The Ballad of Beta-2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Ballad of Beta-2 | |
 Cover of first edition paperback |
|
| Author | Samuel R. Delany |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science Fiction |
| Publisher | Ace Books |
| Publication date | 1965 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 96 pp |
| ISBN | NA |
The Ballad of Beta-2 is a 1965 science fiction novel by Samuel R. Delany about the history of an ill-fated multi-generational interstellar expedition of discovery. By the time the spaceship has arrived at the destination star system, the descendants are incapable and uninterested in settling the system's planets, and continue to live in the spaceship as an obscure backwater culture isolated from broader human history.
The book was originally published as an Ace Double with Alpha Yes, Terra No! by Emil Petaja. The first stand alone edition was published in 1966.
A quote from the ballad written for the book.
"She walked through the gates and the children cried,
She walked through the Market and the voices died,
She walked past the court house and the judge so still,
She walked to the bottom of Death's Head hill..."
[edit] References
- Tuck, Donald H. (1974). The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy. Chicago: Advent, 136. ISBN 0-911682-20-1.
