Baen Books has been producing a series of themed science fiction anthologies featuring new writers. Gunfight on Europa Station was released as a hardback last year and as a paperback last month.

The back of Galaxy magazine in 1950 had this:

“Jets blasting, Bat Durston came screeching down through the atmosphere of Bbllzznaj, a tiny planet seven billion light years from Sol. He cut out his super-hyper-drive for the landing. . . and at that point, a tall, lean spaceman stepped out of the tail assembly, proton gun-blaster in a space-tanned hand.”

The idea was to separate Galaxy from science fiction magazine publishing at that time including Planet Stories, Thrilling Wonder Stories, and Startling Stories. Action science fiction was disparaged as a western with some pseudo-scientific trappings. I have an almost complete run of Planet Stories and have read a good amount of fiction from that magazine. If there are space-westerns present, I need it pointed out. There is certainly glamour present. I have viewed a good amount of planetary adventure as owing more to historical romance than westerns.

There was the sublime Battle Beyond the Stars, a blatant Star Wars rip-off from 1980. George Peppard played the character Space Cowboy. There is also the Steve Miller Band song, “Space Cowboy.” I can remember the movie trailer for Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared Syn, “It’s high noon at the end of the universe!” The western is deep in the DNA of American genre fiction and it has worked its way into science fiction and embraced in this anthology.

David Boop who has brought us The Straight Outta anthology series of weird westerns edited Gunfight on Europa Station. The book contains twelve stories examining the frontier in space.

I only knew two writers: Alan Dean Foster and Elizabeth Moon. These anthologies are a great way to discover new writers.

David Boop Foreword

Elizabeth Moon Greenhorn

Michael F. Haspil The Penultimate Stand of Pina Gracchi

Gini Koch Showdown on Big Rock 27

Alan Dean Foster Hydration

Alex Shvartsman Winner Takes All

J. R. Martin and Cat Rambo Riders of the Endless Void

Patrick Swenson Seeds

Martin L. Shoemaker Riding the Storm Out

Alastair Mayer Incident at Raven’s Rift

Jane Linskold Claim Jumped

Wil McCarthy Doc Holliday 2.0

Haspil’s story has mercenaries hired to deal with sabateurs. Martin and Rambo’s story is about salvage of space wrecks with a corporation using violent intimidation. Jane Linskold’s story concerns asteroid mining. Alan Dean Foster’s story concerns survival when your water is gone. There were no stand ins for cattle drives in this book.

There were some interesting ideas such as artificial intelligence integrated into humans. I did not fully get Wil McCarthy’s “Doc Holliday 2.0” as was the new Doc Holliday an android or what?

If you have an interest in science fiction that is respectful of our pulp magazine past, check out Gunfight on Europa Station.