The Jim Baen Memorial Award: The First Decade

Space and the nearby solar system beckon for so many, especially for astronomers, science fiction writers, and fans. One place to celebrate that interest is in The Jim Baen Memorial Award, The First Decade anthology from editor William Ledbetter. Collected here are stories that won the Jim Baen Award, an outreach arm of The National Space Society. The award program is now in its 11th year and going strong. Most of the stories are about going to Mars or the Moon, and as an offshoot of the National Space Society, they are dreamy in the sense that our desire to go to other planets is made manifest in our collective imaginations.

Most of the stories are nitty gritty with imaginary astronauts telling their stories about nearby space exploration, ie, they are stories about the near future. Most of these authors are not the very big names in the field, but they have been nominated and have won other awards also. There are a few stories about the technology of the far distant future with androids, human clones, and brain uploads, but the focus here seems to be getting us off the planet. This is a great book for those who seek to explore the solar systems, with stories about drive, dreams, obstacles, and pluck. Best to not read them all at once; instead, plan for joyful returns to the anthology and space.