The Gravity Business

The Peppergrass family arrives on an alien world seeking heavy metals and profit, but what they find is something far stranger: Fweep, a gelatinous creature whose very body warps the gravitational forces around it. The planet's crushing pull disables their ship, strands them miles from their vessel, and leaves them at the mercy of an entity that can dictate its own terms. As the four-generation family fractures over whether to escape or exploit, young Four forms an unlikely bond with the creature while the others see only a commodity. When Fweep begins to reproduce, the Peppergrasses face an absurd question: can they cash in on the universe's strangest resource? James E. Gunn writes with sharp wit and genuine warmth, mining comedy from familial dysfunction and first contact alike. The result is a space adventure that treats its alien with curiosity rather than fear, and its bickering clan with affection rather than cynicism. For readers who want their science fiction served with humor, heart, and a side of absurdity.