Dear All,
Have I told you lately how much I love your works? No? Well, this is a good time as any to tell you so. I’m reading good science fiction and enjoying some good TV show, thanks to your efforts. Thank you, straight from the heart.
Now, can we speak about a couple of serious problems?
Like, can we finally put a stop to the use of noise in absence of atmosphere? I know, it’s good for the drama and the FX people is able to do wonderful things. But it’s like having somebody constantly screeching his goddamned nails on the blackboard. Please, please, please. STOP IT. Give more room to the soundtrack, OK?
What about gravity? I know, with the magnetic boots you got an almost perfect way to stitch those damned characters to the “ground”. It’s just wonderful. But what about the effect of microgravity on human bodies? And again, without a big-sized spinning section how we can get “artificial” gravity onboard for spaceships and habitats? Last but not least, we have 1/6 G on the Moon, about 3/8 G on Mars and so on for all the minor celestial bodies in our system (Ceres, Io, Ganymede, Vesta…), so it’s about time to remember that normal humans can’t stay there for long time.
The only realistic solution is to have habitats orbiting around planets and asteroids, much O’Neill-style for the aforementioned need for a big-sized rotating section (yes, even in The Expanse they get it wrong). That leads to the last problem (I know, I lied before about “a couple”, so sue me!), I’m talking about deep space born humans. Without the right amount of gravity, it’s quite likely that the newborn will be seriously affected by a lot of dramatic illnesses. Once again, if you got no habitats, then you will have no kids around.
I know, I know, it’s all about the suspension of disbelief. The sense of wonder. The freedom of the writer of spinning his or her tale and so on. In my opinion, if you really want to write science fiction you have to assess a few rules and get a bit of science in it. Just my two cents, of course.
Angelo Benuzzi 