We have moved to new forum software and posting here is closed!

PLEASE BOOKMARK THE NEW FORUMS

Posted By: RedRosa May 11, 2003 - 08:09 am

Hello, i'm new around here and thought of this thread to break the ice:

Which sci-fi trend will we be seeing more and more in the future?

Books about the colonisation of our Solar System? More Intergalactic Empires attacking the Word Federation of United Earths, or whatever?

More cyberpunk novels set in cyberspace, dealing with A.I.? More action-oriented novels with a mix of philosophy, which The Matrix made so popular?

What's your opinion?

Don't limit yourselves to the examples i wrote - i'm sure i'm missing lots of trends here.

Posted By: Bmat May 11, 2003 - 10:44 am

Welcome to the site, RedRosa!

For years I saw a trend toward psychological themes. I haven't read any recent sf or new authors lately.

Has anyone noticed new trends?

Posted By: RedRosa May 12, 2003 - 12:15 pm

Psychological themes?

How so?

Posted By: Bmat May 12, 2003 - 01:00 pm

INstead of hard SF. There was more discussion of the character's reasons and inner conficts.

Posted By: RedRosa May 13, 2003 - 05:09 am

Oh, that.

For a moment i thought you meant sci-fi dealing with themes like loss of identity, amnesia, mind control...

I've found that inner thoughts distract me from sci-fi stories.

I prefer bland characters and high doses of creativity and imagination, than someone dwelling in self-doubt and depressions: it works better in horror, for me. But i must be the only one.

Posted By: Sindatur May 13, 2003 - 07:53 am

Interesting topic.

I think Scifi is going to continue taking things we have we have the beginnings of Technology on(A.I. for instance, or travelling to unknown places) and expand it to beyond our current capabilities. Seems that Movies/TV Series are straying away from the Space inspired Scifi.

To take your topic one step further:

In today's world, if you were to read a Love Story set on the moon, it would most likely be classified as a Scifi Novel with a Love thread in it.

What about when people living on the moon is a regular thing, would the novel, then, no longer be considered SciFi, but merely a Love Story?

Posted By: Hyperion May 19, 2003 - 05:12 pm

Hi

I see a general trend emerging, which is taking us more and more in the direction of, 'Cyberpunk'.

I think sci-fi is going to be more closely associated with all things Internet-Virtual-reality, and the enhancement or biological to hardware evolution of our species.

As more and more breakthroughs in biotech emerge, and things like,
Cloning, virus, and the man who put a chip in his arm to open doors, also the blind guy who has the experimental digital eyes,
Are reported on the modern media that that will lead to more stories centred on that cyberpunk theme.

You no the themes I speak of right? Like the guys who hack cyberspace to beet the big corporate giants, or the matrix, and on the biological side of the scene, there are new films like Resident Evil with the artificial bad virus created as a weapon by a Giant Corporation.

Those I reckon will be the sorts of themes-roads that modern sci-fi will follow.

I for one say, 'HURRAY!’ as I love anything sci-fi, and some new roads for the writers to explore their ideas along is fine and dandy by me

Hyperion out

Posted By: RongFo May 19, 2003 - 07:30 pm

Y'know, on the subject of cyberpunk, I've been waiting for that term to die out for years now. Originally back in the late eighties/early nineties--when Gibson, Sterling, and Stephenson published their seminal works--it was a useful term to describe SF which focused more on the virtual and less on the physical. However, now that the web ( vs. the "internet" ) has fully taken shape, it seems to me that we should be able to start writing SF with strong VR elements, but the cyberpunk label sticks like some nasty nanotech buckyball glue. Just a pet peeve, maybe, but I still don't like it.

Posted By: Dark Knight May 20, 2003 - 02:46 pm

You not alone I don't like the cyberpunk label either

Posted By: Hyperion May 20, 2003 - 06:22 pm

[EDIT by Hyperion]

[Mess up of posts]

Posted By: malek77 May 22, 2003 - 04:48 pm

My belief about the future of SF comes from the (very Cyberpunk) idea of a technological Singularity.

Technology, science and knowledge are doing something a bit wierd, and in about 15/20years time something is going to occur beyond which it is difficult to predict...hard for forward thinking writers to get past. We have very little to go on.

I think the best SF (in terms of it accurately predicting the future) would be something Transhuman or Extropian.

Continuing to use human characters in your stories will be the quickest way to make your story irrelevant.

The average thinking being in 100 years time may look human, but certainly won't think, behave, or *be* like one. Its desires will probably have a cosmic scale, even if they aren't powerful enough to enact them.

Hence I think Speculation in the near future is going to be really wierd and off base, then we'll hit the singularity and the direction things are taking will be more obvious, and then we'll be able to start guessing our future again.

But this time round, we'll have the technology to crystal ball our future like nothing ever before...Speculating on the future may no longer be an art, but a precise science, and creating fantasy worlds won't be an escape, but a construction plan for a Universe to model.

Perhaps even create.


The question now, for me, is - how does a once human now technological-demigod think? What does it want?

Posted By: Hyperion May 22, 2003 - 06:12 pm

We want our gods now.

We want MACHINES.

Hyperion out

Posted By: RedRosa May 25, 2003 - 02:01 am

Thanks for the replies, folks.

Here's my take on the subject:

We'll definitely move into the reality/illusion conflict, because The Matrix popularised it.

There will be more stories focusing on human individuals developing psychic powers (no laughing, people ) like telepathy, telekinesis, flight, ability to shape reality (feeling the Oriental influences here?)

Technology will also be fundamental to our evolution - i'm an utopian at heart, and don't believe technology will lead to our destruction.

Considering Aliens, i don't think (hope not) we'll be seeing many more stories about hostile aliens whose only motivations will be our destruction for the 'cosmic good' or whatever.

Instead we'll exchange ideas with them and learn from them.

I think conflicts in sci-fi won't involve crude plots like a Corporation taking over the world or egotistical plots, but will be more about the humans exploring their spiritual selves and their place and destiny in the universe.

Like i said, i'm an utopian

Posted By: Hyperion May 25, 2003 - 02:32 pm

Heh Utopian for sure It' a nice thought but I don't see it.

I see sci-fi taking on the storylines that are more geared towards the GIANT Corprate entities doing evil research or colonising new worlds for the good of the company and proffit margins rather than for the good of man.

The Cyberpunk aspect will also play a big role I think. Cyberspace is becoming more and more popular with script writers and movie producers who see the young and middle aged generations bonding with the cyberspace storylines, as more and more of us within that age bracket live our lives daily around the internet and computer and fairly high tech equipment.

I for one love any kind of storyline that has computers, cybernetics, cyberpsace and AI' in it.

Anything revolving around technologically superior machines is great and fine by me

Hyperion out

Posted By: malek77 May 25, 2003 - 09:39 pm

"Considering Aliens, i don't think (hope not) we'll be seeing many more stories about hostile aliens whose only motivations will be our destruction for the 'cosmic good' or whatever."

If you were a generally pleasant and positive exploring alien race, and happened upon an Earth in the advanced state of decay that Cyberpunk represents...it would make sense to nuke us before we spread!


I'm curious though.
Why do you think our spiritual side will become more important?

The general thrust of contemporary philosophy, morality and our hopes for the future generally correspond with spirituality being rendered null and void by technological discovery.

What changes?


Here's a thought. A NON-spiritual Utopia. No sitting around in togas pondering life, but a heavy metal future of macro-engineering, infinite energy and physical freedom limited only by the very outer edges of physics...

(I can tell you from experience, NOT an easy universe to write for!)

Thoughts?

Posted By: RedRosa May 26, 2003 - 12:51 am

''I'm curious though.
Why do you think our spiritual side will become more important?

The general thrust of contemporary philosophy, morality and our hopes for the future generally correspond with spirituality being rendered null and void by technological discovery.

What changes?''

Because people will understand that, with all the technology achieved, we're not entering any Golden Age thanks to it, and there will be a reaction against it.

People will understand how void and useless they would be without technology - without cars, telephones, internet or computers - and will try and get independence from technology, using latent abilities they're not yet aware of.

We'll then explore our spiritual side and reach on to powers in our mind - with telepathy we won't need telecommunications; with telekinesis we won't need heavy machinery to move objects and ourselves; with auric healing we can cure bodily diseases; ultimately we'll evolve to never needing matter anymore.

We'll leave this world peacefully, and A.I. will inhabit it from there on: there won't be any enslavement.

Until the 19th century, belief in psychic powers was common and well-respected. I don't think they stopped believing in them because 20th century technology proved it wrong - i think we're just not using these powers anymore because technology made them useless... for time being.

With the passing of the millenium, and the crepuscle of the Mayan callendar, ending in 2012, we're witnessing more and more books in bookstores on the subject of the paranormal and spirituality.

If sci-fi authors start picking that trend outside of their genre, and bring it into sci-fi, we'll see new themes in the future, that hopefully won't be so dark as modern writers want it to be.

Posted By: Hyperion May 26, 2003 - 03:09 pm

Sorry RedRose I don't see that

The only way I see religion taking a frontline seat at our future evolution, is I think when we make contact with another sentient life-form not from this planet.
Then I think religion will come to the front seats as we-Humans, grapple with our ingrained faith in the all mighty.

I rather like malek77 idea of what the future will hold for us.


Macro engineering and Nano-Technology will lead us to Quantumn computing and machines with intelligence living inside our bodies along with our biological cells. Keeping us smart, healthy and in good symbiosis with our machine brothers.

As for the storylines that Sci-Fi will take in the future, I still firmly believe that they will become more and more absed on Cyberspace and Machine tech, AI and Virtual Realities.

Hyperion out

Posted By: RedRosa May 27, 2003 - 05:12 am

I never mentioned Religion. Where did i ever say that?

I'm talking about spirituality, finding true freedom from everything - from machines, Gods, objects, matter - in ourselves, by realising we have powers that substitute our technological creations, or our beliefs in an intangible myth to explain our existence.

Now, this future i write about isn't so much the future i see for sci-fi, but more of a personal vision, but i think it's interesting to note how much you prefer a cyberspace/VR/A.I. future, than anything else - mind you, i'm not trying to impose my own vision over yours, but i think we hit an interesting question here.

A writer writes for the reader, as much as they might say otherwise, so if there will be so many books in the future about cyberspace and A.I. it's because the reader is demanding.

So i wonder what is this fascination with cyberspce and A.I.? What changes, that we'll prefer the fictional world inside a computer over the real world?

And why do you want to see so many novels about big Corporations involved in scams and conspiracies?

Posted By: Hyperion May 27, 2003 - 06:17 pm

I don't want anything, this is what -I THINK WILL HAPPEN-

BIG DIFFERENCE.

Why do I think that?

Answer = Because our lives are becoming more and more associated with digital technology as each year goes by.

At home-work-and play the digital world is were we spend a whole lot of our alloted 24hr's in a day.

Example = The Gaming Industry, over the past 10-15 years this industry has grown so HUGE as to be on a level pegging with industries such as TV, Movie, and the Club-Pubs of down town nightlife.

As machines become more powerfull, so will the software they run. Virtual Reality will become the ENTERTAINMENT of the future, were instead of sitting on your chair looking at a screan and interacting-moving your character that way, via Joypad-keyboard-mouse, we will be putting glassesor helmets on, or perhaps stepping into pods of a visual type arena were we will be enveloped into the digital virtual world to PLAY AS THE CHARACTER in these games, ourselves.

That is were I see entertainment going.

People coming home from work and instead of putting on their X-BOX or Tv to get them out of the rat race, they go virtual and immerse themselves into a fantasy world were they are the Hero or Villain, doing all the exciting things with super human powers, flying space ships across galaxies, blah blah.

Perhaps people like us, will no longer write our stories in books as we no them, but instead write stories for these Virtual Worlds were the byer of these stories can immerse themselves into the story-truly, as anyone of the characters in it.


As for the BIG CORPS'S side of thing, THAT is again were I see things going.

BIG-BUSINESS is the way of the future, we can see it now already in our daily lives.

Huge corps like Microsoft and the megga huge giants of Oil companies and so on and so forth, will be the pianears of the future. They will be the entities that will break the new ground with their research itno new technologies and their explorations of the Universe and Earth.

WHY?

ANSWER = Because they are the ones with the Big Money. No one else has the power the leverage or the way,s to do the sort of things I am speeking about, as they can.

As for my Religous pointing, I based it on the spirituality comments you made, if that remark angered then, THEN SORRY I SPOKE JEEZ.

To me spirituality is religion. When people go on their searches for spirituality, they go on searches for the meaning of life, and what layes behind life, how it started, what is the meaning and so on. And that inevitably leads to religion and god.

When I look at the future I don't see any spirituality or religion, I see hard science leading the way, to make our lives better, more comfortable and interesting, safe.

Hyperion out.

Posted By: BrawneLamia May 27, 2003 - 07:58 pm

Hyperion.. your virtual ideas remind me of Tad Williams *Otherland* books..a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there!! I really enjoyed these books, but I see back you all have discussed them quite a while ago.

There was a time when I spent way too many hours in cyberspace, and cyber friends were closer then other friends off the pc.. It was great for someone with too much time on their hands..now I seem to be battling my 15 year old for her spending too much time on line..

I agree or find interesting with quite a bit you say..but as for religion..like politics.. it is a private thing..I just won't go there!!!

Brawne