
A sprawling future metropolis stretches beneath a sky of perpetual neon, where rooftops have become the only green oases and millions of people hustle through layered streets and sky‑ways. The city’s constant hum is punctuated by the occasional roar of a helicab, a sleek air‑cab that glides above the canyon‑like avenues. In this world of towering advertisements and ceaseless ambition, the promise of space feels both inevitable and distant.
Jed Cochrane, a jaded advertising executive, watches the city from his airborne chair and wrestles with a bruised ego. Just minutes before his flight, he’s thrust onto a moon‑rocket bound for Lunar City, a mission that feels more like a bureaucratic mistake than a heroic adventure. His cynical mind battles the stark reality of being just another expendable piece in a massive corporate machine.
As the white‑blazed rocket descends, its searing light briefly outshines the stars, and Cochrane is forced to confront the gap between his self‑image and the stark, impersonal future that awaits him among the colonies. The journey ahead promises a clash between personal relevance and the cold, indifferent expanse of humanity’s new frontier.
Language
en
Duration
~5 hours (341K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Release date
2006-05-10
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1896–1975
A prolific pioneer of science fiction, he helped shape the genre with fast-moving stories full of big ideas, practical ingenuity, and a sense that ordinary people could outthink extraordinary problems.
View all books