Interesting Inspirations

If you've ever pondered the inspirations of futuristic fictional ideas, this post has some cool info for you. Although the article focuses on celluloid depictions, it's still very interesting stuff.

Someone had mentioned to me in the past about George Lucas' inspiration for the turbo tank AT-AT's. Folks that hadn't heard the Lucas tidbit before likely made this connection on their own. Ditto for Stanley Kubrick's close circuit camera inspiration. There's not really much of a leap there either.

Check out the article...especially if you're a film buff. You'll start looking at hot fudge in a whole new way.

Harlan Ellison goes off

Wired online published a piece today with some classic quotes from living speculative fiction legend Harlan Ellison. With his acerbic wit in full biting force, Ellison rants in the included video piece.

This article hit home in two ways:

1. First, the interview was at South-by-Southwest in Austin where my buddy Roy is having roaring time as an attendee
   
2. Second, the writer-game-in-Hollywood speech sounds like my brother going off about the town's studio expectations
   

Ellison remains one of the most colorful writers around. I remember reading Again, Dangerous Visions back in the early eighties. He edited the Dangerous Visions series and it remains one of the most impressive collections of great speculative fiction you'll ever have the pleasure of reading. He's not only a great writer, he knows great writers.

For insights into included authors, check out this list. Ursula K. LeGuin won an award for her story in the book, and Ellison, deservedly so, won an award for editing the anthology.

So, as a fan, it's always nice to see Ellison show up again in the press. You know he's not pulling any punches. He never has.

Interesting clone premise

In this book review from an Indian news site, critic Sudipta Datta sparks interest in Priya Sarukkai Chabria's new story about 14th century clones in the 24th century.

Although I can't find this book on Amazon, it's likely he's read a review copy. The novel sounds interesting enough. With references to 1984 and Brave New World, Datta comments on the book's future speculation profile. With the cloning focus, it seems more like Huxley than Orwell.

As soon as this tome becomes available, it sounds worth reading. Datta is distracted by the excess of digressions...but, who knows, perhaps that's exactly what some readers need right now.

Under-ice exploration in fiction

Arthur C. Clarke features Jupiter's moon Europa in his space fiction work 2010. Having a liquid surface covered with ice, Europa is a very intriguing target for exploration. Especially where finding life is the mission.

According to this post, we'll be exploring that very same moon with technology written about by Clarke. The prospect of finding life under the ice is looking even more promising lately. In support of these seemingly barren places actually holding the keys to life, new evidence is making it more of a likelihood.

A Darwin's Orphans entry last month features two recent articles on the subject: January 22nd post.

Science and fiction sometimes converge. Searching for life under the ice is now a hot topic. Technology such as this new underwater explorer called ENDURANCE is another step toward validating all of the speculation. I'm sure it'll be another decade or two before we learn more from such an edgy piece of equipment. But when we do it would be amazing if we saw Clarke's speculative fiction turn into reality.

It's this sort of imagination that makes these kinds of stories worth reading. We all wonder what will be and when a writer forecasts a future world in an accurate way, it makes the stories even more fascinating.

Speculative fiction reading list

For readers wanting to explore the nuances of speculative fiction, check out this handy reading list. In it, D.D. Shade gives us a bit of context about the sub-genres. I've seen similar lists from other aficionados before and a number of books are recurring as genre references.

So, if you're not sure about the scope of speculative fiction, the post should make it a bit clearer for you. For others like me that have enjoyed it for years, the list will give you a new book idea or two.

Invisibility: fiction or reality?

H.G. Wells is long considered one of the grandfathers of speculative fiction. He wrote The Island of Dr. Moreau a century before bio-engineering tapped the genome. Other great future-oriented fiction classics of his were The War of the Worlds and The Time Machine. The former got the Tom Cruise treatment just a few years back.

Although these last two stories still seem very far into our collective future, one other book of Wells' seems to be getting a bit closer to reality: The Invisible Man. There is an article today in The Seattle Times entitled: Invisibility: Soon to be the new black - a clever title if you're a fashionista.

The science is very interesting: you basically steer light in different directions with advanced materials made out of carbon nanotubes. This gives you a black that reflects an extremely low percentage of visible light. There are existing problems to overcome like seeing out from behind this material...but the geniuses behind this technological advancement have a plan to get around them.

Soon, we may see invisibility cloaks on the market without needing access to the secret back hallway at Flourish and Blott's. The once far-fetched world of H.G. Wells' invisible man may come to pass in your lifetime. Only in this real world story, you'll have to cover yourself with material to become invisible. Unlike the surly character in the book, you'll still have visible skin underneath the fabric...it'll be the fabric itself that you won't be able to see.

Resource for a changing world

This post by Alex Steffen reflects on speculative fiction as means for exploring the implications of present-day changes. Curious by its content, I explored a bit more around the WorldChanging site. It would be a handy reference for speculative fiction writers...or at least food for thought.

Other subjects it explores include:

• home designs
  
• urban living
  
• world politics
  
• the green economy
  
• climate change
  
• biodiversity
  
• and more

There's a products-and-donations aspect sprinkled throughout the site. So, if you get excited about participation, you can become a member of the community.

Since I live in Seattle - the home base of the site - you may wonder if I'm a contributor. Unfortunately, I am not...but I'm thinking very seriously about getting involved. Perhaps I'll have a follow up post on this subject very soon.

Future tech: an Escapist view

The Escapist is an online magazine that focuses primarily on games and entertainment. However, a recent post takes a tongue-in-cheek look at future technologies. It's a fun read...check it out.

In the speculative fiction community, typical technological trends get recurring attention: robotics, artificial intelligence, space travel, anti-matter, communications, flying cars, bio-engineering and more. The social implications of these technologies are oftentimes the centerpiece (think: Brave New World and bio-engineering). Joe Blancato writes about many future technologies in his article with a mix of serious portents couched in humorous delivery.

One comment on his closing thought that he may have predicted that someone would write an article like his but never did...so he had to write it: this is not actually the case. I think that he doesn't hang around in nerdy enough corners of the Web to find what he'd been seeking. Here are a few references to posts of past articles with similar predictive commentary:

• the November 12, 2007 post considers Jason Fry's Wall Street Journal article on the subject of future technology expectations
  
• on October 4, 2007, a similar article was published in The Vancouver Sun newspaper to commemorate Sputnik
  

There have been similar such essays and articles...just probably not published in a thoughtful manner for the gaming community. So, it's great that Mr. Blancato has taken the subject on in The Escapist to broaden the dialog. It's good for the speculative fiction community at large.

More on literary fiction

This post from mediabistro just went online and it ties nicely into a recent blog entry of mine:
An essay on speculative fiction

My post reflects on Jason Sanford's article where he looks to literary fiction writers to lift up speculative fiction via forays into the genre with great works. Cormac McCarthy is cited. Ron Hogan, in the mediabistro post, also refers to McCarthy via his reference to a recent Wired magazine article.

The Wired piece talks about science fiction whereas Sanford focuses on speculative fiction. However, the sentiment is the same...mincing of genres aside. There are many camps in fiction. You could call me "in the speculative fiction camp" and it would be true. However, I don't get lost in semantics. We're talking about fiction set in a different space and time. It may not be that scientific but it's not your everyday fiction either.

Whatever you call it, one thing is certain: great writers are broadening context to comment on society through fiction. In the process, they're writing great stories. Regardless of genre trends or literary acceptance, great books are the result. I'm sure we'd all agree that's what we're after.

Synthetic life lives?

For avid readers of biologically-bent speculative fiction, here is some interesting news on synthetic organisms. J. Craig Venter has been at the forefront of groundbreaking bio-science for years. He's in the thick of it again.

Going first across the finish line on the genome, Venter has steadily been pushing the envelope on the keys to life. Now his team has made a breakthrough in synthetic life. Very soon we may face a world with goofy new forms of life...or even unexpectedly dangerous ones. We all remember Crichton's Jurassic Park.

It's the H.G. Wells version of synthetic life that's really freaky. Wells was way ahead of his time. He wrote The Island of Dr. Moreau at the end the 19th century. It remains one of the most chilling stories about how science can head in the wrong direction. His speculative fiction probably gave lots of future Craig Venter's their ideas.

Ice Floes: a prolific setting?

It may seem a bit counter intuitive, but life under the ice is a very likely setting for a new wave of speculative fiction. Mars has been a favorite setting for years and we had trends of meteor and subterranean settings over the past couple of decades. But there's so much fresh scientific writing about life in icy places that it's sure to catch on soon in fiction.

To wit:

Wired magazine has recently explored it

Discover has recently covered news on life origins in Antarctica

And Discover just added: "Did Life Begin in Ice" -- see its February Discover magazine article (not online yet) exploring how RNA and the chemical building blocks of life appear to actually flourish in Arctic conditions

Indeed, cold places are the next target for fiction. My first screenplay Terraform featured intelligent life being found on Europa, a Jupiter moon, and it's since been targeted as another icy place where life could form.

It's now a hot trend...the next wave to ride. If you're searching for that next exotic setting for your own speculative fiction, you might want to start someplace icy.

Musical speculation

Music hasn't played a big role in the speculative fiction classics. Writers thinking years into the future seem to have trouble imagining future musical styles. Just about every other aspect of society is taken on: marriage, technology, totalitarianism, transportation, clothing and technology...but not music.

I remember reading Vonnegut's short story Harrison Bergeron and his description of music playing and Bergeron dancing on stage. The nature of the music, however, isn't described. There is merely a mention of "grabbing the baton."

Pondering this subject, there is one obvious reason I can think of for this. Music, of all societal aspects, is the most ethereal. The feeling of society is reflected in it. Speculative fiction doesn't typically grapple with prognostications of how human sensibilities will evolve and reflect themselves through music.

On this note, I admittedly copped out when I described the music of my Darwin's Orphans protagonists as punk-hip-hop fusion. I guess since the book is set only a couple of decades into the future, I expected more of the musical mashups we hear today to continue. This may not be the case...and I consider this speculation to be one of the least imaginative in the book.

How does one effectively project where music might lead? To reflect on it, I popped the iPod earbuds in and called up some tunes. Going back a few decades, I selected Someone Saved My Life Tonight by Elton John. It was a meaningful selection for context. I remember the kid down the street getting Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy on vinyl and cranking it up on his mom's console hi-fi stereo. This was 1975 and listening to it again reminded me of the big collars on shirts, a confusing social feeling after Nixon's demise and the local teacher's strike.

But what about the music itself? Big piano sound and the drum arrangement contributing to a heavy dramatic build. Hmm, could I have realistically forecasted the likes of Nirvana or Kid Rock back then? And are these styles really all that different? A tough subject for speculation.

I guess it's just as well that speculative fiction writers leave music alone. Thankfully, it defies the imagination. It is pure. I am thankful.

An essay on speculative fiction

I read this conscientious essay on speculative fiction and the literary establishment and thought it worthy of calling attention to it. Mr Sanford has done a good job of bringing the literary facts to light on critical commentary.

A few acknowledgements included in his essay mirror my published views. Most prominently, he agrees that Cormac McCarthy has written in the speculative fiction vein and gotten appropriate critical attention. However, most critics seem to fail to give credence to other speculative fiction writers in the process. It's as if McCarthy is an island in the sea of fiction.

To address this issue, Mr. Sanford writes: "What lovers of great speculative fiction must do now is simple: When deserving literary novels like The Road employ speculative fiction themes and tropes, praise the novels. If the novels are not deserving, condemn them. Either way, readers and critics should make sure to point out the previous works of speculative fiction upon which the novels built."

Proudly, although I'm not a critic...but a participating writer with an opinion, I have praised McCarthy's work as Sanford suggests up to a point. My failing was the final suggestion he makes. You'll find lots of historical speculative fiction comparisons in the contents of this blog. I should have employed more in my praises of McCarthy.

Personally, I pledge to strive to continually praise deserving works of speculative fiction. Hopefully, others will also take Sanford's advice and do the same.

Transportation speculation

One recent 2008 trend tied to speculative fiction is the future of the automobile. There have been plenty of books and movies featuring designs and technologies for future personalized transportation. However, the automotive science world has been hot lately in publications.

Wired magazine is full of stories this month for example. They talk about the Smart car and changing face of the SUV. The best article from a future perspective is The Race to Build the 100-MPG Car which is centered around the X-Prize. There is a car company named Aptera which has a pretty wild looking model...definitely looks futuristic.

The Wall Street Journal also recently published this article about future car technologies. Their focus, however, is not on fuel efficiency but automated driving technologies. Tearing a page from Lexus' parallel parking car, GM is seeking to build a self-driving automobile.

This is fascinating stuff. In my speculative fiction book Darwin's Orphans, I featured a car that automatically stopped when a dog jumped across the driver's path. Personally, I'd like to take drives out in the country at twilight without fearing a deer will leap out in front of me. A little radar to detect such things and initiate instant reactions would be a really cool feature. I'm not, however, looking forward to a car driving entirely. Sometimes it's actually fun to be behind the wheel.

20 Things from Discover

There is a sweet section in Discover magazine on the last page called "20 Things You Didn't Know About..." You can check out a bunch of them here. They may not pertain much to speculative fiction but check out next month's edition. In hardcopy, the February edition is already out to subscribers.

The theme in this edition is "20 Things You Didn't Know About Science Fiction" and it's got some entertaining nuggets:

• Arthur C. Clarke's 2001 features Pan Am shuttles to the moon
  
• In real life, Pan Am wrote up their waiting list following the book's release which included Ronald Reagan and Walter Cronkite
  
• Isaac Asimov wrote about interstellar flight but refused to board an airplane
  
• Ray Bradbury, one of SF's greatest living legends, avoids computers, ATM's and has never driven a car.
  

Thanks Discover for these fascinating factoids. Hopefully, for the non-subscribers, this 20 Things list will be posted soon on the Web.

Will 2008 be strange days?

I've linked this post to the Wikipedia entry for the film Strange Days - a 1995 movie starring Ralph Fiennes. It was a daring piece of speculative fiction in celluloid form. Watching it cinematically, I enjoyed it. The public and critics didn't rave, however. Too bad.

The millennial event was the center piece and the central technology was digital entertainment. Imagine a skull cap that taps into various nodes of your brain allowing you to experience what someone else has. With recent technologies allowing doctors to stimulate specific parts of brains, this doesn't seem too far fetched in a couple of decades. it was simply overshot for the year 2000. But fun to imagine just the same.

Now what does 2008 hold in store? Lots of politics to be sure. How will the YouTube generation impact the outcome? It has been managed by mainstream media for typical spin purposes this past fall. Regardless of substantial impact, inclusion of YouTube in the electoral process has been good to see. Populist sentiments have been shining through.

One wonders, however, how much more we'll see of lone-state impacts. The two W Bush elections hung on single state counts. This always makes the average citizen question the counting methods and technologies in place. Do the strategists know that much about specific states and could monkey-business on a single computer really effect the outcome of our leadership? This has all been mulled over heavily these past eight years. Frankly, I'm tired of it.

With any luck, 2008 will bring a clear and undisputed leader to the U.S. It's been too long since we've had a rally cry that spreads from the heartland to the coasts. This time around it would be good to have a leader that didn't squeak in by swaying that one questionable state. That is my hope for 2008. We've got a little over 10 months to go before the drama ends.

Speculating on holidays

After spending the holidays with a number of Australians, I was reminded how unique each country's holiday traditions truly are. Beyond religious influences -- some celebrate Kwanzaa, some Hanukkah, others Christmas -- most national holidays are very different as well. This brings up an interesting point from a speculative fiction perspective: what will future holidays be like if globalization completes its evolution?

One example: Boxing Day. For the Australians, this is the day after Christmas. It's a national holiday where all of the boxes are managed. People in the U.S. have to deal with the boxes on their own time. If there was a global holiday schedule, how would the holiday negotiators decide which stays or goes? An interesting point to address through fiction.

It seems unlikely, when you think about it, that we could internationalize holidays. There are certain national traditions that deserve to stay culturally entrenched. They make people feel happy and connected and should be maintained.

Still, it's fascinating to imagine a world where Microsoft has become a national department. Perhaps it will be large enough that the federal government needs to pull it into the public sector for "national security" reasons. What would this holiday be called: ThankSoftie? MicroDay? Ah, a celebration of all things geeky. Perhaps the folks in India will start this national holiday first.

Melting speculative fiction

With all of the talk lately, I wondered about melting polar ice caps in Speculative Fiction. Sure, in Hollywood we had Waterworld -- the result of earth's glacial liquefaction making Mt. Everest a tropical island. But what about other stories?

Professor R.T. Pierrehumbert published this PDF document on the subject. The most intriguing lead to a speculative fiction piece featuring a melted-ice earth he mentions is J.G. Ballard's The Drowned World. Book reviewer Victoria Strauss published this in her thoughts on the novel:

"The Drowned World posits (presciently, as it turns out) that the world has been overwhelmed by a catastrophic greenhouse effect. It differs from our own impending disaster in that it's natural rather than man-made. In Ballard's scenario, violent solar storms have depleted the outer layers of Earth's ionosphere; as these vanish, temperature and solar radiation begin to climb, melting the polar ice-caps. This enormous outflow of water carries with it tons of topsoil, damming up the oceans and entirely changing the contours of the continents, drowning some parts of the world and landlocking others. At the same time, the increased radiation produces freak mutations in Earth's flora and fauna, initiating a new biological era reminiscent of the Triassic period, in which reptiles and giant tropical plants were the dominant forms of life."

I thank Ms. Strauss for the commentary...she makes Mr. Ballard's book sound like an interesting read. One comment: she mentions "our own impending disaster" and she wrote the review back in the year 2000 -- before hurricane Katrina and prior to the international majority opinion that global warming is a valid concern. Perhaps its Ms. Strauss who's a little prescient.

So, back to speculative fiction. One might say that there's not a large body of work centered around an earth scenario where the ice caps have melted. The worlds of robotics, space exploration, alien life forms and other futuristic technologies have gotten lots of attention by writers. Perhaps they're the most inspiring subjects to date. I'll venture a guess, however, that we'll start seeing more fiction featuring an earth facing an onslaught of meteorological mayhem and H2O in places where it's scarce today. As a matter of fact, I'm personally getting some good ideas for a story. Hmmm, time to get writing.

Heinlein archives going online

Robert A. Heinlein would have been 100 years old this year. UC Santa Cruz is commemorating this by loading his archives up onto the web. For more information on this, see this article in the LA Times online edition.

Stranger in a Strange Land, his most widely recognized work is pretty wild stuff. Bringing back psychic abilities from Mars was a hip concept in 1961 when the book was first published...it probably contributed to the mysticism that was a cornerstone of 60's and 70's culture. Even in the 80's Irish rockers U2 had a song with the same title and although there doesn't seem to be an homage to Heinlein's story in it, one might guess that Bono read the book.

Heinlein wrote quite a bit about Mars...he added to prevailing speculations that we'd end up exploring the red planet eventually. Now he's right...there are many plans in place to go beyond our robotic vehicles and remote transmitters of imagery. Over the next couple of decades, we may get first hand reports from returning explorers.

There was far more speculation in Heinlein's work. Mars was just one of his mental playgrounds. If you'd like to learn a lot more about his thoughts and work, UC Santa Cruz will be supplying them very soon with a simple computer click.

Light-hearted space reference

This oftentimes tongue-in-cheek blog: Bad Astronomy is a wealth of interesting tidbits on space. I'm checking the references in my book, Darwin's Orphans, to be sure that descriptions I've made to space ladder technologies aren't too far off the mark. (So far, I'm fine.)

Whether or not you're interested in the cosmos, it's still a fun read and solid site to bookmark. Although I didn't find a link to it just now at Discover Magazine.com, they must be given credit for this find. The periodical referred to it in this month's edition -- and if you find a link on their site, please send a comment to me.

It's got laughs -- pokes some fun at nerds that miss the mark -- and gets you thinking in general. So, whether it's idle entertainment or a different view on the cosmos, blogger Phil Plait it will have something for you.