| Missile Gap | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Cover of first edition (hardcover) |
|
| Author | Charles Stross |
| Illustrator | J. K. Potter |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Subterranean Press (US) |
| Publication date | December 31, 2006 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 99 pp |
| ISBN | 1-596-06058-1 |
| OCLC Number | 82457976 |
"Missile Gap" is a 2006 English language science fiction novella, originally published in the anthology One Million AD[1] by British author Charles Stross. It won the Locus Award for best novella of 2006.[1] The novella was republished in Stross's short-story collection Wireless in 2009.[1]
Contents |
Setting
In October 2, 1962, the universe underwent a change - instantly, the continents of the Earth were no longer wrapped onto a spherical planet but were on the surface of a vast flat surface - an Alderson disk. Measurements on Cepheid variable stars indicate that the Alderson disk is located in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud, and that the epoch is roughly 800,000 years later than the calendar date (give or take 100,000 to 200,000 years). In the sky, the stars of the Milky Way are reddened and meta-depleted - evidence that it is now controlled by a Type-III civilization capable of controlling the resources of an entire galaxy. Three theories for the change are suggested:
- the atoms making up the surface and people of earth have somehow peeled off the Earth and shipped to a new location
- a snapshot of the world was taken and the snapshot has been used as the basis for a physical recreation (this hypothesis is put forward by a fictionalized Marvin Minsky)
- a snapshot of the world was taken and the snapshot has been used as the basis for a computer simulation (this hypothesis is put forward by a fictionalized Hans Moravec)
The first hypothesis would indicate that the characters of the book are the original humans of the 20th century Earth. The latter two hypothesis would indicate that the characters of the book are duplicates of humans that lived and died billions of years previously.
The creatures that moved or copies humanity are unknown, as is the technology they used and the purpose for their action.
Because of the projection of a spherical surface onto a flat surface, some changes occur: North American is now much further from Asia (as there is no "polar shortcut"). Furthermore, because the gravitational attraction in the near field of an Alderson disk does not drop away according to the inverse-square law, but is approximately constant and perpendicular to the disk, missile trajectories become parabolic rather than segments of elliptical orbits, launching an artificial satellite into orbit becomes impossible, and chemically-fueled ICBMs are no longer capable of reaching other continents. Thus, both the strategic bomber and ICBM "legs" of the "Strategic Nuclear Triad" are no longer feasible, so that nuclear deterence breaks down, and the Soviets take advantage of this to conquer much of Europe.
Plot
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This section requires expansion. |
Reception
Publishers Weekly described the novella as a "blend of 1900s H. G. Wells and 1970s propaganda, updated for the 21st century in the clear, chilly and fashionably cynical style that lets Stross get away with premises that would be absurdly cheesy in anyone else's hands." [2] Carl Hays in his review for Booklist called the novel a "bizarre, nevertheless brilliant alternate-history novella featuring a protracted U.S.–Soviet cold war."[3]
References
External links
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