Tom Godwin

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Thomas William Godwin (born June 6, 1915 ; died August 31, 1980 in Las Vegas ) was an American science fiction writer.

Life

Godwin struggled with difficulties all his life. Due to a family tragedy he could not finish school, a curvature of the spine ( kyphosis ) ended his military career, he was an alcoholic and suffered from chronic pain, especially during the last years of his life.

His best-known work is the short story The Cold Equations (1954), after its first publication ( The Gulf Between , 1953), the fourth published story by Godwin. It is considered a typical example of the Hard SF of the 1950s and was included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One , Robert Silverberg's 1970 anthology of classical science fiction, and otherwise often anthologized. It was the basis for episodes of the television series Out of This World ( Cold Equations , Season 1, Episode 4, 1962) and The Twilight Zone ( The Cold Equations , Season 3, Episode 16, 1989, German title Eine zu viel ab Bord ) and a television film ( The Cold Equations , 1996, German title Emergency in Space ). The story is about a girl who smuggles herself aboard a one-man spaceship that is supposed to bring a much-needed vaccine to a mining colony. The additional weight of the stowaway would endanger the mission and thus the survival of many in the colony. The “cold equations” of physics allow no other solution than the death of the girl.

In addition to a good two dozen short stories, Godwin wrote three novels, two of which were published in German booklet versions . They are considered examples of experienced space opera .

bibliography

Ragnarok series
  • The Survivors , Gnome Press (1958)
    • English: They died on Ragnarok. Moewig (Terra special volume # 34), 1960.
  • The Space Barbarians (1964)
    • English: The Barbarians of Ragnarok. Pabel (Terra Taschenbuch # 205), 1973.
Single novel
  • Beyond Another Sun (1971)
collection
  • The Cold Equations & Other Stories (2003)
Short stories
  • The Gulf Between (1953)
  • Mother of Invention (1953)
  • The Greater Thing (1954)
  • The Cold Equations (1954)
    • German: The immortal laws. In: Robert Silverberg, Wolfgang Jeschke (eds.): Titan 15. Heyne SF&F # 3787, 1981, ISBN 3-453-30688-0 .
  • No Species Alone (1954)
  • You Created Us (1955)
  • The Barbarians (1955)
  • Operation Opera (1956)
  • Brain Teaser (1956)
  • Too Soon to Die (1957)
  • The Harvest (1957)
  • The Last Victory (1957)
  • The Nothing Equation (1957)
  • The Wild Ones (1958)
  • My Brother The Ape (1958)
  • Cry From a Far Planet (1958)
  • A Place Beyond the Stars (1959)
  • Empathy (1959)
  • The Helpful Hand of God (1961)
    • German: Refuge . In: The Sagginer case. Moewig (Utopia # 499), 1966.
  • ... and Devious the Line of Duty (1962)
  • Desert Execution (1967)
  • The Gentle Captive (1972)
  • We'll Walk Again the Moonlight (1974)
  • Backfire (1975)
  • The Steel Guardian (1977)
  • Social Blunder (1977)
  • Before Willows Ever Walked (1980)

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Godwin, Tom
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Godwin, Thomas William (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American science fiction writer
DATE OF BIRTH June 6, 1915
DATE OF DEATH August 31, 1980
Place of death Las Vegas