John E. Stith's novels include REDSHIFT RENDEZVOUS, a Nebula Award nominee, and MANHATTAN TRANSFER, which is now in development for TV. Several of his works with Ace Books and Tor Books have been bought by the Science Fiction Book Club, optioned for film, and translated into numerous languages. He has optioned several feature-film screenplays, and has sold to television (Star Trek).

His latest novella is TINY TIME MACHINE from Amazing Stories. His latest novel is PUSHBACK, a mystery-suspense novel published by ReAnimus Press and Audible. PUSHBACK was a finalist for the Daphne Du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense and the Colorado Author's League Award.

Redshift Rendezvous by John E. Stith

One fabulously wealthy colony. One hyperspace craft. One team of ruthless hijackers. One loner in their way. Do the math.

Aboard the Redshift light travels super-slowly (ten meters per second). Flip a light switch and the room slowly fills with light. Relativistic tricks are part of everyday shipboard life. Against this backdrop, one loner must foil a determined crew of highjackers and save the only woman who has broken through his barriers.

 

REVIEWS

  • "The list of science fiction authors who play the game the hard way by sticking to the rules of science is all too short. Now to that group which includes Clarke, Niven, Asimov, Bear, and Clement should be added the name of John E. Stith."

    – Dan Simmons

  • "In our literature of ideas it isn't often that an author comes up with something startlingly new, innovative, imaginative, original, wonder-inducing and gripping, all in one novel. Stith has done it.... A remarkable achievement."

    – Denver Post

  • "Mystery and adventure against a fascinating hard science background. This is without question Stith's best work to date."

    – Science Fiction Chronicle
 

BOOK PREVIEW

Excerpt

PASSENGER GUIDE

WARNING: Read This Guide Before Boarding the Redshift.

The environment aboard a hyperspace craft is quite safe as long as you are careful. The management reminds you that the speed of light on board this craft is ten meters per second, or about 30 million times slower than what you are used to. This means you will frequently encounter relativistic effects and optical illusions.

NEVER TAMPER WITH YOUR LIFEBELT OR ATTEMPT TO UNFASTEN IT. THE FIELD IT GENERATES ALLOWS YOUR NEURAL TRANSMISSIONS TO OPERATE AT NORMAL SPEEDS AND IT IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL TO YOUR HEALTH.

1. Use only the ship's master clock displays. Do not rely on your personal timepiece; it will accurately record your personal subjective time, but it will never agree with any other timepieces until you reset it when you leave the ship.

2. Remember that everything you see and hear is at least slightly in the past, due to the time it takes sound and light to travel. The closest things to you are the most current.

3. Trust what your hands tell you rather than believing your eyes. Bending light can make you think a convex floor is concave. Colors may shift and shapes may distort.

4. Go slow. Limit your speed to a fast walk until you are familiar with the environment. Please heed the traffic rules. By running fast, it is possible to exceed the speed of sound, which is only 6.7 meters per second.

5. Never assume anything.

6. Have a nice trip.