AustLit logo
image of person or book cover 434098706463537790.jpg
Source: www.amazon.com
y separately published work icon The Hard Way Up selected work   short story   science fiction  
Issue Details: First known date: 1972... 1972 The Hard Way Up
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

A short story collection comprising: 'With Good Intentions,' 'The Subtracter' (aka 'The Minus Effect'), 'The Tin Messiah' (aka 'The Soul Machine'), 'The Sleeping Beauty,' 'The Wandering Buoy,' 'The Mountain Movers' and 'What You Know.' The collection was first published in 1972 as one half of an Ace Doubles edition (with Robert Lory's The Veiled World).

Contents

* Contents derived from the New York (City), New York (State),
c
United States of America (USA),
c
Americas,
:
Ace Books , 1972 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
With Good Intentions, A. Bertram Chandler , single work short story science fiction
John Grimes is on a hiding to nothing. The ship he is serving on is not a happy one, and Captain Tolliver is singuarly unimpressed with his newly appointed Lieutenant. To make matters worse he finds himself having to babysit a bunch of biologists carrying out observations on a lost colony. With Grimes resentful of his charges, and they resenting his mere presence, things become oppressive and lonely... until he undertakes his own experiment with a group of shaggy, brutish humanoids living on the plant. Although his intentions are good, Grimes is about to make some unintentionally big changes.
The Minus Effect, A. Bertram Chandler , single work short story science fiction
'The human equation as worked out by the Department of Socio-Economic Science required a sinister correction by The Subtracter' (www.bertramchandler.com).

After completing his time aboard the Federation's Survey Service Crusier, Pathfinder, John Grimes is denied a promotion but given command of a small Serpent Class Courier called Adder. His first assignment is a relatively unimportant one - to ferry the mysterious Mr Alberto to the planet Doncaster. Things begin to look up when Grimes meets the delightful Selam Madigan at an informal supper given by the Chair of Political Sciences at Duncannon University. When he is invited back to her apartment to read some literature on the League of Life, the unexpected happens (again).
The Soul Machine, A. Bertram Chandler , single work short story science fiction

Grimes is given a seemingly straightforward the assignment by Survey Service command to ferry a Mr Adam from Lindisfarne Base (Earth) to Delacron. However, he soon discovers that this is no ordinary passenger. Mr Adam is an advanced robot that has been manufactured by the Federation for the sole purpose of stirring up revolt among the robots on a planet that happens to be in the Federation’s bad books. Unaware of these plans or Mr Adam's purpose Grimes invites it to the control room to observe the ship's departure, and later to his cabin for drinks and a yarn. It's a simple act of kindness that inadvertently leads to mutiny.

Sleeping Beauty, A. Bertram Chandler , single work short story science fiction

Having been responsible for the (unavoidable) destruction of a very expensive piece of Federation equipment - the robotic mutineer Mr Adam ("The Tin Messiah") - Grimes' punishment is to transport a hibernating Shaara princess from Droomoor to Brooum. When the spaceship Adder begins leaking deuterium the temperature rises, causing their passenger to wake. Grimes finds himself caught up in another life and death struggle when the princess, having torn open her silk cocoon, uses her telepathic powers to try and destroy Adder and her crew.

The Wandering Buoy, A. Bertram Chandler , single work short story science fiction

'It shouldn't have been there. Nothing at all should have been there, save for the sparse drift of hydrogen atoms that did nothing at all to itigate the hard vacuum of interstellar space, and save for the Courier Adder, proceeding on her lawful occasions. It shouldn't have been there but it was, and Grimes and his officers were pleased rather than othwerwise that something had happened to break the monotony of the long voyage...' (Bertram Chandler)

What was there that shouldn't have been is a sphere... an emisary of the old ones that had probably malfuntioned eons ago while on its missionary voyage. When Grimes and his psionic officer Spooki Deane investigate their curiosity almost costs them their lives.

The Mountain Movers, A. Bertram Chandler , single work short story science fiction

The Serpent Class Courier, Adder, is sent to Olgana to deliver mail to the Federation Survey Service base. Originally a lost colony Olgana is now inhabited by an intelligent race but still situated well off the main Galactic trade routes. With the crew given shore leave, Grimes goes on holiday with Spooky Deane, the ship's psionic communications officer, to the continent of Nevernever. They meet two Australian school teachers also on vacation and visit Cragge Rock, the largest monolith in known space. 'During a demonstration of native dance, Deane and the school teachers are overcome by their racial memories, claiming they have the blood of the "Old Ones" in them. What Grimes comes to realise far too late is that Cragge Rock isn't what it appears to be...

What You Know, A. Bertram Chandler , single work short story science fiction

Lieutenant John Grimes, Captain of the Serpent Class Courier Adder is in a bitter and twisted mood. Blamed for the disappearance of Cragge Rock and the desertion of his psionic officer Spooky Deane ('The Mountain Movers'), Grimes has also been overlooked for promotion (again!). For Grimes the problem isn't so much an issue of not knowing the right people but rather, that the wrong people know him. And to make matters worse he is now being ordered to ferry the officious and overbearing Mrs Commissioner Dalwood and her coldly efficient robotic servants to the planet Dhartana. A real Captain, one with four gold bands on his shoulderboards and scrambled egg on the peak of his cap would never have tolerate the situation that Grimes and his crew are about to endure... but then for all his authority and responsibility Grimes's rank is still too low for him to challenge an officer of the Board of Admiralty, even if she is a civilian. Before the assignment is over the Adder's Captain is going to need all of his infamous luck to keep both his ship and his career intact.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Date: 1972
    • New York (City), New York (State),
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Ace Books ,
      1972 .
      image of person or book cover 434098706463537790.jpg
      Source: www.amazon.com
      Extent: 162, 116p.
      Note/s:
      • This Ace Doubles publication also contains The Veiled World by American author Robert Lory (aka Robert Edward Lore).
      Series: y separately published work icon Ace Doubles Ace Books (publisher), New York (City) : Ace Books , 1952-1978 Z1849060 1952 series - publisher novel

      Ace Books began publishing genre fiction in 1952. Initially these were mostly in the tête-bêche (double) format, but they also published a few single volumes in the early years. The tête-bêche format was discarded in 1973, with later doubles being published adjacent to each other. Between 1952 and 1968, the books had a letter-series identifier; and after that date they were given five-digit numeric serial numbers. Ace stopped publishing its doubles series sometime around 1978.

      Number in series: 31755
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Road to the Rim / The Hard Way Up A. Bertram Chandler , New York (City) : Ace Books , 1978 Z1732083 1978 selected work novella science fiction New York (City) : Ace Books , 1978 pg. 145-340
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon John Grimes : Lieutenant of the Survey Service A. Bertram Chandler , New York (City) : Science Fiction Book Club [USA] , 2000 Z1837592 2000 selected work short story novella A collection of five early John Grimes adventures with the Federation Navy Academy. New York (City) : Science Fiction Book Club [USA] , 2000 pg. 227-356
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon John Grimes - Federation Survey Service A. Bertram Chandler , Wake Forest : Baen EBooks , 2007 Z1837652 2007 selected work novella Wake Forest : Baen EBooks , 2007
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon To the Galactic Rim : The John Grimes Saga I A. Bertram Chandler , New York (City) : Baen Books , 2007 Z1837702 2007 selected work novella short story science fiction New York (City) : Baen Books , 2007 pg. 269-422
    • Wake Forest, North Carolina,
      c
      United States of America (USA),
      c
      Americas,
      :
      Baen Books ,
      2007 .
      image of person or book cover 3439057269323060184.jpg
      Source: Baen Books
      Note/s:
      • ebook
    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      Orion ,
      2015 .
      image of person or book cover 8814744286467298205.jpg
      Image courtesy of publisher's website.
      Extent: 1v.p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 17 December 2015.
      ISBN: 9781473211223
      Series: y separately published work icon Gateway London : Orion , 2011- 19458199 2011 series - publisher novel science fiction

      Inaugurated by Orion in 2011, Gateway originally republished significant works of science fiction. By 2015, it had a catalogue of nearly three thousand titles, by over two hundred authors. Latterly, it has extended its catalogue to classic works of fantasy, horror, and crime, as well as science fiction.

      It is a companion series to SF Masterworks.

      Only works on the list by Australian authors are included on AustLit.

      Sources include https://www.thebookseller.com/news/more-hachette-authors-join-gateway.

Language: Japanese
    • Tokyo, Honshu,
      c
      Japan,
      c
      East Asia, South and East Asia, Asia,
      :
      Hayakawa-shobō ,
      1975 .
      image of person or book cover 447267414335404478.jpg
      Cover by Naoyuki Kato. Source: www.bertramchandler.com
      Alternative title: Renraku uchūsen hasshinseyo! 連絡宇宙艦発進せよ!
      Extent: 290p.
      Series: Hayakawa bunko Hayakawa-shobō (publisher), series - publisher

Other Formats

  • Also sound recording.

Works about this Work

You Could Always Look at the Pictures A. Bertram Chandler , 1976 single work essay
— Appears in: Forerunner Quarterly , January no. 3 1976; A. Bertram Chandler 2004-;

Chandler discusses his his association with Japanese publisher Hayakawa-shobō and translator Noda Masahiro and offers his thoughts and opinions on the illustrations which have accompanied several novels published for the Japanese market.

You Could Always Look at the Pictures A. Bertram Chandler , 1976 single work essay
— Appears in: Forerunner Quarterly , January no. 3 1976; A. Bertram Chandler 2004-;

Chandler discusses his his association with Japanese publisher Hayakawa-shobō and translator Noda Masahiro and offers his thoughts and opinions on the illustrations which have accompanied several novels published for the Japanese market.

Last amended 1 Jun 2020 14:15:23
X