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It certainly starts out fairly hard scifi (with the only exception being Epstein drives) but takes a pretty sharp turn away from that as soon as the proto-molec
by pilom 10y ago
It certainly starts out fairly hard scifi (with the only exception being Epstein drives) but takes a pretty sharp turn away from that as soon as the proto-molecule is out and about. It was hard for me not to put the book away and stop reading the series when the zombies showed up because I was so engrossed in the realism behind the story that those parts just felt like a betrayal.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- colordrops 10y agoWhat's wrong with Epstein drives? I haven't read the book, but what is impossible about them? Is it the amount of energy needed?
- pilom 10y agoThey are more fuel efficient than anything physics predicts is possible because they effectively have the max thrust of chemical rockets, combined with a nearly infinite ISP from using no reaction mass. They mention refueling the fusion reactors and the steam thrusters, but they never mention reaction mass for the Epstein drives.
- colordrops 10y agoI did some searching and found this: https://m.reddit.com/r/TheExpanse/comments/4frz1k/epstein_drive_may_be_real/ https://m.reddit.com/r/TheExpanse/comments/4frz1k/epstein_dr... Ignore the original story and the top level comments. Seems there is some evidence of reaction mass. There is some interesting analysis and basic math in the comments. I didn't see anything that confirmed or precluded the epstein drive from being possible. I should get out a pen and paper and work it out myself.