While I don't write hard science fiction, I try to keep my stories somewhat within the limits of actual physics. My space ships don't exceed the speed of light. They don't stop on a dime - they still have inertia. Speed is built up slowly, and then they have to be slowed down by reversing the process. I don't write my spaceships like UPS vans driving around the galaxy delivering a few crates here and there, like in the TV show Firefly and a bunch of other SF books I've read. I base my spaceships on container ships with economically viable cargoes. I recognize that radiation in space is very dangerous, and I have invented materials to protect my spaceers from it, as well as creating Homo Stellar humans to counteract the long term effects of little or no gravity.
I decided to go full retro when writing The Bright Blacks Sea, no faster than light drives, no artificial gravity - just rocketships and magnets in the soles of your space boots to keep you on the deck. However, I couldn't bring myself to confine my stories to just our solar system, so I set them in another star systems To get there in rocket powered ships they needed to take many thousands of years, so that the humans, and embryos humans and other living creatures travel in suspended animation in stasis pods or sleeper pods. In later books I added quantum to the description to imply that the organisms within the pod are held in a state of suspended existence, a quantum state that is only resolved once the pod is opened - a literal interpretation of the Schroeder's Cat thought experiment, where the outside observer doesn't know if the cyanide capsule had been broken, killing the cat in the box, or not, until they open the box.
I invented designed materials, D-matter. The idea being that all the elements of the universe are product of "codes" which humans have discovered how to manipulate, and have "coded" new elements for specific purposes. Thin layers of various D-matter materials can be used make armor against projectiles as thin as fabric, extremely strong steel, another material that blocks the full spectrum of radiation, and yet another is a super thermal insulator, that prevents the escape of thermal energy. These inventions, when combined together, allowed me to imagine very efficient use of nuclear power, since all the radiation and heat they generate could be contained by thin layers inside of the D-matter super strong steel container. This in turn allowed me to have super efficient rocket ships driven by nuclear reactions, nuclear power cells that could be the size of soft balls to power all sorts of devices and vehicles, including flying cars. And, of course, I had to have flying cars. In my case they fly using either small arrays of rockets or powerful hyper fans, all powered by small nuclear reactors. I also use power cells that are super capacitors which can hold a great deal of electrical energy - probably also using some D-matter material. I also invented clearsteel, which like its name implies, is a transparent alloy with the strength of steel used in buildings and space ships.
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| Flying cars, of course. |
I also used sentient level machines that are built of D-matter materials and powered by the small nuclear power cells, with almost unlimited life-spans, since any failing part can be replaced. In Earth's Solar System, these sentient-level machines were banned, but they were developed and used in the Nine Star Nebula, until they liberated themselves and most, though not all, migrated to the drifts to start their own society. I've had a lot of fun with sentient machines in my books.
Another invention was the med-units that can treat all the various injuries and ailments that afflict humans, including regenerating organs, at least up to the somewhat artificial 200 year lifespan of humans.
For law enforcement I invented a machine that can read the memories of humans, and erase memories as well. Suspects of crimes have their memories searched to establish their innocence or guilt in the crime they are suspected off via their own memories. Similar machines are used to reprogram criminals, with mixed success.
I use terraforming to one degree or another to create human-friendly worlds from not only suitable worlds but airless moons as well. I envision this process varying from planet to planet. On Dara in the Tropic Sea stories which had is own life, it was the humans, their animals, and plants that were genetically adopted to survive on Dara. On other planets with a suitable environment already in place but without advanced life, a carefully selected, but small, subsection of Earth's environment is introduced - enough that everything works together, but without mosquitoes, cobras, and all other dangerous organisms, large and small. This was the case with Beneath the Lanterns. The fact that the environment is entirely artificial meant that I could not come up with anything more dangerous that feral dogs to threaten my heroes with, since all the wild and potentially dangerous beasts would not have been introduced. Other methods than using dangerous to human predators are used to maintain what balances are needed in these designed environments are used, for example, modified birthrates in the "wild" animals that prevent overpopulation without the use of predators.
I have humans creating human friendly environments out of very hostile worlds and moons, like Mars and the Moon, but this process can take ten thousand years or more. In the case of the Moon, and various moons in the Nine Star Nebula stories, I envision a sort of D-matter nanoparticle layer that floats on the top of the artificially created atmosphere that shields the inhabitants from radiation, keeps the atmosphere from escaping, and regulated its climate, smoothing out extremes of heat and cold. This layer isn't completely transparent, so that the Earth is the Blue Lantern in Beneath the Lanterns, with the sun being the yellow one.
Let's see, what else? I did have the sentient machines of the Nine Star Nebula inventing quantum communication devices using "entanglement" that allows for instant communication over unlimited distances. I use darters powered by power cells as my standard weapon. They propel via a beam, small "darts" fired along the beam that hold electrical/plasma charges, which release their plasma energy on impact, disrupting, or in extreme cases, destroying the human nervous systems. This invention allows me to have a lot of non-lethal gun-fights and such. While violence in my future still exists, it is tame compared to our present day primitive society.
And that's all I can think of. Most of what I invented, I invented to make the story work. As I mentioned, I have certain ideals as to how humans might evolve and things like non-lethal weapons, a justice system based on being able to establish the facts from memories, political issues long settled, are facilitated by my inventions, but for the most part the just work to make my worlds possible.
ADDENDOM Sex and race.
I forgot to mention anything about sex or race in my piece about my societies, mainly because they don't play such a a large part in society as they do in our day. Because I set my stories tens of thousands of years in the future, I assume that human society on Earth the Solar System and the worlds humans settle, the distinctions that define race today will have long been eroded away. While there may be local distinctions, customs, and history, these would be based on location rather than skin color. I make it a point not to indicate the skin color of my characters, in part because it would not be a defining factor in the characters within their society and thus, on my pages. That leaves readers free to picture them as they choose to as they will. Indeed, I have no mental pictures of any of my characters outside of the sparse description I assign them. Given that my inability to form visual images in my mind, this is not surprising.
As for sexual orientation, that too is beyond social distinctions by the time my stories are set. I have several LGB+ characters in my books, but never specifically treat them as such, since in their society, this is a non-issue. You are what your are. Utopian, I know.
And with this entry, I think I've briefly covered the main features of the "universe" I've set all of my stories in since Some Day Days.
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