Ughhhhhhh!!!
It has been such a long time since I’ve read hard Science Fiction! Much too long! The moment I read these stories it all came rushing in and I was just sucked in! I miss it!

Between the “Cold Equation”, which made me tear up, and “Down and Out on Ellprime Five”, which made me smile, the stories cover a large emotional spectrum. Besides the emotional, the stories also cover a great amount of different scientific and ethical issues. There are lots of utilitarian questions following the thread of “is one life worth more than an other life?”

Cold equation asks that question in an unforgiving and unrelenting fashion. To be fair, technically that question is never asked in this story; there is either the sacrifice of one person, or the sacrifice of many people along with the original person. This story does not compromise. I would recommend this story only to a few people I can think of. Not because this story is not compelling, and emotionally captivating, but because this story is too compelling and captivating. I am not a callous person, but I am not easy to overwhelm emotionally; this story, though, knocked me on my knees and made me listen. I was at the mercy of Tom Goldwin, the author, and he was not being nice.

“It’s Great to be Back” is great, and it feels like it was written just for me. I believe that I would be happier if I lived on a farm or just away from a major city. This story speaks of the moon, but it can easily be thought of in regards to NYC. Even the small annoyance of outsiders telling New Yorkers that they live ON the island, instead of IN the city, was well conveyed within the piece.

All the stories mentioned so far deal only with humans and their own creations, allowing for humanity to look at itself and see what we are capable of. Not only in the way that Dean Ing showed, where humans show great ability to adapt and have a great manager who acts like a god-figure that is omnipotent through the actions of others, but also, as truly emotionally driven beings that do their best to abide by the laws of the universe. This is the job of Art: to try to display the human condition. That is why these stories are so amazing.

Can’t wait to see what the other modules hold!