship's survivors have gotten along as well as they can by following the orders that were passed on to them. But when the Bellegrange arrives on a rescue mission, her captain will have to reckon with the unexpected social order on the planet.

In "Do No Harm," a ship is so technologically advanced that it can repair itself - but turning over the keys might not be the best idea. And in "Down the Rabbit Hole," a series of failed attempts at faster-than-light travel leads to a novel approach: sending an untested naval captain out in a space ship to see if he can figure out what's gone wrong.

©2013 John G. Hemry (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"These stories were just a lot of fun. Some were humorous, some serious and some thought provoking. All were excellently written and not a one bored me." ( Booklikes)

There is a reason these stories are not longer

I did not like any of the stories, notba single one was worth my time.

Great series of short stories

I was surprised that all of them were really interesting and thought provoking. The NASA ones were totally believable.

All stories great, intros by author make easy entrance

The risk of anthologies is that not all stories may be good. No worries here, each of these is wonderful. I think them better than his novels, even. More pure, concentrated fun. From tearful to hysterically funny, worth every minute. I home there are more collections like this.

Nice collection of stories

If you could sum up Ad Astra in three words, what would they be?

I enjoyed the variety of stories. Jack Campbell is a great story teller who develops the Characters with down to earth traits, who have morals and a desire to the right thing regardless of the consequences.

His newer works are wonderful

Many of these stories have a 1960s / 1970s feel to them. I strongly recommend his Lost Fleet” series and JAG in Space novels

Great short stories!

While best known for the Lost Fleet series, Jack Campbell delivers a handful of fantastic stories here that are well worth a credit. I really enjoyed getting the storytelling mastery we know to expect from a well established author while also getting many storylines all in one book. Not one dud here, they are all great!

I wish there had been more!

Great stories. I liked some better than others of course but most left me wanting more. The same voices with different characters as the stories changed made it more challenging for certain, but the narrator seemed to struggle at times with the female voices.

Meh

Some of the stories were good. Some were obvious attempts by the author to turn the frustrations of writing into parody humor - that failed miserably. Other stories were intriguing criticisms of real life events but which showed juvenile writing skills.
As another reviewer commented "there's a reason these are all short stories."
I highly recommend against paying for this collection of short stories. The good ones are worth the time to listen if you get it for free during an Audible sale.