What are my books about, and how many have I published?
Easy question; complicated answer. Altogether, I’ve published 41 books between 1989 and 2026 (and don’t even ask how many stories and essays; I lost track a long time ago). Most of them are novels and short fiction collections, but there are also quite a few individual novellas (i.e. short novels) and even a collection of nonfiction essays. The complicating factor is that some belong to long-running series and sub-series while others are stand-alone works, and it’s not always obvious which are which.
That said, here is a list of all my published books in America. To make things a little easier to understand, I’ve categorized them by series, divided by novels, novellas, and short-fiction collections. Those are followed by independent works, also divided by length. The publication year of the first American editions are in parentheses; also mentioned are overseas editions and translations by country of publication, whether the American paper edition book is currently in-print (IP), out of print (OP), or available as digital eBooks (EB).
Where can you obtain my publications?
There are several formats, audio book, Nook, Kindle, hardcover, and paperback. A future site update will show an icon link for each title to the available formats. 
For now, please visit my author pages at Barnes and Noble or Amazon
NEAR-SPACE (series)
The Near-Space novels and stories were my first major series and include most of the early published science fiction I wrote after leaving my previous career as a newspaper staff reporter and freelance magazine journalist. I wrote most of this during the late 80’s and through the 90’s, with a few notable exceptions (such as my novelette “The Emperor of Mars”, published in 2010 which received a Hugo Award in 2011; see below). This series is complete; no new novels or stories are expected.
ORBITAL DECAY (Ace, 1989)
My first published novel. A near-future space novel set in Earth orbit and on the Moon in 2016, about the efforts of a bored and rebellious group of blue-collar space hardhats hired by a private company, Skycorp, to construct an enormous solar power satellite. While doing so (and growing their own marijuana and other shenanigans) they stumble upon a secret U.S. government intelligence program to monitor the electronic communications of everyone in America. Deadheads love this novel. 1990 Locus Award Winner, Best First Novel. Reprinted in Great Britain, Italy (Orbita Olympus), Germany (Station der Letzten Helden, Spain (Descomposicion Orbital), and the Czech Republic (Skycan). OP, EB
CLARKE COUNTY, SPACE (Ace, 1990)
A semi-satirical novel set in 2049 about the inhabitants of an L-5 space colony owned by Skycorp, the same company that earlier appeared in Orbital Decay. Because the novel features a religious cult that worships Elvis Presley as a christianist prophet and messiah, this novel has been discussed in a least nonfiction study of Elvis mythology. Nominated for the 1991 Philip K. Dick Award. Reprinted in Great Britain, Italy (2049 Contea at Clarke), and Germany (Die letzten Tage von Clarke County). OP, EB
LUNAR DESCENT (Ace, 1991)
Direct sequel to Orbital Decay. Taking place on the Moon in 2024, this is about Skycorp’s lunar station where the materials for the construction of the powersats and Clarke County are mined and developed. Things gets tense between workers and the company and a labor strike becomes inevitable … and when strikebreakers show up, the situation gets downright ugly. Some of the characters from Orbital Decay return, including one who is dead. Reprinted in Great Britain, Italy (Discesa Sulla Luna), and Germany (Mondhunde). OP, EB
LABYRINTH OF NIGHT (Ace, 1992)
Related to the three earlier Near Space novels but otherwise independent of them. Set on Mars in 2032, an adventure story about international efforts to explore extraterrestrial ruins in the Cydonia region spotted in 1976 by NASA’s Viking orbiter (the alleged “Face on Mars”). A first-contact novel, my first major effort to write about aliens. Reprinted in Great Britain, Italy (Nel Labyrinto Della Notte)and Germany (Labyrinth der Nacht). OP, EB
THE WEIGHT (Legend Books, UK)
Novella. Set late in the 21st century, this short novel is a faux-journalistic account of the voyage of a deep-space freighter, crewed by an extended Mormon family, outbound for Jupiter. Not published in the U.S. until a revised version was reprinted in Sex and Violence in Zero-G. OP
A KING OF INFINITE SPACE (HarperPrism, 1997)
Final novel of the Near-Space series. First-person account of a spoiled young man who dies on the way home from a rock festival in 1995 and whose brain is cryogenic preserved until 2099, when he revived in a cloned body aboard an asteroid colony, now the slave of the mysterious and threatening Mister Chicago. My most experimental novel. Reprinted in Italy (L’Ultimo Giorno at William Tucker). IP, EB
SEX AND VIOLENCE IN ZERO-G: THE COMPLETE “NEAR-SPACE” STORIES (First edition, 1999, Meisha Merlin Publishing; Expanded second edition, 2010, Fantastic Books)
Omnibus collection of all the short fiction in the Near-Space series arranged in chronological order. Includes The Weight, two Hugo winning stories, and one Hugo nominee.First edition: 15 stories, introduction by Kevin J. Anderson, OP; Second edition, 19 stories, new introduction by myself. IP, EB.
COYOTE and COYOTE UNIVERSE (overlapping series)
The Coyote and Coyote Universe novels are my longest and most ambitious work, mainly written between 2000 and 2011 until I put the series aside for several years to work on other stories. Although the Coyote novels and stories take place principally on Coyote while the Coyote Universe novels and stories occur elsewhere in the galaxy, there is chronological overlap between the two continuums. For that reason, I’m listing them listing them according to the internal chronological order in which events occur instead of their publication history.
COYOTE: A Novel of Interstellar Exploration (Ace, 2002)
The beginning of the saga, in which humankind’s first starship, the URSS Alabama, built by the authoritarian United Republic of America, is hijacked by its command team to carry themselves and a crew of “dissident intellectuals” on a 230-year voyage to 47 Ursae Majoris-B and its habitable moon, Coyote. A retelling of early American history recast as a science fiction novel. Part One, “Stealing Alabama”, and Part Two of Coyote, “The Days Between”, were nominated for 2002 Hugo Awards in the Novella and Novelette categories respectively. Reprinted in Great Britain, Italy, Denmark, and China. IP, EB
COYOTE RISING: A Novel of Interstellar Revolution (Ace, 2004)
Following the invasion and takeover of the New Florida colony by the neosocialist Western Hemisphere Union, the original Alabama colonists, from their hidden refuge elsewhere on Coyote, launch a revolutionary counteroffensive to control of the new world. Reprinted in England, Denmark (Coyote 2), and China (Coyote II). IP, EB
THE RIVER HORSES (Subterranean Press, limited edition, 2007)
Novella taking place between the events of Coyote Rising and Coyote Frontier. Two veterans of the Revolutionary Militia, together with a Savant left behind by the Union military expedition when it retreated from Coyote, are exiled from New Florida and sent out to explore the world’s western frontier. To be included in the forthcoming collection Coyote Chronicles. OP, EB
COYOTE FRONTIER: A Novel of Interstellar Colonization (Ace, 2005)
Just as the colonies are beginning to face shortages and weardown of tech brought from Earth, a new starship arrives from Earth, this time bringing the equipment needed for building a faster-than-light starbridge between Coyote and its homeworld. A new struggle for independence emerges between the two cultures, culminating in the most unexpected visit of all. Reprinted in Great Britain, Denmark (Coyote 3), and China (Coyote III). OP, EB.
SPINDRIFT (Ace, 2007)
First of the Coyote Universe novels. It begins after the events of Coyote Frontier, but then the narrative shifts back in time to events which occurred after Coyote Rising. The Western Hemisphere Union experimental starship Galileo is sent into the Kuiper Belt to investigate a rogue planet that’s passing through the outer reaches of the solar system, where it discovers that the object, code-named “Spindrift”, appears to actually be an alien starship. Reprinted in Great Britain. OP, EB.
GALAXY BLUES (Ace, 2008)
Second of the Coyote Universe novels. A young stowaway from Earth joins the crew of a Coyote Federation freighter, the CFS Pride of Cucamonga, journeys to an enormous interstellar space colony to open trade between the Federation and the Talus galactic alliance. A misunderstanding between humans and aliens results in a dangerous mission to a rogue singularity known as the Annihilator. Serialized in Asimov’s Science Fiction, reprinted in Italy as Galassia Nemica. OP, EB.
COYOTE HORIZON: A Novel of Interstellar Discovery (Ace, 2009)
First volume of the Coyote Chronicles duology. Decades after the arrival of the URSS Alabama, immigration to Coyote continues with the regular arrival of human starships from Earth along with alien emissaries from the Talus. A chance encounter between a troubled young man and a hjadd ambassador results in the introduction of an alien philosophy, Sa’tong, to human culture, with consequences which will change Coyote history forever. OP, EB.
COYOTE DESTINY: A Novel of Interstellar Civilization (Ace, 2010)
Second volume of the Coyote Chronicles. Several years after the climactic events of Coyote Destiny, Coyote has been forcibly isolated from further travel or contact with Earth while allowed to continue relations with the Talus. The surprise visit of a ship from Earth leads to an expedition back to human homeworld in search of a missing and presumed dead spiritual leader. OP, EB.
HEX (Ace, 2011)
Third volume of the Coyote Universe series. First contact between the human colony on Coyote and a newly discovered alien race, the danui, sends a Corps of Exploration ship to an unvisited part of the galaxy. Here they find an extraterrestrial habitat of truly staggering size: Hex, an artificial world as large as a star system, home to thousands of alien races.
And coming soon:
- COYOTE CHRONICLES: Tales of an Interstellar World — The first major collection of short fiction set on Coyote and in the Coyote Universe. Includes the rare short novel The River Horses.
- COYOTE HEGIRA: A Novel of an Interstellar Journey — The first new Coyote novel in fifteen years!
ALTERNATE SPACE (series)
My shortest series, comprised of only two novels and two short stories, relating a parallel history of American space exploration. Chronologically, the two novels are not in order; the first novel actually takes place after the second novel. They are listed here in order of publication.
THE TRANQUILLITY ALTERNATIVE (Ace, 1996)
In 1995, the United States launches its final mission to the Moon to shut down a Space Force military installation built in the Sea of Tranquillity during the Cold War. The crew, which includes a queer astronaut who is being sacked because of her sexual preferences, is unaware that a traitor aboard the moonship has other plans for the squadron of nuclear missiles siloed at the base. Follow-up to short story “John Harper Wilson” (see Rude Astronauts in Collections). Nominated for the Sidewise Award, 1997. Reprinted in Italy as La Fortezza Sulla Luna. OP, EB
V-S DAY (Ace, 2014)
Prequel to The Tranquillity Alternative, this is a revised expansion of my novelette “Goddard’s People” (see Rude Astronauts in Collections), which I later adapted into an unproduced screenplay. Set during World War II, it concerns a secret “space race” between the United States and Nazi Germany which is sparked by British intelligence’s discovery of an effort by the Nazis to build a suborbital bomber. Based on historic fact. Nominated for the Sidewise Award, 2015. OP
CAPTAIN FUTURE (series) and also see the Captain Future website https://captfuture.com/
These are the new adventures of Captain Future, one of the first heroes of science fiction, outlined by pulp magazine publishers Leo Margulis and Mort Weisinger and primarily written by Edmond Hamilton, a pioneer author of space opera. In these novels I sought to update this classic adventure character while staying true to the spirit of the original; the first three volumes comprise a trilogy, The Return of Ul Quorn, which was followed by a two-part novel, Into the Multiverse. The series was written with permission of the Edmond Hamilton estate.
For more of the Captain Future series, see https://captfuture.com/ 
It should be noted that, despite the title, this series bears no direct relationship to my earlier novella “The Death of Captain Future” or its sequel “The Exile of Evening Star.” They belong to the Near-Space series and can be found in Sex and Violence in Zero-G: The Complete Near-Space Stories.
The Return of Ul Quorn:
VOL. I: AVENGERS OF THE MOON (Novel, Tor, 2016/Amazing Selects, 2026)
In the 24th century, Curt Newton is orphaned at infancy after the murder of his parents, a pair of scientists, by a corrupt businessman who in turn works for the criminal mastermind Ul Quorn, the Magician of Mars. He is raised in secrecy by a cyborg, an android, and a sentient robot, and upon reaching adulthood sets out to avenge his father and mother. In doing this, he and his companions become Captain Future and the Futuremen, the solar system’s champions of justice. Also published in Germany (as Die Rache von Captain Future) and in Japan (as Captain Future – The First Incident). IP, EB, AUD.
VOL. II: THE GAME OF WORLDS
BOOK I: CAPTAIN FUTURE IN LOVE (novella; Amazing Selects, 2019)
Now established as an independent troubleshooter for the Solar Coalition, Curt Newton and crew travel to Venus to prevent terrorists from destroying the industrial space colony in orbit above the planet. While doing so, Curt’s memory takes him back to the first time he visited the colony, where he met and fell in love with an outcast girl living there. His past comes back to haunt him when he meets the same girl, only to discover that she’s involved with the conspirators, who in turn are by controlled by Ul Quorn, whom until now he has presumed to be dead. IP, EB, AUD.
BOOK II: THE GUNS OF PLUTO (Amazing Selects, 2020)
A prison breakout in Cold Hell, the Solar Coalition’s maximum-security prison on Pluto, brings Captain Future and the Futuremen across the solar system to the forbidding ice world, unaware that he is being lured into a trap set by Ul Quorn in a far-ranging scheme to take control of the system. IP, EB.
VOL. III — THE APOCALYPSE MACHINE
BOOK I: 1,500 LIGHT YEARS FROM HOME (Amazing Selects, 2021)
Ul Quorn’s master plan comes to fruition as the advanced warp drive sniffed Captain Future’s space cruiser, the Comet, is used to open a worm hole between Pluto and the distant star Deneb. There the rivals discover, in orbit above a dead world, an alien superweapon capable of wiping out all life on a planet … and Captain Future is helpless to prevent his foe from bringing it back to our own solar system. IP, EB.
BOOK II: THE HORROR AT JUPITER (Amazing Selects, 2022)
The conspiracy reaches its shattering conclusion as Ul Quorn brings the Denebian superweapon across the galaxy to turn against the Solar Coalition, and only Captain Future — arrested on charges of assassinating the President of the Coalition — is capable of stopping him. The final volume of the Return of Ul Quorn trilogy.
Into the Multiverse:
BOOK I: LOST APOLLO (Amazing Selects, 2024)
A new two-volume storyline begins with the unanticipated arrival of a historic NASA spacecraft, Apollo 20, through a spacetime fissure. Upon discovering that the ship has apparently come from an alternate timeline, Captain Future leads a military expedition to return the lost Apollo to its own universe and discover the reason why it came here. IP, EB
BOOK II: THE MULTIVERSE WAR (Amazing Selects, 2025)
The story continues with Captain Future and his crew being thrown into yet another parallel universe where Earth lies in ruins, there to confront the most unexpected foe of all. IP, EB
YOUNG ADULT BOOKS
I have written or co-written a few stories meant for young-adult readers. They’re not related to one another or belong to any of the previously mentioned series.
ESCAPE FROM EARTH (novella, Amazon Kindle, 2014)
A bored and directionless teenage boy in a Vermont small town has a strange encounter with four other kids who don’t talk dress, or act like they’re from anywhere around. He and his best friend decide to follow them to a closed-down nuclear power plant just outside town, and here’s where things get interesting. Reprinted from a Science Fiction Book Club anthology of the same title, this is one o my personal favorites. Also included in the Allen Steele Super Pack (see Collections). IP, EB
APOLLO’S OUTCASTS (Pyr, 2012)
A teenager who was born on the Moon but raised on Earth unexpectedly returns to the lunar city he came from, to keep him and his sister from falling into the hands of a right-wing government that has taken control of the United States, where he becomes part of the effort to defend the colony. (OP, EB; included in Allen Steele Superpack; see Collections.)
SNOWDANCE (with Robin Orm Hansen, edited by David Brin; Amazing Selects, 2025)
Part of David Brin’s Out of Time series. A teenage boy from 20th century Tennessee is abducted from 1978 and brought to 2347, where he joins a group of other teenagers from different times in history in an expedition to a frontier planet to discover the reasons for the disappearance of the colonists sent there. (IP, EB)
STANDALONE NOVELS
These novels are independent works not belonging to any of the previously mentioned series.
THE JERICO ITERATION (Ace, 1994)
Following a major earthquake that has devastated St. Louis, a journalist stumbles upon a conspiracy to keep the city under permanent martial law as the prelude to an authoritarian takeover of the United States. (OP; published in Russia as Jericho Iterations.)
OCEANSPACE (Ace, 2000)
An adventure novel taking place inside an undersea research colony in the Atlantic Ocean. (OP, EB; also published in Italy as L’Universo sul Fondo).
ANGEL OF EUROPA (Subterranean Press, 2011)
Novella; a space adventure (not associated with any previous series) about a crew member aboard a deep space vessel seeking to uncover the facts behind the mysterious deaths — possibly by homicide — of two scientists during an expedition to Jupiter’s moon Europa. (OP, EB; included in omnibus Allen Steele Superpack; see Collections)
ARKWRIGHT (Tor, 2016)
Three generations of descendants of a legendary American science fiction author seek to fulfill his legacy by building humankind’s first unmanned starship. (OP, EB; published in China as Interplanetary Noah’s Ark)
SANCTUARY (Fantastic Books, 2021)
On a distant world known as Tawcety, a sword-wielding detective’s search for a missing woman brings him to discover the forgotten origins of the isolated human colony living there. (IP, EB)
TIME LOVES A HERO (Original title: Chronospace; Ace, 2001; retitled edition, Open Road Media, 2015)
Expansion of multiple award-winning novella “…Where Angel Fears to Tread” about a time expedition to investigate the 1937 destruction of the airship Hindenburg causes an accidental paradox that has dire consequences across parallel universes. (HC, mm pb, Ebook)
LEMURIA 7 (Fantastic Books, 2026)
Read an objective review at https://locusmag.com/review/lemuria-7-by-allen-steele-review-by-paul-di-filippo/ Mosaic novel of three linked novellas; epistolatory, multiple viewpoint narrative about the mysterious disappearance on the Moon of a private tourist spacecraft and the subsequent search by friends and government agencies to find the ship and its missing passengers. (pod mmpb, ebook)
COLLECTIONS
RUDE ASTRONAUTS: REAL AND IMAGINED STORIES (Old Earth Books, 1993; Ace, 1994)
First collection; ten SF and four nonfiction stories, plus introduction. Notable stories include “Live from the Mars Hotel” (first major-magazine publication; later included in “Visions of Mars” CD-ROM disk attached to NASA Phoenix lander successfully sent to Mars); “Goddard’s People” (basis for V-S Day and twice optioned for film), and “Trembling Earth” (novella, also optioned for film). OP, EB; Reprinted in the U.K.
ALL-AMERICAN ALIEN BOY (Old Earth Books, 1996; Ace, 1997)
ALL-AMERICAN ALIEN BOY (Old Earth Books, 1996; Ace, 1997) — Eleven stories and an introduction. Notabale stories include “Doblin’s Lecture” (selected for Best American Mystery Stories, 1997) and “The Good Rat” (Hugo Award Nominee, Best Novelette, 1997). OP.
SEX AND VIOLENCE IN ZERO-G: The Complete Near-Space Stories (Meisha Merlin, 1999)
See Near-Space series above.
AMERICAN BEAUTY (Five Star Books/Tekno Books, 2003)
Ten stories plus introduction. Notable stories include “Agape Among the Robots” (Hugo Award nominee, Best Novelette, 1999), “Graceland” (story set on Philip Jose Farmer’s Riverworld), and “The Fine Art of Watching” (originally published under pseudonym John Mulherrin, later rewritten as first chapter of novel Capricorn). OP
THE LAST SCIENCE FICTION WRITER (Subterranean Press, 2008)
Ten stories plus introduction. Notable works include YA short novel Escape from Earth and Coyote story “The War of Dogs and Boids.” The title story was written for a special theme issue of Subterranean Magazine about “Big Whopping Cliches” guest-edited by John Scalzi; the cover art by Bob Eggleton for this book first appeared on the cover for that issue.) OP
TALES OF TIME AND SPACE (Fantastic Books, 2015)
Eleven stories plus introduction. Notables include two stories from Coyote and the Coyote Universe and the four final stories written in the Near-Space universe. IP, EB
THE DOPPLER EFFECT and Other Stories (Fantastic Books, 2017)
Three novellas and introduction. The title piece, a present-day SF story about academic censorship, was rejected by every SF magazine. IP, EB
ALLEN STEELE SUPER PACK (Positronic Books, 2021)
Omnibus; includes fourteen stories, including three in the Coyote/Coyote Universe, and a complete YA novel, Apollo’s Outcasts (see above). IP, EB
NONFICTION
PRIMARY IGNITION: Essays 1997-2001 (DNA Publications/Wildside Press, 2003)
Introduction and twenty essays about space exploration, science, science fiction, and travels originally published as columns in Absolute Magnitude and Artemis. Includes Written Testimony for my April 2001 appearance before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics. OP, EB