Things to think about when setting a story in space

[whisky]

If your doing a star wars or star trek story fine, everything is in place, if not.

Speed.

Will your ship go faster than the speed of light or not?

Yes, how does it do it? warp, hyperspeed, whatever it is, think about it carefully and be consistant

No, is it a generations ship, are the crew in hibernation, are they close to the speed of light aging slower due to relativity?


Does your ship have a deflector, if not you'll need a huge protective plate at the front.

Does your ship have sheilds?
If not there needs to be a safe area for radiation protection.

Does it have artifical gravity?

If not it needs to either spin or have parts of the ship that do, two wheels spinning in opposite directions would be best, or you would be faced with a ship that rotates in the opposite direction to one spinning wheel unless constant thrust was applied in the other direction.

Does it have intertial dampeners?

If not, then prepare for a very long period of accelaration and the same amount of time for decelaration, maybe even years to build up to any decent percentage of light speed without accelartion dangerous to humans.

 

[The Question]

The technology is important, but only so far as it drives or enables story elements more than it limits them. And don't forget -- unless you're writing for an established property, it's your world. Giving people what they expect, when it comes to the window-dressing, is only optional.

 

[whisky]

Physics is physics, unless you are doing one of those wacky stories where theres air in space and you can sail between planets on wooden ships.

 

[The Question]

I'm partial to writing (and reading) scifi which intentionally does not concern itself with tech stuff, in favor of a more surreal, abstract, often humorous style...

I'm thinking of works like Dark Star (my all-time favorite film), Heavy Metal Magazine (and movie), the works of Stanislaw Lem, Tartovsky, Fredric Brown, and so on...

Actually, for your consideration, I'll post the first chapter of a scifi novel I'm working on. Until the Stars Grow Dark. Here:

http://www.trollkingdom.net/forum/showthread.php?p=586728#post586728

I'll have a look at that soon. Speaking of surreal and/or humorous SF -- I can't believe you forgot Spider Robinson!

 

[Sadistic Bastard]

Take a look at The Mote in God's Eye and The Grasping Hand for excellent examples of how acceleration, slower than light travel and other restrictions allow for a building of tension and story development. If you are spending weeks transiting a solar system, that gives a good amount of time to build character, romances, stories, intrigues...

It's too easy to have a magic warp-drive and shields....it's the restrictions and "rules" that a writer has to work within that makes a story interesting.

In that world: "Jump points" (difficult to find, good "choke point" strategically)
"Shields" that have defined limits
Acceleration makes a difference (6 g's maximum...with everyone in water beds and don't do it for too long or you'll kill the crew).
Radio/laser are your communications, allowing for lag and individual character initiative...also an element of tension.

And one of the true "classic" (if a little slow) tales of Sci-Fi.
Then again, Niven is a Physicist, and not afraid of writing "Hard" sci-fi (Pournelle usually does the psychological/character stuff I understand...)