Coyote (novel)
Encyclopedia
Coyote is science fiction
author Allen Steele
’s novel of interstellar exploration and settlement. The book is a compilation of some of Steele’s short stories into one epic novel. Perspective is taken from many of the major characters of the book, giving Coyote a well-rounded and satisfying account of the colonization of a new world.
Coyote is part of a trilogy, that was followed by Coyote Rising and Coyote Frontier. There are three spinoff novels, Spindrift, Galaxy Blues, and Hex which are set in the same universe, although not directly tied to the events in Coyote. The series is continued by the Coyote Chronicles, a two book duology, including Coyote Horizon, released in March 2009 and Coyote Destiny, which was released on March 2, 2010.
regime constructed after the fall of the United States, has built its first starship: the URSS Alabama. The welcoming celebration for Captain Robert E. Lee takes a sudden turn when Lee initiates his plan to steal the Alabama. Working with a handful of conspirators, Lee manages to take the ship by the helm and override the clearance codes. URS soldiers climb aboard to stop Lee, but they are too late. Not wishing to abandon their orders, Colonel Reese and the other soldiers become stowaways.
Captain Lee knew exactly what he was doing. His destination: the 47 Ursae Majoris
system, some 46 light years
away—far enough to escape the tyrannical United Republic. At a cruise velocity of .2c, Alabama would not arrive at its destination until 230 earth years have passed. So the crew of 104 soldiers, scientists, and civilians were put in biostasis, to be awakened from their virtual immortality by the ship’s AI 226 years into the future. (Four years are spared due to time dilation
.) 47 Ursae Majoris' system has four planets- named Fox, Raven, Bear and Wolf after Native American
mythology. Bear has six satellites- Dog, Hawk, Eagle, Coyote, Snake and Goat. Of these six, Coyote is large enough to support its own biosphere
.
Just three months into the journey, something goes terribly wrong. Leslie Gillis, the senior communications officer, is awakened from biostasis. Expecting the year to be 2300, Gillis is horrified when he questions the AI. There was a mix up, and now it is impossible for Gillis to return to his dreamless sleep. His grueling options are either suicide or a lonely existence surviving off the ship’s supplies. While suicide may be more honorable than devouring the crewmate’s rations, Gillis chooses life.
After a brief chat with the AI, Gillis learns that a Mr. Eric Gunther was originally scheduled to awake three months into the trip. Gunther is an agent for the URA, and would attempt to contact the president, or destroy the ship. The program was changed at the last minute to wake someone else instead- Les Gillis. Gillis leaves a note for Captain Lee explaining Gunther’s plans for treason. Why they were changed at the last minute remains a mystery, but it was a change that would cost Gillis his life.
During Leslie Gillis’ solitary life, he did everything he could to keep from going insane, attempting to eat and sleep at regular hours, reading all of the books which were on board, playing chess against the AI, writing stories, and painting. Using practically all of the ship’s art supplies, Gillis created a story about a prince named Rupurt and the fantastic alien world he lived in. He painted scenes of his books on the ship’s inside walls. Eventually, Gillis died in his old age with a fall from the main ladder, after trying to get a better look at the alien ship he had seen. The AI automatically expelled his body into space with the arms of a maintenance bot, and the ship sailed on to 47 Ursae Majoris with no more incidents.
The crew is awakened as planned in the year 2300. The Alabama has entered the 47 Ursae Majoris system and is approaching its third planet, Bear. Bear (currently known as 47 Ursae Majoris b
) is a gas giant
that orbits 47 Ursae Majoris at 2.1 AUs and Coyote, its fourth moon, is larger even than Mars. This habitable satellite is lush with green plants and rivers of water. This will be the crew’s new home. Captain Lee directs the landing procedures of the two ships docked to the Alabama, the Wallace and the Helms.
The crew finds Coyote to be habitable, but very peculiar nevertheless. Coyote’s seasons change at a much slower pace than Earth’s. A year for Coyote consists of 1,096 days with 27 hours per day. Life forms on Coyote seem similar to those on Earth at first glance, but behave in unique ways. As described in Gillis’ novel, the world is home to gigantic bird-like creatures which are anything but friendly. Using Gillis’ term for the beasts, Boids are common in the grasslands around the new settlement.
The remainder of Coyote tells of the adventures of Carlos and Wendy along the banks of the equatorial river which stretches around Coyote.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
author Allen Steele
Allen Steele
Allen Mulherin Steele, Jr. is an American science fiction author.Steele began publishing short stories in 1988. His early novels formed a future history beginning with Orbital Decay and continuing through Labyrinth of Night...
’s novel of interstellar exploration and settlement. The book is a compilation of some of Steele’s short stories into one epic novel. Perspective is taken from many of the major characters of the book, giving Coyote a well-rounded and satisfying account of the colonization of a new world.
Coyote is part of a trilogy, that was followed by Coyote Rising and Coyote Frontier. There are three spinoff novels, Spindrift, Galaxy Blues, and Hex which are set in the same universe, although not directly tied to the events in Coyote. The series is continued by the Coyote Chronicles, a two book duology, including Coyote Horizon, released in March 2009 and Coyote Destiny, which was released on March 2, 2010.
Plot summary
The year is 2070, and the United Republic of America, the authoritarian conservativeConservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
regime constructed after the fall of the United States, has built its first starship: the URSS Alabama. The welcoming celebration for Captain Robert E. Lee takes a sudden turn when Lee initiates his plan to steal the Alabama. Working with a handful of conspirators, Lee manages to take the ship by the helm and override the clearance codes. URS soldiers climb aboard to stop Lee, but they are too late. Not wishing to abandon their orders, Colonel Reese and the other soldiers become stowaways.
Captain Lee knew exactly what he was doing. His destination: the 47 Ursae Majoris
47 Ursae Majoris
47 Ursae Majoris is a solar analog, yellow dwarf star approximately 46 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Ursa Major. , it has been confirmed that three Jupiter-like extrasolar planets orbit the star...
system, some 46 light years
Light Years
Light Years is the seventh studio album by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue. It was released on 25 September 2000 by Parlophone and Mushroom Records. The album's style was indicative of her return to "mainstream pop dance tunes"....
away—far enough to escape the tyrannical United Republic. At a cruise velocity of .2c, Alabama would not arrive at its destination until 230 earth years have passed. So the crew of 104 soldiers, scientists, and civilians were put in biostasis, to be awakened from their virtual immortality by the ship’s AI 226 years into the future. (Four years are spared due to time dilation
Time dilation
In the theory of relativity, time dilation is an observed difference of elapsed time between two events as measured by observers either moving relative to each other or differently situated from gravitational masses. An accurate clock at rest with respect to one observer may be measured to tick at...
.) 47 Ursae Majoris' system has four planets- named Fox, Raven, Bear and Wolf after Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
mythology. Bear has six satellites- Dog, Hawk, Eagle, Coyote, Snake and Goat. Of these six, Coyote is large enough to support its own biosphere
Biosphere
The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be called the zone of life on Earth, a closed and self-regulating system...
.
Just three months into the journey, something goes terribly wrong. Leslie Gillis, the senior communications officer, is awakened from biostasis. Expecting the year to be 2300, Gillis is horrified when he questions the AI. There was a mix up, and now it is impossible for Gillis to return to his dreamless sleep. His grueling options are either suicide or a lonely existence surviving off the ship’s supplies. While suicide may be more honorable than devouring the crewmate’s rations, Gillis chooses life.
After a brief chat with the AI, Gillis learns that a Mr. Eric Gunther was originally scheduled to awake three months into the trip. Gunther is an agent for the URA, and would attempt to contact the president, or destroy the ship. The program was changed at the last minute to wake someone else instead- Les Gillis. Gillis leaves a note for Captain Lee explaining Gunther’s plans for treason. Why they were changed at the last minute remains a mystery, but it was a change that would cost Gillis his life.
During Leslie Gillis’ solitary life, he did everything he could to keep from going insane, attempting to eat and sleep at regular hours, reading all of the books which were on board, playing chess against the AI, writing stories, and painting. Using practically all of the ship’s art supplies, Gillis created a story about a prince named Rupurt and the fantastic alien world he lived in. He painted scenes of his books on the ship’s inside walls. Eventually, Gillis died in his old age with a fall from the main ladder, after trying to get a better look at the alien ship he had seen. The AI automatically expelled his body into space with the arms of a maintenance bot, and the ship sailed on to 47 Ursae Majoris with no more incidents.
The crew is awakened as planned in the year 2300. The Alabama has entered the 47 Ursae Majoris system and is approaching its third planet, Bear. Bear (currently known as 47 Ursae Majoris b
47 Ursae Majoris b
47 Ursae Majoris b is an extrasolar planet approximately 46 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Ursa Major. The planet was discovered located in a long-period orbit around the star 47 Ursae Majoris in January 1996 and as of 2011 is the innermost of three known planets in its planetary...
) is a gas giant
Gas giant
A gas giant is a large planet that is not primarily composed of rock or other solid matter. There are four gas giants in the Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune...
that orbits 47 Ursae Majoris at 2.1 AUs and Coyote, its fourth moon, is larger even than Mars. This habitable satellite is lush with green plants and rivers of water. This will be the crew’s new home. Captain Lee directs the landing procedures of the two ships docked to the Alabama, the Wallace and the Helms.
The crew finds Coyote to be habitable, but very peculiar nevertheless. Coyote’s seasons change at a much slower pace than Earth’s. A year for Coyote consists of 1,096 days with 27 hours per day. Life forms on Coyote seem similar to those on Earth at first glance, but behave in unique ways. As described in Gillis’ novel, the world is home to gigantic bird-like creatures which are anything but friendly. Using Gillis’ term for the beasts, Boids are common in the grasslands around the new settlement.
The remainder of Coyote tells of the adventures of Carlos and Wendy along the banks of the equatorial river which stretches around Coyote.
Characters
- Captain Robert E. Lee, the leader and Captain of the URSS Alabama
- Colonel Gill Reese, a URS soldier
- Leslie Gillis, the senior communications officer
- Eric Gunther, a URA agent
- Wendy Gunther, Eric Gunther’s teenage daughter
- Jorge and Rita Montero, civilians who help to steal the Alabama
- Carlos Montero, the son of Jorge and Rita