Dust of Far Suns-Jack Vance novelette

Dust of Far Suns-Jack Vance novelette

AKA: Sail 25 (author’s preferred title) 

Gateway to Strangers

Dust of Far Suns  is a 29 page novelette that was first published in August, 1962 in the magazine Amazing Stories under the title “Dust of Far Suns.” It has also been known as "Gateway to Strangers" and "Sail 25."  Henry Bent is an irritable, unpleasant, overly sensitive, dictatorial character who seems to be "a man of a different species."  He teaches pilots to operate spaceships, in this instance it is one that has a huge sail (thus the alternative title "Sail 25"). Bent tells his cadet crew that he does not expect to be liked and that if they do like him then he has failed because, "I haven't pushed you hard enough." All pilots know Bent and respect his skills, but they also invariably dislike him.  He has trained almost every well known pilot and is about to train a new crew.  During the training flight when Bent is not drunk or hiding from the others, he is sneaking around the ship, spying on the cadets, keeping track of their behavior by making comments in his notebooks where he records demerits.  These demerits will determine who passes and who gets axed from the program. Bent also says that he is retiring, that this will be his last flight and hints that he wants to die in space.  Is he suicidal?  Has he become an incompetent drunk? Or is this the finest training the cadets will ever receive? Each member of his crew reacts differently to Bent's behavior and the challenges of the training.  It is all done with humor with a memorable character who is as difficult as any boot camp sergeant.  My rating: 3+ “Liked it plus.”

Included in the Jack Vance collection titled Future Tense (1964)

Included in the Jack Vance collection titled The Best of Jack Vance (1976)

Included in the Jack Vance collection titled Dust of Far Suns (1981)

Included in the Jack Vance collection titled When the Five Moons Rise (1992)

Included in the Jack Vance collection titled Gadget Stories (2005) part of VIE

Included in the Jack Vance collection titled Jack Vance Treasury (2007)

Included in the Vance collection titled Sail 25 and Other Stories (2017 Spatterlight)