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[Karwats]

Gentlemen (perchance some ladies too)

I just recently bumbled into this forum. There seems to a lot of very well informed Scifi readers here so hopefully I can get this monkey of my back so to speak.

I read short story quite a few years ago.

AFAIK it was called "All the way Back" or possibly No way back, though I'm fairly certain of the former.

I concerns a Race called the Antha (humans) who make it back into space after 26000 ?? odd years after being banished to earth following a war against all the races of the galaxy, as I recall they almost won the war too.

Anyway the they have sent out a ship which is intercepted and detroyed (I think). Their ship has some sort of venting system to expose the crew to absolute zero for freezing/travelling purposes and this amazes the whoever it was that intercepted them (memory gets decidedly fuzzy here).

Also some mention of various attrocities commited by the Antha and some sort of connection to Julius Caesar's mutilation of Gaulish Prisoners (cutting off right hands or something).

Any assistance would be appreciated as this is driving me up the wall!!! Not quite gnawing my wrists but I'm getting there :)

Also the link to the list of lists seems to be non functional, is there an alternate list I can download somewhere.

Finally does anyone know If the final Space Mavericks book by Michael Kring was ever published. I have Vols 1 and 2 and can for the life of me not find the 3rd instalment for sale anywhere. Assorted comments lamenting the abscence of Vol 3 abounds though so it would seem it has not been published.

My thanks

[tdeanatoz@yahoo]

This sounds an awful lot like the following story:

All the Way Back, Michael Shaara, (ss) Astounding Jul 1952

I read this story a few months ago in the recent anthology, THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN, Baen Books. You may want to check it out.

[Karwats]

Thanks a lot.

Name still doesn't ring a bell but I'll have a look.

[tdeanatoz@yahoo]

Yes, this story is definitely "All the Way Back," by Michael Shaara. Most bookstores and libraries will have a copy of THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN; that is the only place I know of where the story is in print.

[Hobbit]

Now out of print, but if you can get hold of a secondhand copy of Brian Aldiss's Galactic Empires story collection, it's in there too. (and yes, I checked for you. Like Tom said above, if your name of the race is right, this is definitely it. :) )

Does the US book club do a copy?

Hobbit

[Karwats]

Thanks Guys

It is correct, you are definitely on the ball.Now lets hope the DHL People dont let me down:)

My thanks again

[Eönwë]

I definitely did not know that Michael Shaara wrote science fiction in his youth...you learn something new every day.

[tdeanatoz@yahoo]

Here's the short story collection of his early work:

Soldier Boy, Michael Shaara (Pocket Books, March 1982, pb)
• Introduction • in
• Soldier Boy • nv Galaxy July 1953
• Grenville’s Planet • ss F&SF Oct. 1952
• Opening Up Slowly • ss Redbook Aug. 1973
• The Book • nv Galaxy Nov. 1953
• Come to My Party • ss Dude Aug. 1956
• Time Payment • ss F&SF June 1954
• Citizen Jell • ss Galaxy Aug. 1959
• The Dark Angel • ss *
• Wainer • ss Galaxy April 1954
• All the Way Back • ss Astounding July 1952
• 2066: Election Day • ss Astounding Dec. 1956
• Border Incident • ss Mississippi Review Nov. 1976
• Starface • ss *
• The Peeping Tom Patrol • ss Playboy Sep. 1958
• Orphans of the Void • nv Galaxy June 1952
• Death of a Hunter • nv Fantastic Universe Oct. 1957
• Author’s Afterword • aw

Hobbit: THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN is indeed available from the Science Fiction Book Club. It's also available as a trade paperback. The easiest way to get it is as an e-book from Webscriptions, and it's only 6 bucks!