[tor dot com] Empty Earths: Five SF Stories Set on a Depopulated Planet

[James Nicoll]

Empty Earths: Five SF Stories Set on a Depopulated Planet
https://www.tor.com/2022/01/18/empty-earths-five-sf-stories-set-on-a-depopulated-planet/
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

[Lynn McGuire]

On 1/18/2022 8:14 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
> Empty Earths: Five SF Stories Set on a Depopulated Planet
> https://www.tor.com/2022/01/18/empty-earths-five-sf-stories-set-on-a-depopulated-planet/

Zero for five here. I have been tempted on the Carrie Vaughn book
though but something turns me off about it.

Lynn

[a425couple]

On 1/18/2022 6:14 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
> Empty Earths: Five SF Stories Set on a Depopulated Planet
> https://www.tor.com/2022/01/18/empty-earths-five-sf-stories-set-on-a-depopulated-planet/

I read there,
"12. NomadUK
Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:23am
Clarke’s Childhood’s End doesn’t feature a depopulated Earth
during most of the book, but it sure heads in that direction."

Yes, and a fair number of his short stories also
have Earth in decline. i.e.:

"If I forget thee. Oh Earth..."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_I_Forget_Thee,_Oh_Earth
"The Next Tenants"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Next_Tenants
"Publicity Campaign"

Also, two of Orson Scott Card's:
"Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus" (1996)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastwatch:_The_Redemption_of_Christopher_Columbus

"The Folk of the Fringe" (1989) is a collection of post-apocalyptic stories
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Folk_of_the_Fringe

[Michael F. Stemper]

On 19/01/2022 08.40, a425couple wrote:
> On 1/18/2022 6:14 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
>> Empty Earths: Five SF Stories Set on a Depopulated Planet
>> https://www.tor.com/2022/01/18/empty-earths-five-sf-stories-set-on-a-depopulated-planet/
>
> I read there,
> "12. NomadUK
> Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:23am
> Clarke’s Childhood’s End doesn’t feature a depopulated Earth
> during most of the book, but it sure heads in that direction."
>
> Yes, and a fair number of his short stories also
> have Earth in decline.  i.e.:
>
> "If I forget thee. Oh Earth..."
>    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_I_Forget_Thee,_Oh_Earth
> "The Next Tenants"
>    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Next_Tenants
> "Publicity Campaign"

I'm not much of a one for Clarke. However, his short story, "The Road
to the Sea" is set on a pastoral, depopulated Earth:

<http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?56744>

--
Michael F. Stemper
If it isn't running programs and it isn't fusing atoms, it's just bending space.

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <2pVFJ.291419$ya3.1...@fx38.iad>,

And Simak's "City" tales, at least the later ones. Also, um,

Van Vogt "The Monster"
Ted Reynolds "Can These Bones Live"
Edmond Hamilton "Requium"
Don A. Stuart "Twilight" & "Night"
Andre Norton _The Last Planet_
John Varley _Steel Beach" & co. (for some values of "depopulated")
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

[a425couple]

Yes.
Also:

Robert Silverberg "Nightwings"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightwings_(novella)
Roberet Silverberg "Stepsons of Terra"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1705162.Stepsons_of_Terra

and of course, one of my first reads,
Edmond Cooper "Seed of Light"
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1931069.Seed_of_Light

[Ted Nolan <tednolan>]

In article <Y2WFJ.314564$aF1.1...@fx98.iad>,

Not familiar with yours except "Nightwings", and I wouldn't call the
planet depopulated. There were whole guilds of people.

[The Horny Goat]

On Wed, 19 Jan 2022 08:46:20 -0600, "Michael F. Stemper"
<michael...@gmail.com> wrote:

>I'm not much of a one for Clarke. However, his short story, "The Road
>to the Sea" is set on a pastoral, depopulated Earth:
>

I've read most of the ones on the list but is this one depopulated due
to emigration (Clarke's usual theme) or mass die off?

You could argue the Star Trek Earth might qualify since if you've seen
the Federation HQ in San Francisco I don't believe I've ever seen so
much open space in the present day!

[Scott Lurndal]

Chrissy field would suffice, and it has a view of the bridge.

https://www.parksconservancy.org/parks/crissy-field

[J. Clarke]

On Wed, 19 Jan 2022 06:40:03 -0800, a425couple
<a425c...@hotmail.com> wrote:

>On 1/18/2022 6:14 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
>> Empty Earths: Five SF Stories Set on a Depopulated Planet
>> https://www.tor.com/2022/01/18/empty-earths-five-sf-stories-set-on-a-depopulated-planet/
>
>I read there,
>"12. NomadUK
>Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:23am
>Clarke’s Childhood’s End doesn’t feature a depopulated Earth
>during most of the book, but it sure heads in that direction."
>
>Yes, and a fair number of his short stories also
>have Earth in decline. i.e.:
>
>"If I forget thee. Oh Earth..."
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_I_Forget_Thee,_Oh_Earth
>"The Next Tenants"
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Next_Tenants
>"Publicity Campaign"

Then there are "Rescue Party" and "History Lesson" both of which have
ET encountering an empty Earth.

[Michael F. Stemper]

On 19/01/2022 14.57, The Horny Goat wrote:
> On Wed, 19 Jan 2022 08:46:20 -0600, "Michael F. Stemper"
> <michael...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I'm not much of a one for Clarke. However, his short story, "The Road
>> to the Sea" is set on a pastoral, depopulated Earth:
>>
> I've read most of the ones on the list but is this one depopulated due
> to emigration (Clarke's usual theme) or mass die off?

Emigration.

--
Michael F. Stemper
Psalm 82:3-4

[Dimensional Traveler]

The movies place it across the Golden Gate from San Francisco in the
Marin Highlands, on the southern slope of Mount Tamalpais.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

[Dorothy J Heydt]

In article <3nugugh4tgp0f2559...@4ax.com>,

That was part of Roddenberry's original concept. If you've ever
seen "The Cage," the first piot for TS:TOS (that didn't sell)
that was adapted into "The Menagerie," you may recall a scene in
which Captain Pike is put into a delusion of his home city: we
see a huge arcology on the horizon, surrounded by a hundred miles
of woodland. And that's Roddenberry's vision of 22nd-century
Earth.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

[Jay E. Morris]

On 1/18/2022 8:14 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
> Empty Earths: Five SF Stories Set on a Depopulated Planet
> https://www.tor.com/2022/01/18/empty-earths-five-sf-stories-set-on-a-depopulated-planet/

Don't know why but it irks me when that picture is rotated. Guess it's
the terminator line running east-west.

[pete...@gmail.com]

The title bothers me, not the terminator. At any given point on the Moon's surface, the Earth,
if visible at all, is at a fixed point in the sky, neither rising nor setting.

There is a film clip of it apparently rising, but that was taken from one of the Apollo
spacecraft.

pt

[James Nicoll]

In article <b981bcab-178f-457e...@googlegroups.com>,

pete...@gmail.com <pete...@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Thursday, January 20, 2022 at 11:14:33 PM UTC-5, Jay E. Morris wrote:
>> On 1/18/2022 8:14 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
>> > Empty Earths: Five SF Stories Set on a Depopulated Planet
>> >
>https://www.tor.com/2022/01/18/empty-earths-five-sf-stories-set-on-a-depopulated-planet/
>> Don't know why but it irks me when that picture is rotated. Guess it's
>> the terminator line running east-west.
>
>The title bothers me, not the terminator. At any given point on the Moon's
>surface, the Earth, if visible at all, is at a fixed point in the sky,
>neither rising nor setting.

Not quite. There's libration (the moon wobbles a little bit) so judicious
choice of location would permit a Loonie to watch the Earth rise and set.
Only about 1/5th of the surface sees Earthrise/set, and it is very very
slow: two days for the Earth to move its own diameter in the sky.

[pete...@gmail.com]

On Friday, January 21, 2022 at 9:58:57 AM UTC-5, James Nicoll wrote:
> In article <b981bcab-178f-457e...@googlegroups.com>,
> pete...@gmail.com <pete...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >On Thursday, January 20, 2022 at 11:14:33 PM UTC-5, Jay E. Morris wrote:
> >> On 1/18/2022 8:14 AM, James Nicoll wrote:
> >> > Empty Earths: Five SF Stories Set on a Depopulated Planet
> >> >
> >https://www.tor.com/2022/01/18/empty-earths-five-sf-stories-set-on-a-depopulated-planet/
> >> Don't know why but it irks me when that picture is rotated. Guess it's
> >> the terminator line running east-west.
> >
> >The title bothers me, not the terminator. At any given point on the Moon's
> >surface, the Earth, if visible at all, is at a fixed point in the sky,
> >neither rising nor setting.
> Not quite. There's libration (the moon wobbles a little bit) so judicious
> choice of location would permit a Loonie to watch the Earth rise and set.
> Only about 1/5th of the surface sees Earthrise/set, and it is very very
> slow: two days for the Earth to move its own diameter in the sky.

It long ago occurred to me that on the earth-facing side of the Moon,
the planet's direction and orientation in the sky would be a great landmark for
finding your way around. Facing it points you at the center of the
Earth facing side, it's altitude in the sky tells you how far away that point
is (modulo libration, as you point out), and orientation the north/south
pole line tells you on which radial line to that point you are.

Libration is less than 8 degrees EW, and less than 7 NW, which would
add up over long distances.

Can you recall any stories where this was a feature?

pt

[James Nicoll]

In article <bb2eccb1-49b0-4098...@googlegroups.com>,

There was, I think, an Asimov involving a moonbase located so the inhabitants
could see Earthrise but I cannot recall the title.

[Jay E. Morris]

The picture was also taken from orbit.

https://www.planetary.org/space-images/earthrise

From NASA site: Taken aboard Apollo 8 by Bill Anders, this iconic
picture shows Earth peeking out from beyond the lunar surface as the
first crewed spacecraft circumnavigated the Moon, with astronauts
Anders, Frank Borman, and Jim Lovell aboard.

[peterw...@hotmail.com]

I think that in Robert Heinlein's YA novel _The Rolling Stones_ when Castor and Pollux were out
looking at used spaceships they used the position of the terminator line on the Earth as a timekeeping
measure. Authors, artists, and film makers often overestimated the visibility of the Earth's continental
outlines from space.

Peter Wezeman
anti-social Darwinist