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Stopping at Slowyear

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Stopping at Slowyear
First edition
AuthorFrederik Pohl
Cover artistRob Alexander
LanguageEnglish
GenreScience fiction
PublisherAxolotl Press
Publication date
1992
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages150
ISBN0-553-29487-3
OCLC25808833

Stopping at Slowyear is a 1992 science fiction novel by American writer Frederik Pohl.[1][2]

Plot summary

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Stopping at Slowyear tells the story of an interstellar cargo vessel which runs between out-of-the-way worlds, as it visits a planet called Slowyear after its 19-year-long revolution around its star.

The crew explore the local culture and find several odd customs. Among these is of a sort of death lottery as a punishment for crimes. If someone commits a crime, they are sentenced to take a pill, which depending on the severity of the infraction will have a different probability of being lethal poison.[3]

Slowyear's principal industry is raising sheep. During their isolation, their sheep have developed a form of scrapie which is lethal to humans without immunity.

Stopping at Slowyear addressed prion diseases[3] years before public awareness of mad cow disease was widespread.

References

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  1. ^ "Title: Stopping at Slowyear". isfdb.org. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
  2. ^ “Review of Stopping at Slowyear.” Library Journal. Library Journals, LLC, 1992.
  3. ^ a b McClintock, Michael W. "The Problem of Stopping at Slowyear." Extrapolation 38, no. 4 (Winter, 1997): 304.
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