The Tantalus Death by Ross Rocklynne
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"The Tantalus Death" by Ross Rocklynne is a science fiction short story published in the early 20th century, specifically within the 1940s. The narrative unfolds a dramatic scenario where Earth, in its refusal to supply water to Mars, faces grave consequences. The story explores themes of diplomacy and the lengths to which civilizations will go under hardship. In the tale, Olduk, the Martian ambassador, implores the Earth’s Conclave for water amid a
backdrop of previous Martian-Earth conflicts. As the assembly rejects his plea yet again, a mysterious mechanism causes water around Earth to transform into impenetrable spheres, making it impossible for humans to drink. The citizens of Earth, now doomed to suffer like Tantalus from Greek mythology—eternally thirsty, unable to access the water surrounding them—must confront their predicament. As chaos ensues, the Governors, driven by desperation, consider a deceptive agreement with Olduk in hopes of regaining access to water, ultimately leading to profound moral reflection about their treatment of the Martian race and Olduk's tragic fate. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Rocklynne, Ross, 1913-1988 |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Fawcette, Gene, 1920?-1988 |
| Title | The Tantalus Death |
| Series Title | Produced from Planet Stories Spring 1940 |
| Credits |
Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 84.9 (6th grade). Easy to read. |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature |
| Subject | Science fiction |
| Subject | Short stories |
| Subject | War stories |
| Subject | Martians -- Fiction |
| Subject | Water -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 61744 |
| ISBN (HTML) | 979-8-238-61744-2 |
| Release Date | Apr 3, 2020 |
| Last Update | Oct 17, 2024 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 430 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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