How is these science fiction ideaa

[historybuff234]

Hello I am a new writer, and I would like some feedback on these ideas. The only science fiction I have ever read is by Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. It is the only science fiction I really have ever want to read. Anway my sci-fi book will take place in the future in which robots do all combat and war. There will be advanced technology as well, which I have not thought of yet. I am also wondering if I write a book that takes place in the 1880s to 1890s that would be considered in those days sci- fi, would it be sci-fi now days?

[lady_hockey]

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historybuff234 wrote:
Hello I am a new writer, and I would like some feedback on these ideas. The only science fiction I have ever read is by Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. It is the only science fiction I really have ever want to read. Anway my sci-fi book will take place in the future in which robots do all combat and war. There will be advanced technology as well, which I have not thought of yet. I am also wondering if I write a book that takes place in the 1880s to 1890s that would be considered in those days sci- fi, would it be sci-fi now days?

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Well, in order to give feedback on the idea, I personally would need more details. I think that you have a very loose base, and that's a great jumping point. What were you thinking of setting in this world?

And are you talking about a book written in the 1880s? I would say so. If the author was writing "futuristic" and that meant it was set in the 1980s, yes, that'd still be scifi.

[historybuff234]

Yes I did not have enough details, it was late and I wasn't really thinking. Here it is, there is a futuristic world in which the world is very nice with all kinds of new things that make life easier. Like robots, space travel, and I haven't thought of everything yet. The things won't be too futuristuic, only about maybe ten years in the future. Then there is an invasion, except it is from an undiscovered planet, the planet is exacty the same to Earth, they have the same tchnology, the same cultures, bassicly they are exactly the same in every way. In the book they invaade by way of space ship, they want to conquer Earth and make it a huge factory to make weapons. The war takes a long time and it is quite bloody, and both sides have to use nuclear weaponds. And the invaders bring their entire people to invzad when they lose their planet to another people. The book ends when all of the invaders are wiped out. Well not all of them, some of them were tired of fighting and w3ante to join our planet and live in peace.
I do't really understand completly what yoiu said about my 1890s idea. I would not set in the 1980s but in the 1890s. It would be about a genius who builds new technology and inventions for those days.

[lady_hockey]

The idea could be interesting. Who is your main character? Is there a personal conflict or are you telling the story of the whole planet? I think if it's the latter, that's much too widespread and epic. I think if you have that war as the backdrop, that could be an interesting set up.

As for the other book, I was thinking you were asking about something already written, but yes there is Historical SciFi, that being a SciFi plot set in a bygone era. That sounds interesting to me.

[Muse_of_Ire]

Hi Historybuff --

It sounds like you might be at a bit of a disadvantage because you're not familiar with what's already been written that might be similar to your idea. In particular, there is a branch of SF called cyberpunk that emerged in the 1980s that focuses a lot on the effects of computers on society. A subgenre within that also emerged called steampunk, which translates some of those ideas to historical, mainly Victorian, settings -- like yours. I'd recommend you start reading some of those works to see how other authors handled these ideas.

The only steampunk work I can recall offhand is The Difference Engine by Bruce Sterling and William Gibson (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9780553294613&itm=1), but I'm sure once you start asking around you'll find others.

[WriterJim]

Reading _The Difference Engine_ is a great idea, if you like Victorian sf, and it will introduce you to two of the more influential sf writers of the modern era, too.

Steampunk (cyberpunk-style fantasy and fiction in Victorian settings) actually has a nice body of work behind it. Tim Powers' _Anubis Gates_, K. W. Jeter's _Morlock Night_ (written as a sequel to H.G. Wells' _Time Machine_) are to other good examples of steampunk. Jeter is the sf writer who coined the term "steampunk" to describe this subgenre of sf.

If you're really enamored of historical sf, the Baroque Cycle of Neal Stephenson is magnificient, and Harry Turtledove and Lucius Shepherd make a good living writing in what's called the "alternate history" subgenre of sf, where some twist in the past has changed Earth's subsequent history. (Turtledove, for example, has a novel where the Confederacy won the Civil War.)

It's as good a place as any to start reading current sf.

[marta_randall]

To the list, remember to add Michael Swanwick's "The Iron Dragon's Daughter," which takes steampunk into the world of fantasy, and China Mieville's "Perdido Street Station" and "Iron Council," which take steampunk into science fantasy. Both excellent works.

[historybuff234]

Thanks, that steampunk sounds like that would work better for me than other sf. I have read more of things from the Victorian era, I enjoy Jules Verne a bit more than Wells. I could easily write sf in the Victorian era than in this era. I could write in this era, but it wouldn't be as easy as it taking place in the Victorian Age. Hey, a sequel to Around the World in Eighty Days might work well. Around the World in Eighty is a book that has greatly influenced me, the reason is it was the first Verne book that I read. Also it got me interested in traveling to other countires, even though I was probably around nine when I read it, I knew that at that moment I finished it I wanted to travel around the world when I was an adult. I read a Jules Verne quote that is very true in my case: I have often heard that my books excite young boys to leave their homes fro adventurous travel. I know that this may not be the case, but if they are to launched to some enterprise let them take example from the heroes in my extraordinary adventures. I have heard once that Jules Verne's books have inspired many great men, like the guy who invented the first practical helicopter, and I forgot his name but I know that he flew around the norht pole. I think his last name was Bird, I think that it was Richard Bird. Anyway I really like Jules Verne, and thanks again everybody you are all so helpful around here. I only wish I could help you guys more, I have not read much sf, but I suppose I could just say what a book idea sounds like to me.

[Muse_of_Ire]

Hey, let's not forget that Verne also inspired women! Reporter Nellie Bly's biggest story was replicating Fogg's journey. Her circumnavigation in 72 days (and some hours, minutes) proved that the story wasn't science fiction even at the time it was written. Bly was a role model for millions of women and one of my personal heroes.

Speaking of Neal Stephenson, he also wrote a book called The Diamond Age about a resurgence of Victorian culture in a future society. It's not one of his most successful works, imo, but the way he handles the culture is interesting.

Message Edited by Muse_of_Ire on 04-26-200711:42 AM

[marta_randall]

This gives me a chance to tout one of my favorite travel writers and personal heroes: Isabella Bird, a maiden lady of the Victorian era who suffered from the vapors and much else while at home, and cured them by taking trips and having wild adventures. She spent winters in the Colorados, months and months in Hawaii, traveled through China, and wrote with intelligence and wit and inspiration about all of it.

[dianaprince]

One of the best books I have read is titled "Larklight", and it is set in an alternate Victorian era where (or should I say when?) England is in possession of most of the solar system. The villains are twelve-legged white spiders, the leader of which wears a bowler hat and calls himself Mr. Webster. The protagonists who narrate the story are a boy named Art Mumby and his sister Myrtle. Their home is attacked and taken over by the malicious white spiders, after which they escape and embark on a journey through space to save not only their home, but the entire solar system as well. The sequel is called Starcross and it just came out in hardcover.