I once saw a reference to a specific artificial world and never managed to track down the actual story, wondering if anyone can help id this. The world in question was a flat disk with a sun at the center, sort of like if Saturn's rings were solid and Saturn itself were a star. Every point on the surface would be in a state of perpetual sunrise/sunset. I've no idea if this was a short story, a novel, or what.
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6 Answers
This is an Alderson Disk and has been featured in Godwheel. Enjoy.
There is a version of this structure in Missile Gap by Charles Stross.
It could be Pratchett, he has written stories other than those in Discworld; one of them is Strata. It is about a woman who is a world builder. She and some aliens team up to investigate an obviously artificial world. It is a representation of old medieval myths about the world. The world is flat, the sun sits in the centre of the world, stars are points on the globe of heaven.
It turns out to be some sort of easter egg, left by the beings who created the universe.
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2well familiar with Strata, certain it wasn't that - even though it's an awesome book and makes me wish Pratchett had done more like it.– JustJeffJul 23, 2011 at 14:09
Possibly the Discworld series by Pratchett
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4Discworld is very close to the right physical configuration, but differs in two ways - (1) the sun would have to be where the hub is, and (2) the scale of the thing would have to be much larger. Thanks for taking a shot though.– JustJeffFeb 20, 2011 at 13:45
I wonder if you're referring to the discussion of Alderson disks in Niven's article "Bigger than Worlds":
This quote mentions some of the features you refer to above:
The sun will always be on the horizon, unless we bob it, which we do. (This time it is the sun that does the bobbing.) Now it is always dawn, or dusk, or night. The Disc would be a wonderful place to stage a Gothic or a swords-and-sorcery novel.
This sounds like Larry Niven's Ringworld.
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