Exiles to Glory is a short science fiction novel by Jerry Pournelle, published in 1978. It is a sequel to the stories in the collection High Justice. As with those stories, it weaves the story of pioneering individuals in space with considerations of the technical and financial challenges facing them. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Jerry Pournelle, (born August 7, 1933) is an American essayist, journalist and science fiction author who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte. ... HIGH, MIDDLE AND LOW JUSTICE are notions dating from Western feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judiciary power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the holders could inflict upon their subjects and other dependents. ...

Despite being written and published after the landmark novel The Mote in God's Eye, which Pournelle co-authored with Larry Niven, the tone, style and themes of this novel are akin to a juvenile novel of the sort written by Robert Heinlein in the 1950s. Pournelle returns to his favorite themes of breakdown of the rule of law, the politics of entitlement and disdain for anti-technology activists. Cover of 1991-03-01 paperback edition The Mote in Gods Eye, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, was called possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read by Robert A. Heinlein. ... Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (born April 30, 1938) is a US science fiction author. ... Robert A. Heinlein Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was one of the most influential authors in the science fiction genre. ...

This novel and the collection High Justice are thought by some to be part of the CoDominium series. However there is no direct evidence for this in any of the stories, although there is nothing contradictory either. This novel's dedication page reads "For Dan Alderson, the sane genius". Alderson, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, conceived the Alderson drive and Langston field technologies used in the CoDominium stories. HIGH, MIDDLE AND LOW JUSTICE are notions dating from Western feudalism to indicate descending degrees of judiciary power to administer justice by the maximal punishment the holders could inflict upon their subjects and other dependents. ... The fictional CoDominium universe is a future history (now alternate history) setting for the books in the CoDominium Series by Jerry Pournelle. ... The NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in La Cañada Flintridge, near Los Angeles, California, USA, builds and operates unmanned spacecraft for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). ... The Alderson drive is a fictional device featured in the CoDominium series of science-fiction novels. ... The Langston Field is a fictional device featured in the CoDominium series of science-fiction novels. ...

An intelligent young misfit, Kevin Senecal, leaves Earth to escape various troubles, including a teen gang vendetta which the authorities will not act to stop, and bureaucratic interference in his studies for an engineering degree, in a culture where environmentalists and zero-growth advocates hold sway.

He enlists with the Hansen Corporation, a huge conglomerate which has re-located to the Moon, and is now involved in asteroid mining. He is to go to the asteroid Ceres. The journey involves laser launch from Earth to orbit, and a long voyage on a ship using the NERVA nuclear rocket technology. During the journey, all the passengers have to be involved in maintaining the shipboard environment, which includes algae to generate oxygen from photosynthesis. 433 Eros is a stony asteroid in a near-Earth orbit Raw resources and minerals could be mined from an asteroid in space using a variety of methods. ... In Roman mythology, Ceres was the goddess of growing plants (particularly cereals) and of motherly love. ... A lightcraft is a vehicle currently under development by NASA that uses an external source of laser or maser energy to provide power for producing thrust (beam-powered propulsion). ... Marcus Cocceius Nerva (November 8, 30 –January 27, 98), Roman emperor (96–98), was a member of the Italian nobility rather than one of the elite of Rome; in this he was like Vespasian, the founder of the Flavian dynasty. ... A seaweed (Laurencia) up close: the branches are multicellular and only about 1 mm thick. ... The leaf is the primary site of photosynthesis in plants. ...

Kevin falls in love with a mystery woman called Ellen MacMillan. Between them they deal with the consequences of sabotage of the ship by persons unknown, and find a way to effect the rendezvous at Ceres after the ship's computer is sabotaged. They use the expertise of Jacob Norsedal, a prototypical computer hacker who is also an top-notch mathematician and physicist. A computer hacker is someone who enjoys getting around the technical limitations of computer systems. ...

At Ceres Ellen reveals herself to be an agent for Hansen investigating the mining work, which is plagued with irregularities. In particular, a new element called Arthurium is being mined on Ceres. This is a stable transuranic element of the kind predicted during the 1970s based on the theory of an Island of stability for elements of atomic number 114, 120 and 126. Being super-heavy, these elements sink into the cores of planets and are not accessible, but may be found in asteroids. In chemistry, transuranium elements (also known as transuranic elements) are the chemical elements with atomic numbers greater than 92, the atomic number of Uranium. ... The island of stability is a term from nuclear physics, which describes the possibility of elements which have particularly stable magic numbers of protons and neutrons. ... In chemistry and physics, the atomic number (Z) is the number of protons found in the nucleus of an atom. ...

In the story, the arthurium is a possible catalyst for hydrogen fusion and is vital to both the economy of Earth and the future of spaceflight. Rival corporations and mineral interests on Earth want to steal the arthurium or stop its production. Anti-technology politicians would like to shut down all space industry and dedicate the money to the Welfare State. The deuterium-tritium (D-T) fusion reaction is considered the most promising for producing fusion power. ...

Ellen is actually Glenda Hansen-Mackenzie, daughter of Aeneas Mackenzie and Laurie Jo Hansen, owner of the Hansen Corporation. She can foil the plots if she can access the Ceres computer system. However, she, Kevin and Jacob are marooned on one of Ceres' small satellites by the enemy agents. They improvise a steam-jet rocket which lets them land back on Ceres and bring an end to the intrigue.

The idea of using expanding steam as a rocket was first explored in a short story Marooned off Vesta, by Isaac Asimov. Marooned Off Vesta was a short story by Isaac Asimov, originally collected in The Best of Isaac Asimov. ... Isaac Asimov, photographed by Jay Kay Klein Dr. Isaac Asimov (c. ...

Trivia

The name Glenda appears in three places in the CoDominium series. Apart from this novel, it appears in The Prince as the name of the consort of Prince Lysander of Sparta, the planet which becomes the seat of Empire. It is also the given name of the daughter of Rod and Sally Blaine in The Gripping Hand. The Prince is a Science Fiction compilation novel by Jerry Pournelle and S.M. Stirling. ... The Gripping Hand is a 1993 novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. ...