The Death of Captain Future

By: Allen Steele

Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Allen Steele

Union laborer Rohr Furland begrudgingly takes a job on a space freighter piloted by Captain Future, an immature and slightly crazed captain with an obsession for early 20th-century science-fiction novels.

When they receive a distress call from a nearby space station, Furland and the first officer blend the dangers of reality into the captain's fantasy world.

BONUS AUDIO: Author Allen Steele talks about his love of pulp fiction, and its direct influence on this Hugo Award-winning novella.

©1995 Allen M. Steele, (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

• Hugo Award, Best Novella, 1996

Old SF adventure story

To get the fastest transport to a rendezvous with his new job, spacer Rohr Furland decides to take a position on The Comet. Rohr doesn???t listen to gossip, so he isn???t aware that the captain of The Comet, who styles himself Captain Future, is a nut case who can???t find a crew because nobody else will work for him. Nobody, that is, except for Jeri, a bioengineered ???Superior??? human who Rohr develops a crush on.Why is Jeri, who is a wonderful person and an excellent First Officer, willing to put up with this awful job?

Captain Future, obsessed with 1960s American pulp science fiction, turns out to be a tyrant. His father bought him The Comet and now he???s living out all his boyhood fantasies as the captain of a spaceship. Rohr can???t stand Captain Future, but all he has to do is make it to their next stop, where Rohr will be disembarking. But when a distress signal comes in from a spaceship that???s in trouble, The Comet is obliged to change course and go to its aid. Now, with potential danger ahead, Captain Future is really in his element!

The Death of Captain Future, by Allen Steele, is a short fun story that???s bound to please fans of old science fiction heroic adventures. I listened to it in audio format and it kept me happily entertained for two hours. Audible Frontier???s version was read by Marc Vietor, who is perfect for this sort of role. This version has an introduction by Allen Steele (read by Allen Steele) in which he talks about how Edmond Hamilton???s CAPTAIN FUTURE stories, which Steele read when he was a young boy, inspired this story. He even includes excerpts from the CAPTAIN FUTURE books in the text. Allen Steele also explains how Jeri was inspired by the girl he had a crush on in sixth grade.

The Death of Captain Future appeared in the October 1995 issue of Asimov???s Science Fiction and won both a Hugo Award and a Seiun Award. It was also nominated for a Nebula and a Locus Poll Award.

Very good narration. Good story, very funny.

Very good narration. Good story, very funny.

Great Adventure

If I could only make one criticism is that it’s too short. I was enthralled by the story and the mood of this old school space adventure.

Nostalgic story but felt a little incomplete.

interesting and well read. Although honestly maybe I am overly sentimental but I couldn't help wish that 'Captain Future' had got a moment of actual heroism or redemption rather than pure posthumous retelling of his story. But maybe that is just me wanting another story.

Funny...That

A short fun story that’s fun for fans of old science fiction heroic adventures. Very good narration. Prologue by the author was quite illustrative for the listener.

It had its moments

Not a bad tale. Downloaded it for something cheap to listen to before getting next months credits. It was worthwhile, but not the gut-buster other reviewers seemed to think.

Melodramatic Fun

I've downloaded many Audible books, and this is the first that has motivated me to write a review.

This title is lots of fun. When I heard the characterization of the captain of the Comet (aka Captain Future), I laughed and then I laughed some more after I rewound the audio, and laughed even more after rewinding again. It is one of the funniest and most memorable characterizations in SF literature.

The story is campy, told in an "over the top" way, and it was pure joy.

I received two happy hours form this title. I can see why it won a Hugo award for best novella.

Ripping good fun! Great satire.

excellent pastiche of pulp scifi adventure

this was flat out excellent. i love the world weary noirish voice of the protagonist and the narrator hits it perfect. the story is initially hilarious with the play on the old pulp style story and later gets creepy and finishes poignantly. a new favorite and i would definitely listen to it again.

Hilarious send-up

Great fun.