The Hard Sci-fi thread

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Surprised nobody has made a thread for this yet. As much as I love soft sci-fi and science-fantasy (including some very cheesy stuff!) my favourite genre is probably hard sci-fi as it tends to be more exciting and imaginative to me.

Whats everyones favourite hard sci-fi novels/writers?

My personal favourite is probably "Dragon's Egg" as I love the idea of alien life evolving on a neutron star and I love how they are also the primary protagonists. Since Robert L Forward was an astrophysicist, it's very hard on the realistic science side which just makes the exciting concepts in it more believable and inspiring.

Second would be "Mission of Gravity" by Hal Clement, gotta love the idea of the Oblate planet and the main character is an alien centipede which is badass. Of course I love Arthur C Clarke and such too.

[Psychosplodge]

At what point does hard sci-fi become soft sci-fi?
Does "The lost fleet" count as hard sci-fi? Quite like that series.

[Deadlift]

Not heard the phrase "hard" sci fi, not sure if it counts but I loved all the books based in the Dune universe. Frank Herbert's books are great and I really enjoyed the evolution of the different factions in the story's that span thousands of years. The prequels by his son and co were not bad and I found the butlarian jihad series enjoyable. I liked how they introduced the origins of the Dune universe tech into these books. The final book which was also written by Herbert's son and co (sorry cant remember the names) was also very good. I liked how they were able to tie in their prequels into the end of the story very much.
If you have never read the back story to Baron Harkonnan and why he is a floating pustulating fatman then your missing a treat.
Arthur C Clarks books are good, I read a series about a massive spaceship with its own Eco system that travels the galaxy picking up different species and having them mix in its internal world and observing the results as an experiment. I can't remember the name of the series but it's very good. I did find A C Clarks writing a bit haunting though considering the claims of him having an unhealthy interest in children. One part of the series is where an old man is having to a relationship with a very young girl to procreate the human race on this huge spaceship. It harked of wishful thinking on his part as the author to be honest.

Asimov is cool, I like short stories and his idea of the 3 rules for AI is fantastic.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

My two favorite hard sci-fis have to be Footfall (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footfall) and The Mote in God's Eye (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mote_in_God%27s_Eye) (w/ sequel The Gripping Hand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gripping_Hand)). They both feel a lot like the author sat down, designed an alien race, figured out how that biology would inform its society/customs, and then built the plot around that, makes it feel a lot more involved than typical sci-fi. (Don't let Footfall's covers put you off, the artists can't get over drawing the aliens as "SPACE ELEPHANNNNTS".)

At what point does hard sci-fi become soft sci-fi?Pretty much any sci-fi which sits down and describes how the futuristic technology works using contemporary/theoretical science, instead of relying on "space magic".

[Wolfshade]

What is hard sci-fi?

[Psychosplodge]

In context of its in universe physics or actual physics?

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

A bit of both - having a couple of breaks from reality is useful for having a cool setting, after all, but too many and it becomes soft sci-fi. It's the difference between 40k's "We get FTL by jumping into hell!" and Mass Effect's "We get non-time-dilated FTL by applying an electrical current to Eezo, lowering the mass of nearby objects." (Not that I'd necessarily call Mass Effect a hard sci-fi setting.)

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Yeah, The Rev pretty sums it up well. Nice to know we both like that genre too!! :D

I haven't read Footfall, but I loved Larry Niven's Ringworld books. Yeah, that's another aspect of why I like the genre - there is often a lot of "worldbuilding" which I am a sucker for lol. I like how they often go hardcore into the aliens too - probably why it is my fave genre really. The Cheela in Dragon's egg are pretty weird and alien too, I like that their minds work a million times faster than ours (but have shorter lifespans than us) - makes what they accomplish more impressive in a way.

@Deadlift, Dune is pretty much the definition of Soft sci-fi being that it is a science-fantasy setting. It is by far my favourite soft sci-fi/science-fantasy setting. Arthur C Clarke's works are probably the most popular and arguably some of the best hard sci-fi - "Rendezvous with Rama" being a good example... you kinda picked the best examples from each end of the spectrum there :P

[Deadlift]

Thanks for that, I just couldn't get my brain to engage the name of those books, yes the Rama series that's the one. The last book being exceptionally good.

[DarkLink]

The Lost Fleet is definitely hard sci-fi, most of the story is about the importance of FTL and relativity with regards to ship to ship combat.

Most of the sci-fi falls more in the center. Leviathan Wakes and Old Mans War both explain the logic behind the way that society has formed around various technologies, but that's more setting than story, and the plot itself is character driven. I can't actually think of any really recent big hard sci-fi books (other than The Lost Fleet), to be honest. They're out there, I just haven't read them.


What is hard sci-fi?

Where the physics and/or social implications of advanced technologies involved are explained rather than implied or handwaved. Star Wars is soft sci-fi, because they never explain how anything actually works (actually, Star Wars is as much fantasy as sci-fi). I, Robot is a classic hard sci-fi, because the entire point of the story is to explore the implications of the Three Laws of Robotics in minute detail.

[Psychosplodge]

Right I think I follow, Alaistair Reynolds and Iain M Banks would be two authors that I'd also suggest then.

[Deadlift]

I read one Iain M Banks book, I struggled to be honest. I often freely admit that most of you guys seem to be a bit more intellectual than myself and maybe you guys "get" his style. For me it's just a bit weird and confusing :)

[Psychosplodge]

No, I'll admit I can't race through them like the bolter pron the black library churns out, I have to slow down and really read it.

[Wolfshade]

Where the physics and/or social implications of advanced technologies involved are explained rather than implied or handwaved. Star Wars is soft sci-fi, because they never explain how anything actually works (actually, Star Wars is as much fantasy as sci-fi). I, Robot is a classic hard sci-fi, because the entire point of the story is to explore the implications of the Three Laws of Robotics in minute detail.

So what happens when they explain things in detail but the science is buncombe?

[DarkLink]

I read one Iain M Banks book, I struggled to be honest. I often freely admit that most of you guys seem to be a bit more intellectual than myself and maybe you guys "get" his style. For me it's just a bit weird and confusing :)

You should read The Quantum Thief, by some guy with a long non-western name I can't remember. It's so complex it actively detracts from the plot, as it's neigh impossible to tell what's actually going on when literally every other sentence makes up some new far-out crazy technology that is never explained what it actually is or why it's important to the plot yet is vital to know in order to understand what's actually happening. Fortunately, as long as you can understand the shared-memory stuff, you can at least get the basic idea of what's happening. But, yeah, definitely a case of an author a bit too smart for his own good.

[scadugenga]

The main issue I find with a lot of "hard" sci fi authors, is that they seem more oriented in proving how smart their thought-processes and universe-building skils are than they are in actually telling a story.

[Brakkart]

I've not read much of what would be considered as hard sci-fi (which is really more science-possible, than science-fiction when you think about it). The only ones I can honestly say I really enjoyed was Kim Stanley Robinson's amazing Mars trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars) dealing with the colonisation and terraforming of Mars. I found those a fascinating read and think that they would make for a great HBO style tv series, though not movies as too much would have to be chopped out to fit them into movies.

[Rev. Tiberius Jackhammer]

The main issue I find with a lot of "hard" sci fi authors, is that they seem more oriented in proving how smart their thought-processes and universe-building skils are than they are in actually telling a story.It's definitely a tricky genre to get right - fluid storytelling and physics lessons take a skilled writer to blend. The general rule of thumb I've run into would be that hard scifi which has the narrator discuss the science behind it is a slog, but hard scifi which successfully includes the science in dialogue reads well.
The only ones I can honestly say I really enjoyed was Kim Stanley Robinson's amazing Mars trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars) dealing with the colonisation and terraforming of Mars.Mmm, enjoyed that trilogy a lot. Kinda liked how he had the occasional graph/chart to quickly explain a concept if it was faster than text, and tied most of the science into discussions between characters.

[DarkLink]

It's a worldbuilding problem. Stories are driven by plot, which is made interesting by characters and worldbuilding/setting. A book with a fantastic setting that lacks good characters and/or plot will end up sounding like a physics textbook.

[Aspire to Glory]

Is hard sci fi when you see the penetration and there's less story?

[Psychosplodge]

I've not read much of what would be considered as hard sci-fi (which is really more science-possible, than science-fiction when you think about it). The only ones I can honestly say I really enjoyed was Kim Stanley Robinson's amazing Mars trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars) dealing with the colonisation and terraforming of Mars. I found those a fascinating read and think that they would make for a great HBO style tv series, though not movies as too much would have to be chopped out to fit them into movies.

How did I forget about them, they're a Brilliant read.


Is hard sci fi when you see the penetration and there's less story?

I'm here to fix your planet
But I can't afford to pay you
I'm sure we can come to some arrangement

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

I've heard good things about the Mars trilogy, I keep meaning to check that out! Colonisation is becoming more fascinating to me, I guess because we are slowly getting closer to it becoming a reality.

[Psychosplodge]

It's good.

[scadugenga]

It's a worldbuilding problem. Stories are driven by plot, which is made interesting by characters and worldbuilding/setting. A book with a fantastic setting that lacks good characters and/or plot will end up sounding like a physics textbook.

Exactly this.

[YorkNecromancer]

To assist in clarification: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness

The problem I usually get is that the people who are good with the real science part of science usually tend to lack the emotional intelligence to create compelling characters. Conversely, the ones who are great at characters tend to be terrible at science.

What I find grating about hard sci-fi is that it usually doesn't include the interesting side effects of the technology it introduces. Take the internet; the Cyberpunk genre posited hacking and inter-corporate warfare in the 90's. It didn't consider things like the London Riots being orchestrated by highly effective, for want of a better word "organic", leaderless communication. It didn't consider things like technological snobbery ("Oh you use Microsoft? Ugh"), as well as the adoption of technology by the great unwashed masses, who use it to look at cat videos.

This all tends to undermine the "hardness"; for me, if you're aiming to be as realistic as possible with your science, you have to be as realistic as possible with your culture to. You can't have modern/mediaeval stasis.

If you want a truly "hard" scif-fi, you might want to watch "Primer".
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Primer?from=Main.Primer

The hardest sci-fi I've enjoyed is probably the reimagined Battlestar Galactica (even if it does go all wibbly-wobbly in the final season), mainly because it tries to keep the culture as realistic as possible (doesn't always succeed, but it tries).

The other series I consider to be "hard" would be the Avatar: Legend of Korra, purely because it entirely averts mediaeval stasis. In the original Legend of Aang series, it was a kind of fantasy mediaeval China. The Korra series is set decades later, and the society is now in the equivelant of the 1920's, specifially because of the "new technology" (i.e.: refinements of magical powers) that the main characters of the first series developed. These have allowed actual new technology as well, in a logical, sensible way. The only "soft" thing about the series is the skill of bending elements, which is obviously complete nonsense. Everything else is surprisingly hard, considering it's a kids' series.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Resurrecting this thread cos iv got increasingly into the genre and would love to find more people into it.


First recomendation is Stephen Baxter's Xeelee series. I got all 4 main books in one volume and it's been one of the best SF reads I've ever had! Totally my thing!

My fave of his has to be "Ring". The Ring itself is one of the most awesome SF concept's I've read - totally in line with Olaf Stapledon esque stuff! The Ring itself is made out of a cosmic string that is made into a loop and creates the phenomenon of the Great Attractor. The Ring's actual function is to create a kerr metric at the centre which creates a portal to other universes. The Ring seems to have similaroties to Tipler Cylinders.

Theres more too...the main antagonists are a fascinating species of Dark Matter lifeforms that inhabit gravity wells of stars. So yeah, totally awesome stuff - I will have to read more of Baxters work as it seems to be more on the "grand concept" end of hard SF that I like the best.

On the other end (the more down to earth Arthur C Clarke style) I have to recomend a sci-fi anime called Planetes. Absolutely brilliant - very very well done realistic near-future setting, and if one of your complaints about hard SF is characterisation, then this one is TOTALLY for you as it is very character heavy! Just give it a chance, and it totally does include the interesting side effects of the technology and the settings such as how different gravity effects humans. I wish so much there was more stuff like this, it gets the genre absolutely spot on.

Also picked up an Alastair Reynolds book, "Pushing Ice", but have not started it yet - however it sounds like it has a lot of cool and interesting "proper" Alien Aliens in it, and from what I've read his Revelation Space series is pretty badass...guess I shall see!

[daboarder]

May I recommend Joel Shepards Cassandra Kresnov books.

Very well written, strong female protagonist (Characters actually, there's more female lead characters than males now that I think of it), and good plot. little on the soft side but they do paint an intriguing picture of a society where the "network" is a part of the infrastructure as much or more so than the roads.

[Psychosplodge]

Yeah I'd recommend Alastair Reynolds, I think my favourite one of his is House of Suns, which iirc is standalone.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Reading it's synopsis on Wiki, it sounds like it has a lot of similarities with Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men, so ill probably like it.

Daboarder - I love good strong female protagonists. There are not enough in general, but on on the subject of Females in SF - Margaret Atwood, Alice Sheldon, Madeline Ashby, Tricia Sullivan, Catherine Asaro and Nancy Kress are some Hard SF writers that kick ***!

[Charistoph]

Speaking of strong female protagonists, What would the classification of the Honor Harrington universe be? Hard, soft, or middle?

On one hand, it involves sciences which we can't even prove, yet, but on the other hand, it could be plausible. And Weber actually takes these things in to account as he writes the stories.

[Psychosplodge]

Sounds like hard sci-fi to me based on the reply to my question about the lost fleet series earlier.

See Xeno, I haven't read any of those authors, but the next time my To read pile starts to look a bit small I've got some new names to check out.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Christopher Nolan's new film Interstellar seems to look pretty Hard SF, and very promising!

http://io9.com/gorgeous-new-interstellar-trailer-shows-chris-nolans-al-1613440331

Definitely more the kind of film I want to see more of!

[Kirsten]

Joe Haldeman, The Forever War, if that qualifies.

[DarkLink]

Leviathan Wakes, and the rest of the Expanse series. It's got a very Aliens feel to it.

[daboarder]

Joe Haldeman, The Forever War, if that qualifies.

Oh that qualifies, in fact that novel is responsible for dashing my dreams of a galactic civilization, because its illustration of the effects of relativity upon communication and social cohesion are very accurate....sigh

[Kirsten]

the third book is not as good, but the first two are my favourite sci fi books ever.

[daboarder]

Yeah I had heard that the sequels weren't as good. I only read the first one

[Kirsten]

second one is awesome, third is very different

[daboarder]

Hmm I guess ill put the second at least back on my to read list

I wonder if it has an audio version (I rarely have time to read so I listen while driving/gym etc)

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Leviathan Wakes, and the rest of the Expanse series. It's got a very Aliens feel to it.

Apparently that is getting a TV Series adaptation. It's premise reminds me of "Star Cops" and "Bladerunner" a bit, so I may have to check it out.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Oh and I know it's blatant self-promo spamming - but if you like your Hard SF in music form, then you should get my new album :
http://f1.bcbits.com/img/a2456936004_2.jpg
You can Download it for free here : http://ionplasmaincineration.bandcamp.com/album/outer-reality-engine-free-version

It also makes great soundtrack music to your tabletop wargaming as it is as very intense, sci-fi cinematic and aggressive sound to it.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

After reading this article I am really excited! Sort of stuff I have always wanted to see on screen, and the black hole looks stunning. This def the SF film I have been waiting for! I might even actually see it in the cinema and i havent been to a cinema in about 20 years.

http://www.wired.com/2014/10/astrophysics-interstellar-black-hole/#

Some choice quotes :
Thorne sent his answers to Franklin in the form of heavily researched memos. Pages long, deeply sourced, and covered in equations, they were more like scientific journal articles than anything else. Franklin's team wrote new rendering software based on these equations and spun up a wormhole. The result was extraordinary. It was like a crystal ball reflecting the universe, a spherical hole in spacetime. “Science fiction always wants to dress things up, like it's never happy with the ordinary universe,” he says. “What we were getting out of the software was compelling straight off.”



Still, no one knew exactly what a black hole would look like until they actually built one. Light, temporarily trapped around the black hole, produced an unexpectedly complex fingerprint pattern near the black hole's shadow. And the glowing accretion disk appeared above the black hole, below the black hole, and in front of it. “I never expected that,” Thorne says. “Eugénie just did the simulations and said, ‘Hey, this is what I got.’ It was just amazing.”



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vxOhd4qlnA

[40kGamer]

This does look very promising.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

I know right? It's the sort of stuff I've wanted to see for years. I have nothing against soft SF and I do enjoy a fair amount of it, but hard SF is really lacking when it comes to visual representments. Most of it only exists in book form which is quite sad as there is a ton of awesome visuals - I'd love to see Nolan tackle an adaptation of Ring or Star Maker.

- - - Updated - - -

Speaking of Ring, found this awesome fanart of it :
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LaXqx44K2-0/Tv_dhMZLfDI/AAAAAAAAAdI/tmGR-CPzE4I/s1600/View_of_the_Xeelee_Ring_by_Steve_Burg_resize.jpg

[wayne williams]

i loved olaf stapletons starmaker almost no one i know has ever read it .

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

i loved olaf stapletons starmaker almost no one i know has ever read it .

I'm glad someone here has! Yeah I agree, i can't believe how so many people havent heard of it - even Arthur C clarke praised it as the greatest and most imaginative piece of litterature ever and it's influence on SF is crazy. Most Transhumanism/Post-human stuff can be traced back to Last and first men too.

He doesn't get anywhere near enough of the credt he deserves. It's kind of soul destroying.

[Tyrendian]

This does look very promising.

and so it was - brilliant movie that! can't recommend it enough!

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Good to hear!! Very excited for it.



Speaking of exciting :
‘Interstellar's’ Jonah Nolan Developing ‘Foundation’ Series for HBO
http://www.thewrap.com/interstellars-jonah-nolan-developing-foundation-series-for-hbo-wbtv-exclusive/

AND

Ridley Scott to Adapt Arthur C. Clarke Novel ‘3001’
http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/syfy-ridley-scott-to-adapt-arthur-c-clarke-novel-3001-1201346056/

both = AWESOME!

Looks like my Hard SF prayers are being answered :D

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Red Mars to get a TV series written by J. Michael Straczynski of babylon5 fame? Yes please! So happy to see something like this come out.

Hard sci-fi fans got very excited back in September when it was announced that Kim Stanley Robinson's beloved Mars trilogy was being adapted for Spike TV, as Red Mars, under the guidance of Game of Thrones producer Vince Gerardis. It's one of the most acclaimed sci-fi series of the past 20 years, it's got plenty of longform potential, and Robinson himself is on board as a consultant, so it's easy to see why many of us can't wait to see if the show materializes.

What wasn't announced at the time was when we'd see the show, who'd star in it or who'd take on writing and directing duties. Now Deadline reports that at least one of those questions has been answered: Red Mars will be written by Babylon 5 creator and comics writer J. Michael Straczynski.




http://www.blastr.com/2015-1-21/babylon-5-creator-heads-back-tv-write-red-mars-series

Now if only they'd hire me to do the soundtrack...

[Psychosplodge]

This could be very very good, or very very bad.
I hope for the former :D

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

I loved Babylon5, despite it's flaws - i thought it was a very well told SF story with some great aliens (Vorlons, Shadows), characters and a mostly great story arc with good payoffs. I am admitedlly not too familiar with his more recent work though - but this could be potentially the best thing since quantum sliced bread.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Arthur C Clarke's Childhood's end has been turned into a mini-series now :
http://www.syfy.com/childhoodsend

not seen it yet but hopefully it is good...

[CoffeeGrunt]

It's SyFy, so...maybe?

On the note of general hard sci-fi, it seems like the toughest genre to write. I mean, you can research a tonne and try and work stuff out like say, Andy Weir did for The Martian, and then another expert will wander along and go, "well yeah, you could reduce Hydrazine into hydrogen and nitrogen in that way, that works, and it would burn to make water, that's fine, but you miscalculated the heat generated in the deliberately-insulated Hab, so Watney would've steadily cooked himself alive."

Don't get me wrong, the more a sci-fi setting makes things work in a somewhat believable manner, the better IMO. I just pity the ones who try their best to make it so, it's a tough task. :)

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Maybe is right, i really liekd The Expanse minus the sound in space gaffs as iv always wanted to see something set in the Kuiper belt, and they did a good job on it.

I think it's only difficult if you aren't a physicist or scientist or some kind with the knowledge. You know, like me. :p

[CoffeeGrunt]

I've been slowly concepting a sci-fi setting. Fairly standard, but I want to try and make it believable, with as few concessions as possible. (For example, there are hyperspace FTL drives, but I'm going to set down the rules before I use it, so it doesn't just become a convenient plot device.) I've spent a lot of time looking into ideas on how space combat could work, how the logistics would operate, the technical and tactical edges that a species could exploit, etc, as well as divergent design philosophies.

Different species styles is another one I'm interested in. How they evolved, how that evolution influences their society, their cultural flaws. Rather than just, "the warrior race," I wanted to have the species react in a conceivable-yet-alien way.

I tell ya, building a world is tough. Building a galaxy is damn-hard, haha. :P

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

just make the aliens look alien and I won't have to kill you ;) Legs and arms only make sense if the planet is like earth and even then it's unlikely really. Personally I'd avoid deep space combat as it really doesn't make any sense. Space combat is only really feasable if it is fighting over an objective like a space station, planet ect, best to avoid "mono worlds" (eg the desert world, the ice world), aliens based on earth animals (fish alien humanoids, reptile men, bird people ect - best left in fantasy imo) - also alien civilizations should have efffort made to make them as diverse as any human culture. Really f**ks me off when they only seem to have one singular culture all the time.

[CoffeeGrunt]

I'll try my best. :P

The spatial warfare would be concentrated around planetary bodies, though I liked the idea of the speed of light being an important factor. For example, a planet has a fleet in defensive position around it. A ship slips into the system a couple of light-hours away, and using high-power imaging equipment, scans and catalogues the positions and capabilities of each ship. The ship that slips in would have two hours before the image of its entry even reached the defense fleet, but the defense fleet that has been waiting in orbit for say, a few days would be visible up to a few light-days away, though the closer you get, the more up-to-date the image is. So the stealth ship could slip in, catalogue everything, slip out and transmit the information to a fleet that jumps in to attack the most vulnerable areas before the image of the stealth ship ever reaches them. (Humanity makes extensive use of quantum entangled communication to make this possible. Instantaneous communication allows them to exploit relativity in a way most other species haven't thought of or cultivated yet.)

I also have a few ideas for species, but nothing full yet. For example, one species would carry their young and give live birth. Uniquely, the mother has a neural connection to her child, as well as the usual connections in such a species. This is advantageous in that a child is born with a subconscious understanding of things beyond the womb, meaning they can adapt to life quicker, as well as gaining subconscious knowledge of threats, safe food and shelter, etc.

However, it also means that the society evolves along a very dynastic route, and families are even more prone to tradition. Females are valued because the more experience they have, the more they can impart to their young to continue the line, whereas the males are less so. The cultural would reinforce the biological, with a sense of the family and bloodline almost overtaking the sense of self.

It's an interesting structure that offers divergent subcultures, (IMO.) There may be a subset that tries to blend dynasties to gain more rounded children, whereas others are strictly purist. Some may have males as mostly worthless in societies, whereas others have the father take care and raise the child beyond the womb, to blend the experiences of the two for the overall benefit of the child.

There would be some children that simply didn't 'take' to the bond. Perhaps they just didn't make the necessary bond, perhaps their sense of self is stronger than the sense of dynasty. Remember, the mother would have vague memories drawn from her mother, and the line could continue through the ages, with scattered, sparse memories from long ago. Spiritually, it would be considered a method of immortality, much more so than humans revere bloodlines and ancestry. A child that interrupts this continuity would be a tragedy, the bloodline severed. It would create an interesting character to utilise, (I think.)

Tbh, most of what I've written is just concepts for things I think might be interesting. Weaving it all into a coherent narrative would be the tough part.

[Psychosplodge]

I'll try my best. :P

The spatial warfare would be concentrated around planetary bodies, though I liked the idea of the speed of light being an important factor. For example, a planet has a fleet in defensive position around it. A ship slips into the system a couple of light-hours away, and using high-power imaging equipment, scans and catalogues the positions and capabilities of each ship. The ship that slips in would have two hours before the image of its entry even reached the defense fleet, but the defense fleet that has been waiting in orbit for say, a few days would be visible up to a few light-days away, though the closer you get, the more up-to-date the image is. So the stealth ship could slip in, catalogue everything, slip out and transmit the information to a fleet that jumps in to attack the most vulnerable areas before the image of the stealth ship ever reaches them. (Humanity makes extensive use of quantum entangled communication to make this possible. Instantaneous communication allows them to exploit relativity in a way most other species haven't thought of or cultivated yet.).

Start here (http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Lost-Fleet-Dauntless-Book/dp/0857681303)

[Morgrim]

I've been slowly concepting a sci-fi setting. Fairly standard, but I want to try and make it believable, with as few concessions as possible. (For example, there are hyperspace FTL drives, but I'm going to set down the rules before I use it, so it doesn't just become a convenient plot device.) I've spent a lot of time looking into ideas on how space combat could work, how the logistics would operate, the technical and tactical edges that a species could exploit, etc, as well as divergent design philosophies.

Different species styles is another one I'm interested in. How they evolved, how that evolution influences their society, their cultural flaws. Rather than just, "the warrior race," I wanted to have the species react in a conceivable-yet-alien way.

I tell ya, building a world is tough. Building a galaxy is damn-hard, haha. :P

If you're not already familiar with it, take a browse through the Atomic Rockets (http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/) website. It started as a few notes put up by someone in the industry that wanted more hard scifi novels, and it's become a one stop reference site for almost anything one needs to create hard scifi works. Want to know how big a planet needs to be to retain certain gases in its atmosphere? It has that. Need any rocketry equation? There, with automatic calculators for the major ones. Want tips on writing alien trade languages? Got it.

I LOVE this site, it's brilliant.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Damn, that site is AWESOME morgrim, have bookmarked it for myself. Excellent stuff!!

[Charistoph]

Start here (http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Lost-Fleet-Dauntless-Book/dp/0857681303)

I'd also recommend David Weber's Honor Harrington series, starting with On Basilisk Station. While it isn't as hard sci-fi as some, he tries to be consistent. But more importantly, he describes the basis for in-system interceptions and describes some ways of getting in to inter-spatial conflicts. A lot is dependent on huge scan ranges relying on ship drives, and how interstellar travel operates which narrows the volume of predictable traffic.

Keep in mind that no matter how much you try, FTL drives and capabilities, along with sensor capacities, will be a huge factor in how getting the fleets to face each other work, especially for setting up intercepts. STL drives will be a factor in where and how they meet up as well once they find each other.


Maybe is right, i really liekd The Expanse minus the sound in space gaffs as iv always wanted to see something set in the Kuiper belt, and they did a good job on it.

I think it's only difficult if you aren't a physicist or scientist or some kind with the knowledge. You know, like me. :p

It can still be difficult if you are in the know. New discoveries happen all the time. Each discovery alters our view of the universe. And people are always willing to come back and mock earlier concpets that were made without prior knowledge.

Pick an FTL drive from your favorite classic sci-fi show. How many would fall apart with known physics today? How much would today's standards be laughed at in 30 years from now? 100? If we don't end up killing ourselves, how would those discoverers of real world FTL travel mock Star Trek, Star Wars, Babylon 5, and so on?

[Morgrim]

Damn, that site is AWESOME morgrim, have bookmarked it for myself. Excellent stuff!!

You will want the "Weird Astronomy" page. ;)

[CoffeeGrunt]

If you're not already familiar with it, take a browse through the Atomic Rockets (http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/) website. It started as a few notes put up by someone in the industry that wanted more hard scifi novels, and it's become a one stop reference site for almost anything one needs to create hard scifi works. Want to know how big a planet needs to be to retain certain gases in its atmosphere? It has that. Need any rocketry equation? There, with automatic calculators for the major ones. Want tips on writing alien trade languages? Got it.

I LOVE this site, it's brilliant.

I stumbled across that site when looking into nuclear warheads and how they would perform in space, (poorly.) They did give me the idea for Fission Shaped Charges, though.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

Weird cosmic sh1t is where it's at for me for sure. I wish there was more stuff like Stapledons "Star Maker" especially, by far the best SF novel of all time imo. The end always blew me mind especially, especially when you discover all the other weird universes that are all simply the star makers past experiments like a universe of sound.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

watched ep1 of "childhood's end" last night, it was okay until the end. the alien design totally ruined it for me, I havent read the book so I do not know how true it is but that put me right off.

Well, still got that space odyessy mini series to look forward to yet...