Writing Tips and Reviews

World Building: Sci Fi

Science fiction, a genre known for its advanced technology and futuristic worlds. Sometimes aliens are introduced, other times there are just races that don't exist in the real world but are explained through science more than a fantasy race would be. Either way, it's an interesting topic.

Unlike pure fantasy, there really is much to do with mystical powers. Perhaps such powers existed long ago, but now we've selves into the realm d science. The Mega Man series is much like this. In this series, technology and robots are just everyday concepts. Especially in Mega Man X and Zero.

Things like advanced weaponry, killer machines and definitely artificial intelligence are all in this genre. When writing a science fiction story, explanation is a must, you can't have something and just let it be without saying what it is. Fantasy can get away with it to an extent, but science fiction needs that explanation. You can go all out with every little detail or just summarize it. Because I'm a fantasy science fiction writer, I can get away with a short summary. I don't need to explain what a spirit is in every science under the sun, I don't need, or want to, explain everything in a science way.

The worlds in my series are never talked about in a science way, you don't know their mass, their gravitational pull, anything really. It's a fantasy world, if the world is three times the size of earth and works just fine, then there probably is a scientific explanation, but I don't have one or care to have one. I am always asked by Hendrik what the scientific explanation to everything I introduce is, and yes, it's annoying when I don't care.

Currently, Ascensions of Celestia is the only science fantasy title I have. Wonders of Mysteria probably, but it's really just fighting the machines not making them. In Celestia, the machines are complicated and need to be explained. The world is half science half fantasy, which makes it different from my other titles. Since those are either full or mostly fantasy. While I haven't gotten into the science part yet, there will be moments of just "listen to how this works on a science way".  

Series like Mega Man, Battle Angel and the western series Mortal Engines have inspired me to write more into the science fantasy genre than just fantasy. This is because of a natural part of life called "growth". In many fantasy stories, things like mystical powers become obsolete when technology is introduced. And that what exactly happens in my series. Later titles after Crest of Aspira go back to fantasy based, but later turn into science, with the most recent title I'm working on being full science with only the backstory and prologue being fantasy.

This a genre that really calls for research. Without knowledge of how real world sciences work, you can't make it have the same feel. Throwing around long complicated words only looks scientific, but it's not the same feel, is not the same as if explaining what a reploid is, or what an external engine is.