explorer / books · 1971
Tau Zero
Published 1970 by Doubleday · 208 pages
Hugo · 1971
FinalistOn the ballot with
This book is recorded on the Hugo ballot only. Each row shows the full Best Novel ballot for that award and ceremony year. Winners appear first.
Poul Anderson on these ballots
12 award entries · 10 books · 0 wins · 1959–1990
Synopsis
Fifty colonists aboard the starship Leonora Christine, powered by a Bussard ramjet, suffer a catastrophic malfunction that prevents them from decelerating, sending them hurtling ever closer to the speed of light. As relativistic time dilation compresses the passage of external time, the crew watches civilizations, stars, and galaxies rise and fall while grappling with the social and psychological pressures of their increasingly desperate situation.
Experimental tags
AI-assisted labels that have not been validated consistently across the catalogue. Read the dataset methods →