Hide and Seek - Arthur C. Clarke
"Hide and Seek" is in The Collected Stories of Arthur C. Clarke, which I've been slowly plodding through. Up until this story, however, none of the stories really blew my mind.
To preface my opinion, I'll point out that my favorite thing about sci-fi is scientific realism. I love when authors explore how things may actually be in the future, and how technology will work in ways that the average person would never anticipate. For example, in Stranger in a Strange Land, the characters have personal communicators (i.e., cell phones) that they are addicted to viewing while they sit in their autonomous cars. That's a pretty astounding prediction for a book written in 1961!
So, I'm amazed how, in 1949, Clarke got more right about the "sci" part of sci-fi than most authors do, even today. This short story is a delight of interplanetary physics and spacecraft design. Think The Expanse, as opposed to Star Wars --instead artificial gravity or laser weapons, this story is nine pages of satisfyingly realistic space combat. And, to say any more than that would ruin it.
To preface my opinion, I'll point out that my favorite thing about sci-fi is scientific realism. I love when authors explore how things may actually be in the future, and how technology will work in ways that the average person would never anticipate. For example, in Stranger in a Strange Land, the characters have personal communicators (i.e., cell phones) that they are addicted to viewing while they sit in their autonomous cars. That's a pretty astounding prediction for a book written in 1961!
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