Turnover Point

Turnover Point by Alfred Coppel thrusts listeners into a gritty, character-driven 1950s science fiction short story about Pop Ganlon, an aging spaceman pushed to the margins of a sprawling Solar System. Pop ekes out a living prospecting asteroids and hauling light freight aboard his shabby ship, The Luck, while nursing grief and quiet disgrace after a personal tragedy. Set against the dusty ports of Marsport, the cold rocks of the Belt, and outposts like Callisto, Coppel sketches a world where technological expansion leaves people behind—and where one chance encounter may force an obsolete man to reckon with his past. Rooted in the pulpy, postwar tradition of Amazing Stories yet rich with literary empathy, Turnover Point explores themes of aging, alienation, paternal loss, and the small moral choices that define a life. Coppel’s spare prose and vivid spacefaring details evoke both the hard realities of working-class spacemen and the human costs of cosmic progress, without sacrificing suspense or heart. Ideal for fans of classic science fiction, short stories, and literary space narratives, this audiobook suits listeners who want compact, emotionally resonant SF with strong atmosphere and memorable characters.