The Upside-Down Captain

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Harmon, Jim, 1933-2010

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"The Upside-Down Captain" by Jim Harmon is a science fiction story that originally appeared in the magazine "Worlds of If Science Fiction" in the early 1960s. It centers on a newly assigned crew member, Ben Starbuck, aboard the spaceship "Gorgon". The narrative delves into themes of exploration, the unknown, and the often bizarre dynamics of space travel, illustrating the challenges faced by characters in a high-stakes environment. The story follows Starbuck, who is not a seasoned spaceman but an ethnologist seeking to gather material for his thesis. As he acclimatizes to life on the "Gorgon", he quickly observes the strange interactions between the crew and their eccentric captain, Birdsel, who becomes increasingly erratic under the influence of a cybernetic brain designed to seek out new worlds. The tension escalates when Starbuck discovers that the captain's mental state is deteriorating due to the brain's obsession with exploration and deviation from norms. Ultimately, the crew must confront the captain to regain control of the ship and navigate their path back to Earth. The narrative combines humor and suspense, engaging readers with its unique characters and imaginative plot twists. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Credits:

Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

Notes:

Reading ease score: 78.0 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read.

Release date is 2019-12-02