The Starmen

{{Short description|1952 novel by Leigh Brackett}} {{about|the 1952 novel by Leigh Brackett|other uses|Starman (disambiguation)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{infobox book |  | name = The Starmen | title_orig = | translator = | image = Starmen brackett.jpg | caption = Dust-jacket from the first edition | author = Leigh Brackett | illustrator = | cover_artist = Ric Binkley | country = United States | language = English | series = | genre = Science fiction | publisher = Gnome Press | release_date = 1952 | english_release_date = | media_type = Print (Hardcover) | pages = 247 | oclc = 1722293 | preceded_by = | followed_by = }} '''''The Starmen''''' is a science fiction novel by American writer Leigh Brackett. It was published in 1952 by Gnome Press in an edition of 5,000 copies. It was also published by Ballantine Books in 1976 under the original magazine title of '''''The Starmen of Llyrdis'''''. Ace Books published an abridged edition under the title '''''The Galactic Breed'''''. The Ace edition was published as an Ace Double with ''Conquest of the Space Sea'' by Robert Moore Williams. The novel was originally serialized in the magazine ''Startling Stories'' in 1951.

==Plot introduction== The novel is a space opera concerning the only race that is able to endure the rigors of interstellar travel.

==Reception== Contemporary reviews were lukewarm to mildly positive. In ''F&SF'', Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas described ''The Starmen'' as "an able job of writing a completely routine and uncreative space opera."<ref>"Recommended Reading," ''F&SF'', February 1953, p.74</ref> In'' Galaxy Magazine'', Groff Conklin called the novel "a pleasurable way to pass a couple of hours" and noted that Brackett "writes well, moves her plot along at a suitable pace, and maneuvers her characters in a lifelike manner."<ref>"Galaxy's 5 Star Shelf", Galaxy Magazine, April 1953, p.116</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Sources== *{{cite book | last=Chalker | first=Jack L. | author-link=Jack L. Chalker |author2=Mark Owings | title=The Science-Fantasy Publishers: A Bibliographic History, 1923-1998 | location=Westminster, MD and Baltimore | publisher=Mirage Press, Ltd.| pages=301 | year=1998}} *{{cite book | last=Corrick | first=James A. | author-link=James A. Corrick | title=Double Your Pleasure: the ACE SF Double | location=Brooklyn, NY | publisher=Gryphon Books | pages=18–19 | year=1989|isbn=0-936071-21-4}} *{{cite book | last=Tuck | first=Donald H. | author-link=Donald H. Tuck | title=The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy | location=Chicago | publisher=Advent | pages=61 | year=1974|isbn=0-911682-20-1}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Starmen, The}} Category:1952 American novels Category:1952 science fiction novels Category:Fiction set around Aldebaran Category:Novels by Leigh Brackett Category:Novels first published in serial form Category:Space opera novels Category:Works originally published in Startling Stories Category:Gnome Press books