This week, NEPR’s summer fiction series heads to space. The science fiction novel Arkwright follows a renowned writer, Nathan Arkwright, who dedicates his fortune to the creation of a starship, which he hopes will establish a human colony on a distant planet.

Author Allen Steele of Whately, Massachusetts, is a longtime author of “hard” science fiction. He explained how his writing is different from more popular sci-fi like Star Wars or Star Trek.

Click the audio player above to hear Steele talk about “hard” science fiction with New England Public Radio’s Henry Epp.

MORE BOOKS: NEPR’s Summer Fiction series