Coyote by Allen Steele
The Coyote stories were originally short stories published in sci-fi pulp magazines about a colony of political prisoners who steal a colony spaceship and settle on the titular planet. Several series of unfortunate events occur, such as one of the cryogenic pods releasing an occupant two hundred years early, the colony discovering their supplies were assigned by political ideologues with a romantic view of frontier living rather than experts who could plan against foreseeable problems, and what happens when more humans arrive with their own ideas on how a society should be run.
Steele spins a good yarn. These are stories about the human spirit in difficult times, for better and for worse. The characters don’t have a lot of depth, but are compelling and likable. Exploring Coyote along with the colonists is enjoyable without getting into the nitty-gritty details that “hard” sci-fi likes to focus on. (Admittedly the science in these stories is a little thin, better than Star Trek but not as good as The Martian). I kept coming back to the stories each night, staying up late at night telling myself “just one more chapter.” Classic sci-fi, recommended.
