Tuesday, May 19, 2015

"The Cold Equations" by Tom Godwin

            In my last entry, I discussed a problem I had with Counter-Clock World, that being how stupid the actions of the characters were as a whole. I bring this up again because I once again would like to talk about a story which relies on an idiot plot, a story which has to purposefully be set up in such a dumb way in order for the story to run and reach its point. That alone should describe this short story, though I will continue in a bit of detail.
            I have not read this story in quite a while, but I remember the basic premise is about an emergency supply ship granted enough reserve to make its designated trip and if its objective fails several people will die. From what I remember, reserves are limited to just ensure arrival because of budgetary reasons.
            And from that we already have problems: why limit the budget to that extent? How can one gauge the reserve limit when anything can happen in space? For being a hard science fiction story, it doesn't seem to realize a variety of factors in space can cause an array of problems, and so that makes having a base limit of resources pointless; considering that, it's frankly best just to give a vessel everything it needs and stop being so cheap.
            But even if we're going to neglect that point, I would also like to mention it's quite strange that a pilot wouldn't do a good survey of his vessel before taking off. Or have effective security at this emergency space port. Or even have a lock on the door. Or even a detection system, or scale system, installed in an on-board computer. It's as if the company and pilots purposefully ignored a general rule in engineering called the "margin of error", created for this very reason.
            It would normally seem to me the story was purposefully built in such an obtuse manner in order to reach its goal, but the fact is Tom Godwin originally sent in three other copies saving the girl in the end to editor of Astounding Magazine John W. Campbell. So it's actually sort of Campbell's fault the story turned out so idiotic. I understand Campbell's idea was to generate something captivating and unique so the story wouldn't be lost in a sea of redundancy (even though Al Feldstein of EC Comics and E. C. Tubb beat him to the punch), and I ultimately understand the point of the story (it's quite obvious, yet people are still keen to say, "You don't get it."), but I don't see why one has to be manipulative in order to make a point. That ought to come naturally. Be real, not "real".
            As the story stands, I thought it would've been more interesting to focus on the company holding and utilizing these ships for their seedy tactics. That would've sold me on the story is if we were truly to keep all of these details in despite what I've said, is then turn our focus on what's truly the most important factor in it all, and that's unfortunately not what the story does whatsoever. It's just a stupid story with stupid people in a stupid set up with a stupid outcome caused only by all of this stupidity.
            So I find it strange that this is Tom Godwin's major claim to fame, considering this story has been considered a classic in the science fiction genre and was selected as one of the best science fiction short stories written before the founding of the Nebula Awards in 1965 (and was thus featured in the Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One). I've not read any other works by Tom Godwin, as they seem to be more obscure (some are available on Project Gutenberg), so I certainly can't say anything about his skill otherwise. In fact, despite the ridiculous set up for this story, I can actually see some potential in Godwin, so I may attempt to dig into another story of his. I cannot, however, recommend this story. I know some will call me cynical at this point for trashing another "classic" or critically acclaimed work, so just keep in mind I liked Foundation and also trashed my favorite author, so I just like to be fair. My next entry will likely be more positive again anyway.
            As a final note, I would like to say I am also aware of the implications of the pilot's view of the young female stowaway, but I feel as if I've said enough about this story and why it isn't good and don't need to dig its own hole any deeper than it already is. And this story was written in 1954, so enough said.

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