Starflight

Tales from the Starport Lounge

By: Robert Silverberg, William Joseph Roberts, D.J. Butler, Michael J. Allen, Christopher Woods, Bart Kemper, Benjamin Tyler Smith, Brisco Woods, David A. Tatum, Declan Finn, Michael Gants, Philip K. Booker, Marisa Wolf, R.J. Ladon, J.F. Posthumus

Narrated by: Talia Carver

Seventeen incredible authors. Seventeen amazing stories. One fantastic sci-fi universe, where the only limit is one’s imagination. Welcome to Starflight.

Based on the exploration-based Starflight video game series created by Greg Johnson and the Binary Systems team, the stories in Tales from the Starport Lounge flesh out and shine a light into the darkest corners of the known universe. Join the last vestiges of Humanity and their alien allies (the reptilian Thrynn, the insectoid Velox, and the plant-based Elowan) as they attempt to carve out their own territory in a sector of space filled with wondrous opportunity and deadly threats. Brave explorers seek out new worlds to colonize while merchants cruise from starport to starport, their holds laden with exotic goods.

Not all in this futuristic setting have noble intent. For every prospector and trader attempting to make a difference, a dozen pirates, smugglers, and mobsters engage in all manner of criminal enterprise. Gangs fill the underbellies of every major city and raid the trade routes between the stars, pushing the outnumbered and outgunned Interstel Police to their limit and forcing civilians to take matters into their own hands. It’s a rough-and-tumble universe, where one wrong move could spell doom for an expedition or grant enough wealth to buy a planet.

Board your ship and set course for stars unknown! The universe awaits.

©2021 Three Ravens Publishing (P)2022 Three Ravens Publishing

Parental Guidance Needed

Parental Guidance notification needed
Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2022
Parental Guidance notification needed: if you’re like me you remember Starflight being a mostly family friendly game. The book is not so much. Many of the tales, contain gratuitous swearing, heavy innuendo, and a couple are a bit graphic with violence and anatomy. “A New Beginning” and “Territory” are probably the worst offenders.

That being said most of the tales are well written. Some of the authors listed clearly collaborated with a couple names and places being used across stores (such as Mr McConnel, proprietor of the Black Box Lounge), but otherwise the stories have nothing to do with each other. The stories are short, so rarely is their a sense of final resolution. Most of the stories deserve a series or at least a sequel.

If you’re a fan of the old Starflight games or perhaps looking for a fresh science fiction that is not one of the main franchises while not straying far from their formula, this is definitely worth the look. If you’re looking for a set of short stories to read or listen to (in the case of the audiobook), this should probably be a pass.

A ripping good collection of stories!

This was a great bunch of stories to listen too. The narrator does an excellent job bringing all of the characters to life! Several of the stories made me tear up a bit as well. Great job to all of the authors!