Wednesday, September 9, 2009

"Inconstant Moon"

Since I'm on the subject, Larry Niven's short story "Inconstant Moon"...
A freelance technical writer notices that the moon is unusually bright. At first, he thinks it is some kind of atmospheric phenomenon, but soon he realizes he will be spending his last night alive. What should he do? This short story was made into an episode of "The Outer Limits", and also won the HUGO Award for Science Fiction.
Being classic Larry Niven, it's a puzzle--the moon is brighter than usual, so bright is seems larger than it should, what could cause that...? The answer is, massive solar event, reflected light. The "day side" of Earth is fried, the "night side"--The Western hemisphere--is inundated by the Nastiest Weather Ever.

Available as an e-book. (NOT FOR FREE!)

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