Why is so much modern science fiction dark and “gritty”, even “dystopian”? We live in dark times, so seeing characters navigate a dark world might speak to our hearts and minds in a way a bright world cannot. Far less excusable in my view is … Continue readingRomantic Realist Science Fiction: A Sublime and Beautiful Future
I haven’t even finished my latest novel yet, though I am writing at a brisk clip, and already my mind turns to my next story. For some reason I find the prospect of setting a story in the far future of my space opera setting … Continue readingTaking my Space Opera into the Far Future
When speculating about alien intelligence, much is made of the fact that we see a cosmos primeval rather than a cosmos being eaten away by artifice. What if, instead of proving there are no advanced spacefaring civilizations out there, it proves that some of our … Continue readingInfinite Scattering: The Future of Spacefaring Civilization?
Much thought has been devoted to the idea of life beyond Earth. While it is often assumed that life both on Earth and on other planets must have arisen independently, their origins separate, the panspermia hypothesis offers an alternative view, that life is not confined … Continue readingPanspermia, the Alpha, and the Omega
Space habitats and colonization are one of the topics I blog the most about, because I find it quite interesting. Why confine your civilization to a planet when there’s a whole universe out there filled with resources that you can turn into custom-made habitats fit … Continue readingOur Future in Space Habitats: More Thoughts
I recently have been giving some thought as to what my space opera would look like as a space fantasy, reimagining it, so to speak. “Reimagining your space opera setting into a space fantasy?” you might ask, if you weren’t already lost at “magic” and … Continue readingCosmic Ley Lines: Space Opera to Space Fantasy
How advanced would a spacefaring alien or future civilization become? What is the ultimate fate of intelligence in the universe? Big questions, but there are fundamental underpinnings that affect any civilization that might be out there, perhaps none more fundamental than energy. Civilization’s progress may … Continue readingThe Coming Union of Intelligence and the Cosmos Primeval
The Hunt for Count Gleichen’s Treasure is now up to 13,355 words, the Venus section accounting for most of the additions. But rather than bore you with an incremental update on my novel, I will offer a change of pace by outlining a concept for … Continue readingWorldbuilding the Cool, the Romance, and the Fantasy into my Space Opera Setting
It looks like I’ve had science fiction and space opera on my mind lately, and I haven’t stopped since the last post, so I thought I’d share with you my thoughts on a science fiction world I’ve been building for myself. That is somewhat different … Continue readingWorldbuilding a Space Opera Setting of My Own
When worldbuilding a science fiction or especially space opera setting, it is often desired for the scope to encompass more than one solar system, spanning part or all of one galaxy or even beyond. There is just one big problem: no object with mass can … Continue readingWorldbuilding Faster than Light Travel