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Posted By: horatio neutron Feb 20, 2004 - 10:30 am

Science fiction's last "new wave" seemed to be cyberspace. Now, "retro" seems to be taking hold - i.e. in the form of nouveau Space Opera.

After we have our fill of nostalgia, what do you think will be the next "new wave" in science fiction?

Posted By: Bmat Feb 20, 2004 - 12:39 pm

Bug Eye'd Monsters? Or is that taken care of already in Alien?

Posted By: Aldan Feb 20, 2004 - 12:52 pm

I think that it'll be gigantic flying moths which live on an island and fly over to save Japan from evil gigantic reptiles.

Posted By: Nomad Feb 22, 2004 - 12:42 pm

Has it ALL really been done? I say that it will be the internet. People will vote on what should happen next in the show. (Wait, hasnt that been done too?)

Posted By: Aldan Feb 23, 2004 - 07:43 am

Generally, it seems as though plot devices are pretty standard, it's just how you use them that will make the difference in the script/book. I mean, the "bug-eyed monsters" of fiction have been everything from "injuns" in western fiction to barbarians in European fiction of yesteryear.

Posted By: iamume Feb 25, 2004 - 12:06 pm

Genuine VR akin to Huxlies' Feelies would be cool.

Participative rather then spectative or passive absorbtion I'd like to "see".

Posted By: Aldan Feb 25, 2004 - 02:37 pm

Ah, but aren't you contradicting yourself?

Posted By: iamume Mar 10, 2004 - 08:05 pm

I like contradictions and paradox. While a simulation contains dynamics of an actual experience the virtual is still far more participative than a casual t.v. or film viewing.

What is exibited by those in a glassy eyed t.v. trance might be preferable to monitoring someone hooked-up.

Posted By: Evo Mar 25, 2004 - 02:55 pm

I see a return (of sorts) to the xenophobia of alien races, perhaps with a dystopian outlook.

Science fiction (IMHO) tends to follow the public outlook on the world we live in today. Here in the US, we're locked in a new "warm war" which has attributes much like the cold war (terror strike vs. Russian launch.) Naturally, story tellers of escapist fiction will try and reconcile these feelings in their work. The result: the future looks pretty grim and the immediate works of sci-fi will too.

Not that I'm trying to force the American will on the world... though that does seem to be our modus operandi of late!

Posted By: MrBlofeldt Mar 26, 2004 - 04:41 pm

It'll probably some form of Pop Idol-esque reality tv show, a concoction of Bug Eye'd Monsters, Atomically mutated teenagers and Homicidal Robots performing in front of Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul.

I can see it now, The Terminator finishes his rendition of Britney Spears' "Hit me Baby" gets ripped apart by Simon and pumps him full of lead from his Uzi 9mm...

now that's some TV I'd like to see !

Posted By: Queen Ehlana Jun 28, 2004 - 07:47 am

LOL... Interesting... Reality TV - um, that's not fiction but "reality." Alien music. Wait till we reach Mars. That will sprout all sorts of sci-fi. It's impossible to tell where sci-fi will go because we don't know where science will go.

Posted By: LightBrigade Jun 28, 2004 - 12:53 pm

What about flying animals, let me warmly foresee camels. Nomadic nature camels. On the Internet.

It's the hump that counts, I am sure some here will agree.

Please, consider the terms "hunched back" and "double hunched back" as politically _inccorect_.

Posted By: Desslok Jun 29, 2004 - 12:25 pm

I like the idea of a return to retro sci-fi. I'd love to see more evil aliens and space adventurers blasting them with ray guns. We can worry about the effects of it being un-PC when the aliens start suing us for defamation of character.

I'm sick of VR worlds and nanotechnology. I'm tired of holographic interfaces and flashing neon tubes. Give me a flat video screen any day.

Posted By: Queen Ehlana Jun 29, 2004 - 09:11 pm

What do you mean VR? And what's so great about evil aliens and ray guns? They look like "flashing neon tubes" in the movies. Heehee... That's horrible. Anyway, my aliens are going to be nothing like that.

Posted By: Desslok Jun 30, 2004 - 04:49 am

VR=Virtual Reality. I never understood this fad that seemed to sweep Sci-Fi TV and movies in the early-mid '90s. Basically, you slip a helmet and suit over yourself and "see" a world around you. The effect doesn't translate well when you're watching it on a screen.

Posted By: Queen Ehlana Jun 30, 2004 - 11:15 am

Oh. Well, I've never actually read a sci-fi book, now that I consider it. I just like Voyager.

Posted By: Axzazz De`Nyde Jun 30, 2004 - 08:30 pm

For really retro sci-fi, the computers should be enormous and have lots of tapes and blinking lights, and the spacemen should calculate their courses with slide rules, because it's far quicker and easier than having the computers do it, despite the strange anomaly that the computers have artificial semi-intelligence with full personalities. Also, nuclear weapons should only be referred to as 'atom bombs'.

That old sci-fi is really fun to read nowadays.

I agree with Evo that there will be more xenophobic alien race stories due to escapist fiction reflecting reality. But I think there'll be a significant difference from that of the Cold War era. Instead of a single massive interstellar empire or a countless horde of sentient bugs, the sci-fi humans in the near future will face several groups of aliens, each with their own agendas, fighting amongst themselves as well as against humanity. The groups will be smaller and more diverse, and unconventional warfare will replace conventional or the nuclear/bio/chemical total warfare of Cold War era xenophobia stories. Sort of a mix of cyberpunk dystopianism and classic xenophobia.

Posted By: Green Drazi Sep 14, 2004 - 03:59 am

"I'm sick of VR worlds and nanotechnology."

Yeah, tell me about it. But the rise of the Internet lead to speculation on where it would go.

My guess is that biotech will be the subject for the next wave, and we have the cloned sheep to prove it.

Posted By: Green Drazi Sep 14, 2004 - 04:02 am

Let me just add that if you want to know which direction SF will head in, look at what sort of new technology or science is causing people to worry. Wherever there is worry, there you will find a trend in speculation.