The Saturn game

About this book

A ship crosses the void to Saturn, and a handful of scientists must keep their minds whole through years of isolation. Their answer is a game. Together they slip into shared fantasy roles: a gallant knight on a griffin, a captive princess, a wise sorcerer in a distant cave. It is a ritual that keeps boredom and loneliness at bay. Then the expedition reaches Iapetus, one of Saturn's strangest moons, a world of dazzling glaciers, blue crevasses and bare, crater-pocked plains. The research team prepares to land. The line between role-play and reality begins to blur, and tensions rise among geologist, physicist, chemist and pilot. Poul Anderson's novella is a landmark of hard science fiction. It combines careful astronomy and physics with a romantic's feeling for legend and adventure. It explores what long confinement, imagination and the human psyche can do to people far from home. It is a thoughtful, atmospheric read for fans of classic space exploration stories, psychological science fiction and big ideas told on a human scale. With about 22,000 words, it is a satisfying single-sitting read. Buy it now and start reading online instantly in your browser.

Author

Poul Anderson

Length

~81 pages

Reading time

1 h 36 min

Chapters

1

Released

November 11, 2026

Languages

UND · 🇬🇧 EN · 🇵🇱 PL · 🇩🇪 DE · 🇫🇷 FR · 🇪🇸 ES · 🇮🇹 IT · 🇧🇷 PT-BR · 🇲🇽 ES-MX · 🇵🇹 PT · 🇺🇦 UK · 🇨🇿 CS · 🇸🇰 SK · 🇬🇷 EL · 🇭🇺 HU · 🇹🇷 TR · 🇳🇱 NL · 🇷🇴 RO · 🇧🇬 BG · 🇭🇷 HR · 🇷🇸 SR · 🇸🇮 SL · 🇱🇹 LT · 🇱🇻 LV · 🇪🇪 ET · 🇸🇪 SV · 🇩🇰 DA · 🇳🇴 NB · 🇫🇮 FI · 🇯🇵 JA · 🇰🇷 KO · 🇨🇳 ZH · 🇹🇼 ZH-TW · 🇮🇩 ID · 🇻🇳 VI · 🇹🇭 TH · 🇮🇳 HI · 🇸🇦 AR · 🇮🇱 HE

Formats

eBook

Print format

Paperback, 13.5 × 21 cm, 70 pages

Age rating

Teen 13+