I’ve got some good news; after a weeks-long drought I’m back to writing, this time having taken the plunge into finally crafting my end-of-the-universe story, spanning a time from advanced humanity millions of years from now to the heat death of the universe; well, really … Continue readingFrom Vignettes to a Chronicle
Since I wrote up my post “When Worlds Collide” I’ve been doing some more worldbuilding for the extremely far future of my space-opera universe, the ultimate fate of the Earth. 1.2 billion years from now, when Earth is a desert-like hothouse of a planet populated … Continue readingAfter Worlds Collide
In my post “Building a Better House”, I explored what I believe to be superior forms for housing, specifically the first floor being garage and the second floor being open like a loft apartment but with Japanese-style doors to partition rooms if desired: a maximum … Continue readingKudzu Among the Ruins
I’ve been thinking recently again about how I’m going to take my space-opera setting into the extremely far future, from millions of years from now to the end of the universe. In particular: the blaze of glory I have in mind for the end of … Continue readingWhen Worlds Collide
Having perused the first three episodes of the new “Obi-Wan Kenobi” show, I honestly think it’s awful. It’s bereft of a good understanding of the Obi-Wan character, bereft of a good understanding of Star Wars lore, and is in tension or even contradiction to many … Continue readingThe “Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi” I Would Have Made
You might have heard of the Aral Sea and its “ships of the desert”. Where there once was seafloor, now there’s only dust; where there once was thriving fish and birds, now there’s only toxic clouds. All the casualty of diversion for agriculture, a plague … Continue readingThe Inland Seas in my Sci-Fi Setting
Fundamentally there are three schools of thought for spacecraft that enter and exit planetary atmospheres (spacecraft that stay in space have their own design considerations, and in any case can get much wilder): capsules, spaceplanes, and lifting bodies. Anybody who’s even passingly familiar with spaceflight … Continue readingCatching a Lift
Lately I’ve been giving a lot of thought to what’s almost a blank page in my universe: what the first spaceflights, which in my alternate timeline take place in the 1940s, were like. The first moon landing takes place in 1949, but in the interests … Continue readingWorldbuilding the First Moon Landing
I’d like to spare a few words on the Rule of Two from the Star Wars universe, and exactly how it works. A thousand years before the Skywalker Saga, all the Sith killed each other, leaving only one survivor: Darth Bane, who crafted a new … Continue readingThe Souls of the Sith
In my alternate-history science-fiction space opera setting, it’s well-established that first contact with alien intelligence was made by Ilmatar of Thalassa on, well, Thalassa (a planet of Proxima Centauri) around the year 2060. What’s not so well-established is that the Thalassans aren’t the closest alien … Continue readingAfter Thalassa: Squid Brains of Enceladus?