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Path: ...!news.mixmin.net!weretis.net!feeder8.news.weretis.net!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail From: Chris Buckley <alan@sabir.com> Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: Re: The Warm Equations Date: 24 Jun 2024 20:45:33 GMT Lines: 37 Message-ID: <ldu47dFlaenU1@mid.individual.net> References: <ldr19qF74vgU1@mid.individual.net> <v5c7ij$113u3$1@dont-email.me> <v5c8pc$n12$1@reader1.panix.com> X-Trace: individual.net j+EB0VVaemMevr9r5PzWzQHvMyuY6JxV2nmXcaEjrYuGW7YnH4 Cancel-Lock: sha1:SHMOfp41yU+ZirkQ4ALCVnu3Qvg= sha256:ZOiC35519k//XZ3+UcoiS8zC8Pf4DyytTaUas3SQDdk= User-Agent: slrn/1.0.3 (Linux) Bytes: 2504 On 2024-06-24, James Nicoll <jdnicoll@panix.com> wrote: > In article <v5c7ij$113u3$1@dont-email.me>, > Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote: >>On 6/23/2024 11:37 AM, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote: >>> Interesting to note the way margins of a real-life space venture are run: >>> >>> Two astronauts have been stuck at the ISS for an extra two weeks, >>> so far, because their ride has flat tires, and it's not a crisis, >>> and nobody has had to volunteer to step out the airlock. >> >>For those who do not know, this is a play on "The Cold Equations" >>awesome incredibly sad short story: >> https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-cold-equations/ >> > Alternatively, it's a terrible story about people with extremely > shitty pre-flight safety procedures. > > https://reactormag.com/on-needless-cruelty-in-sf-tom-godwins-the-cold-equations/ In my opinion, James' article and the comments completely demolish the claim that it's a "terrible story". The fact that an sf story written over 70 years ago is memorable enough and had emotional impact enough to warrant the article and more comments than I've seen for any other of James' articles is remarkable. I consider it an excellent *story*. It's absolutely unrealistic. So? Most memorable stories are unrealistic. It could have been made much more plausible with many more details about the emergency nature of the preparation of the ship. That would have made a much worse story, IMO. It works because it was so simple: the pilot, the girl, and space. Just the unforgiving nature of space, and how it invokes our fears of not being in control of things. We're upset at the situation with nothing else to blame. Godwin did an terrific job at manipulating our emotions. As I said, an excellent story. Chris