Starman's Quest

Alan Donnell is coming home for the first time in what feels like centuries. The starship Valhalla is returning to Earth, and he should be excited: his 17th birthday is approaching, and the crew that's become his family will be there. But his twin brother Steve jumped ship on a previous return, choosing to live as an Earther rather than a starman. Now Alan must find him in a world that views spacemen with suspicion and resentment. The Lexman Spacedrive gave humanity the stars, but it took something essential in return. Because of the Fitzgerald Contraction, nine years can pass on Earth while only six weeks elapse aboard a ship traveling near light speed. Spacemen return as strangers in their own land, their families aged beyond recognition, their customs obsolete, their language even changed. Alan is a starman, and Earth is no longer his world. When he too decides to jump ship, he discovers how utterly hostile that world can be. To survive, he'll have to play a ruthless game no one bothered to explain to him. A 1958 classic about what it costs to touch the stars, and whether the price is worth paying.