The Official 'Is My Novel SciFi' Thread http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696 Tresa Cho Here it is, folks. The place where you can ask if your novel is science fiction or not. We all know the lines are a little blurred, but that is why we have awesome people every year who frequent this thread to help you sort out your genre woes. All you need to do is post a short description of your story, and our scifi gurus will help you sort it into the proper genre. Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:23:06 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1338 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1338 SegoLily.311 I am fairly certain that my novel and book series are Sci-fi however does my book have a sub genre? My first novel (almost done publishing) is about a girl who can manipulate time. She goes blind in the story and must learn to cope with that ontop of controlling her power. My second novel (the one I am writing with NaNoWriMo this year) is about a shapeshifter who goes through painful transformations and must find a way to remain human instead of becoming a monster. What do you think? It is The Gifted Series so I guess it is similar to superhero but they don't wear costumes or anything like that. It's not futuristic and there are no aliens but I still feel it is definitely Sci-fi even if it has some signs of a fantasy novel. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:02:35 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_2406 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_2406 thebangzats My story involves quantum mechanics and its two most famous interpretations, the Many-Worlds and the Copenhagen. The Copenhagen Interpretation says that (in a nutshell) parallel universes are created when the subject is observed by a sentient being. Before observation that subject is superimposed with all its possible states, and only force to pick one state as it is observed. The Many-World Interpretation takes the power away from the observer, stating that parallel universes are constantly being generated, one for each possible state. A bigger rule to both these is, they only happen in events involving the pure 50:50 chance of quantum events. My novel breaks that rule. Non-quantum events break off into parallels because something unknown has happened to the universes, causing a sudden outburst of parallels. So the question here is, if it breaks the rule (and barely explains how), does it count as sci-fi? (I'm thinking yes, but just to be sure) Tue, 11 Oct 2011 01:29:55 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_3284 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_3284 AccoSpoot I'm thinking of writing a New Weird this year, this means; though it does take some stakes from Sci Fi, it tosses out the idea of genre altogether. So can this work? A Sci-Fi that refuses to be called a Sci-Fi? Some very very rough plot details, if that matters; The Universe is about bless upon its inhabitants an inspiring and powerful gift, the story follows a group of people as they age with constant interaction with the universe from around the globe, whilst it ends at some point in the near future it doesn't take any Aliens, FTL, Ray-Guns, Space Travel (much) Extra terrestrial colonialism, etc. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 01:49:20 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_3416 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_3416 Dreamway Time, okay. But lightly, as in science fantasy, since the hard-sci types hate psychic powers (my nano for this year is scify). But someone who alters their physical form notably in a period less than days or weeks--fantasy. I once tried to work out the physics and bio of a transformation taking hours and it required too much phlebotinium. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:38:43 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_5211 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_5211 Dreamway Think of all the sf using TL travel. Then remember most of that, especially wormholes, is exaggerated into hogwash. I think you're okay. Most of it is, do you take a sf attitude? Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:42:14 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_5248 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_5248 Dreamway That should be FTL travel. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:43:04 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_5257 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_5257 Dreamway Could be sf or fantasy or magic realism at this level of vagueness. Sounds a bit Vonnegut but he often was not sf. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:45:57 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_5278 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_5278 BACKDROPsilhouette Mine will be a futuristic novel, involving heavy focus on advancement in, and lack thereof, technology. I've never paid any mind to genres, I've always just written what comes to mind without trying to put a label on it, but my Google skills tell me Science Fiction is the right ballpark. If not, I accept impression of stupidity. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:58:15 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_5405 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_5405 theshapeshifter Is steampunk living in Sci-Fi this year? I seem to remember last year the steampunk-related threads were scattered between Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 05:59:36 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_5419 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_5419 MzHartz I've been having a hard time figuring out what genre to put my novel in. Someone told me she thought it was Sci-Fi, but I don't think so. Chocolate is illegal. The story is about a woman's life while she comes to terms with her addiction. It's not set in the past or future, it's on earth, and there's nothing different about chocolate than it exists in real life. She gets married, gets divorced, loses her job, sleeps around, falls in love, and gets arrested, but nothing supernatural happens. It's not meant to be humorous. It's just a hypothetical story of, "What If?" I don't think it's even fantasy. Modern Fiction? Tue, 11 Oct 2011 06:06:59 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_5494 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_5494 Cassandra432 Honestly, I don't know where this idea goes. Could be a lot of things. The initial idea was to talk about different types of death and how it determines their story in the afterlife. The story would focus more on what happens after they die. I have it where upon their death they go into an afterlife much like their death. They must learn something to move forward on their journey. Here they will meet those with opposite deaths, they will have to learn and understand each other, and help each other move forward. There they will meet people with other deaths and together they have to learn something to move forward. Eventually they will end up in my idea of where we ALL eventually go when we die and after we've achieved some sort of transformation. For example, I have a Holocaust victim (they had a forced death) paired off with a suicide victim (who chose their own death). I was also thinking about pairing poison and illness together and making that the first book. The fact that this involves death and that the people will be of different eras is confusing, along with the overall theme of transformation, which could be religious. Could someone help me? Otherwise, I'll just chose "other". Tue, 11 Oct 2011 06:08:10 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_5508 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_5508 KatRobbins Was just wondering the same thing, shapeshifter. I've started up a [subgenre] thread here in SciFi in case there are others writing Steampunk more of the SciFi bent this year. Hoping to have some company, so if it fits your novel, c'mon over and tell us what your story will be about. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 06:42:45 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_5882 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_5882 thebangzats Okay, I just needed someone to confirm it :D And yeah I went with the science fiction way to telling the story, intellectual and scientific explanations slipped into lots of scenes. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 07:20:59 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_6377 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_6377 Lord Darkstorm You say chocolate is illegal, which from some perspective would be a different reality. Maybe that is what they are thinking. If the only thing different is that Chocolate is illegal, then you just need to come up with some believable reason someone would pass a law to make it so, then you are just in the normal fiction realm. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 07:49:26 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_6793 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_6793 50percentDakini Still in the concept-formulation stage, but here goes: setting is Mars in the far (post-Apocalyptic?) future, there is a heavy mystical/magical component to the plot, and there may or may not be aliens, but there certainly will be angels and demons. Mars is at least partially terraformed and there's obviously future-tech, space travel, and the like, but also magic, psychics, and probably faeries. So what is this? Futuristic fantasy? Sci fi? Where do I belong??? Tue, 11 Oct 2011 08:07:17 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_7073 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_7073 Wickedly Well, I'm not the only one about what genre my novel is. Sorry for bothering, but I can't figure which genre my novel fits in. Seems to me that Sci-Fi and Fantasy would both work. Here it goes : it takes place in an underground city, built underneath an actual one. Setting is nowadays, but the people trapped inside the underground place have no clue than something else even exists. I did put in some Angels and demons, however they're pretty much extraterrestrial who took refuge on Earth, creating the human race in the process. But I still put some elements that would be probably considered as fantasy, such as "magic" (ability to inhabit other bodies, necromancy, ability to read people's memories...). So, in all this beautiful mess, where does that leave me ? Sci-fi, or something else entirely ? Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:19:22 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_8240 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_8240 Elorithryn I'm pretty sure my Novel is, though it never hurts to check. I'm also wodnering where it might be placed in a sub genre, is any. I've been building my universe for almost 3 years now. It involves things like: - memory blocks done by hypnosis (typically a temporary block that allows the person to slowly process a tramatic event) and chemical (which is supposed to cause a permenant block) - werewolves, except they aren't your typical fantasey type. transformation takes at least 5 days and they don't look like wolves. Rather, their hair and nails and teeth grow (and then fall out/breack off) and the hormone inbalance gives them two 'phases' on either side of the transformation -agressive and armourus. I'm basing their cycle on animal breeding cycles. And the onlyw ay to become 'Nueri' is to be born that way as it's a birth defect caused by the mother consuming a certain plant from a specific planet (or if both parents are Nueri, as it's a gentic mutation). - space ships with FTL drives. I had fun designing those and then creating a speeadsheet for looking at air supply, food and water supply, speed, and fuel consumption for determining just how far a ship can go (hydroponics, provides supplemental fresh food and 'atmosphere'). - multiple planets, some which are like earth, others that have been terra formed, and others were sheilding is required - cyborgs, or at least the begining of experimentation with placing human brains into machines - deep sleep, which is not quite cryogenic freezing, but rather puts the body into a hybernative state, slowing the aging process down and allowing people to sleep away long space flights. I'm looking into what the side effects might be. The plot is actually going to focus around the people (one half-Nueri, two Nueri, one human, and one cyborg) not necessarily the technology, but the technology has obviously shaped these people into what they are and I fully intend for them to visit multiple planets. *grin* Thanks, :} Elorithryn Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:39:45 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_8559 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_8559 Kariel Lateef 50percentdakini and Wickedly, many novels fall into that region of being both SciFi AND Fantasy, I think both of your proposed stories fit that mold. Most Steampunk stories tend to go this way also with the mixing of tech with a bit of magic or alchemy. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:40:38 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_8569 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_8569 50percentDakini So where do we belong for NaNoWriMo purposes? Do we hang out here or in fantasy or are doomed to wander in the shadowy world in between the two genres? Tue, 11 Oct 2011 10:53:44 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_9716 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_9716 keolah What shadowy world? Do what I do -- I tend to hang out here, in fantasy, _and_ in other genres. There's nothing saying you have to stick to a single genre lounge ever. ;) Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:52:30 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_11881 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_11881 Tresa Cho Yehaaaa welcome back keolah! Nice to see you again this year. :D Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:21:55 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_12410 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_12410 Tresa Cho 50%, you can hang out in BOTH. Or either, or neither! If you want to, you could go hang out in Romance all November. There are no rules to say that you must only chill in the forums your story is. I wrote fantasy the last three years, but spent all my time in SciFi. We are super inclusive. The genres exist so that if you get stuck in your story, you can find help that will immediately relate to your novel. So, if you need help building an elf culture, then you can check Fantasy. If you need help with how a space ship could be built, you have the resources of Science Fiction. It's just for ease of writing that we break them up. Have fun! Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:24:14 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_12446 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_12446 ElizaWyatt Steampunk non-earth world. Mad-science resurrection. Guns. Airships. Mechanical monsters. Bio-genetic-engineering in labs with not-quite sentient plants and weird chemistry backdrops. A horribly inefficient postal service that really, really needs to be redesigned. Not sure what to call this one. I don't think there's going to be a drop of magic. So...? Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:26:01 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_12483 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_12483 Cydnorg My novel uses newly developed technology (that my main characters dad has been working on in his basement for 13 or so years and finally found the answer to inserting foreign DNA into a quickly catching Virus like HIV and letting the new virus infect the person. This, in my book, causes a decently quick transformation (a couple of weeks). The main character goes through several of these, some by accident mutation (because the virus quickly goes through mitosis to infect quicker). Supernatural / horror or Sci-fi? Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:28:26 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_12527 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_12527 Trixter I intentionally threw some fantasy elements into my sci-fi setting, partly to Be Different and partly because a secondary major character is a bit of a wizard archetype and I didn't want to completely strip him of that. I don't think the end result is any more fantasy than Star Wars, but I'm happy to submit to opinions on which forum I should be posting to! The world of Viridia was cut off from the rest of human civilization nearly 300 years ago. They have knowledge of high technology, but they lack the resources to build anything in large quantities. Computers and cybernetic implants exist, but they are artisan-crafted, with schematics and user manuals protected like religious artifacts. What the planet lacks in resources it makes up for in a power called "gaia", the cumulative life-force of everything on the globe which can be channeled by any living creature - including the immigrant humans. Gaia and the study of it are the only reasons a human colony was even built on the resource-scarce planet, and with trade channels cut off the descendants of those colonists have had to learn to make due with what they have. Gaiamancy has become a common way to heal sickness and grow crops. For the most part it's a very practical, pagan magic. The one major city on Viridia is run by the remnants of the corporation that founded the original colony, and within that corporation is a powerful organization called Arandee. Here they conduct research ostensibly for the good of the public, but this includes some questionable practices, including cloning humans for research purposes. The story focuses on a castoff clone from a failed experiment and his relationship to the leftover technology of this world, as well as his feelings of alienation from the world as a whole since he was cloned from someone born off-world before they lost contact. I tend to think that, when the lines are blurred, the themes of a story become the best way to place it. There's a magical element, yes, but the themes are more typical of a sci-fi story so I'm content to post here but still call it science fantasy. What do y'all think? :) Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:54:06 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_13031 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_13031 Kurt McFry Instead of sci-fi, I guess that would make it.... psy-fi? *chortles to self* Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:24:32 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_13633 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_13633 Kurt McFry I'd say that would fit most neatly into Supernatural, since it's about the afterlife. It could also possibly be Fantasy? Don't see why it'd be sci-fi. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:28:30 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_13705 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_13705 Kurt McFry Hmm... pretty sure my novel is sci-fi, but it's so soft that I do wonder about it sometimes. -Far future, looming apocalypse by time stopping across the universe (softsoftsoft!~). -Plasma guns, implant-based comm. devices that fit over the eye like a monocle (or a DBZ "scanner" if you're that way inclined, though I don't know much about the show) -Time machine, looks like a supercomputer hooked up to an array of weird-looking mirrors that "totally internally reflect tachyons and chronons, bending and twisting them" (Yes. I created fibre optic time travel.) The machine itself doesn't just drop them off though, it needs to hold them there, they return when the machine is powered down. Also if the machine's power supply cuts out, they disintegrate. (Plot-driven decisions, but I reverse-engineered/technobabbled that the machine compensates for any changes they make to the past while they're there.) -Mentions of contact with aliens, never seen on-screen and is told that nothing came of it because both parties gave up trying to find a means of communicating. -Steampunk power at one era in the past. Um... can't think of anything else, think that's it. Sci-fi? Or too squishy? Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:44:44 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_13976 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_13976 Kurt McFry Oh! Just remembered! Also, humans in the year 1 million are all slender and extremely intelligent but not very physically strong (due to many factors, such as increased oxygen level in the atmosphere, vegetation-only diet (I don't know how this contributes...) higher emphasis on education etc), and by the year 4 billion when time is dying they've lost that and devolved into a form that is more stereotypically like us, except they're very long-lived and don't age quickly, and also above average for height. .... just realised most of these perks sound very Elvish. But yeah, with that aswell taken into account? :O Tue, 11 Oct 2011 14:50:44 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_14068 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_14068 keolah Cydnorg - Things like Alien and Resident Evil are quite definitely scifi horror. With horror, the main point with it is the tone and whatnot. Is it intended to be scary, creepy, etc? From your description, it can easily be either scifi horror, or just plain science fiction, depending on how it's written. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:08:01 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_14372 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_14372 keolah Kurt McFry - Scifi does not, to the disappointment of certain parties, have a minimum required "hardness". So long as you figuratively paint over your "magic" with scifi trappings, it's scifi enough for me at least. ;) Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:10:19 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_14404 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_14404 afie I definitely consider my story sci-fi, though i am not sure if it's "pure" sci-fi or if it should be sub-genre:d. It takes place in a dystopian future ( i am imagining a "Big Brother is watching your EVERY MOVE" kinda society- ish) and there's technology for people to get "upgraded" as in get implants to improve various abilities/skills/etc, though it's extremely expensive and only available to a select few. The focus is on the dystopian thing- the tech bit is a bit in the background, though important since my secondary character (who might become a second main character depending on) has had these enhancements made. With the exception for the rich people it's a kinda basic world and where the "normal" people pretty much do what they can to survive and they have very little tech to help them. So anyone have any thoughts? Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:30:23 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_14740 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_14740 afie Oh, and maybe i should mention that the story will take place amongst the wealthy in this society, so we won't see much of the "normal" people. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:44:02 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_14983 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_14983 Lord Darkstorm Extraterrestrials fit in scifi, and the abilities of these aliens, are the based in magic, or just abilities beyond a human? If the beings are energy based in nature, lacking a physical form, then possessing a body wouldn't be magic, just something they could do. Really comes down to the abilities and if they are possible without some form of magic. Zombies have been done over and over without a necromancer to raise them...they are loosely in the realm of scifi based on most are virus based. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:47:35 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_15062 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_15062 Lord Darkstorm Sounds like fun to me. Almost makes me want to rethink mine....but alas, not enough time. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:52:22 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_15173 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_15173 keolah What's "pure" scifi? :) And I'd generally consider dystopian to be a sub-genre, yes. An awfully popular one these days, from what I've seen... I wouldn't say it matters who or what aspect the focus is on. Genre definitions depend on the plot or setting, not the main characters, generally. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:08:15 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_15467 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_15467 in my spare time Okay, here goes. Cade is an actor whose been imprisoned and tortured (sleep deprivation) for participating in a gay pride march in a culture where LGBT rights are non-existent. He's rescued by Drew, a doctor at the facility, who spirits them both to an alternate universe where there is no such persecution. Cade suffers from the obvious fallout of his ordeal, but Drew shows more subtle signs of not living his real life (he left a wife, was completely in the closet). This new universe is set under a dome (the atmosphere still sports remnants of radiation from previous conflicts) so there is no rainfall, a continually temperate environment, albeit offering both men their freedom. Cade gets involved with a nurse, Annie, while Drew falls for Bill, a technician where the refugees landed. Cade can't sleep, which interferes with his and Annie's relationship, while Drew has a hard time with the openness of this new society. Both men react to their new-found liberties, unable to leave their ordeals in the past. When Drew cracks, it's Cade to bring him back from the brink, but Cade's footing is just as slippery. Annie and Bill aren't sure their partners can cope with their adopted surroundings, not just living under a dome but the freedom. So, is this sci-fi? Overt and subtle forms of torture and oppression will be explored, as well as accepting life in new realm, alongside the notion neither man will ever return home. I'm more of a lit-fiction soul, plenty of angst, but I like to dabble in sci-fi (<em>DS9</em> is one of my all time fave series, plenty of <em>Doctor Who</em> as well) so I'm just wanting to know where this belongs. Thanks! Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:26:44 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_15788 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_15788 SegoLily.311 Haha, good one Kurt McFry ;) I still feel like my over all series is sci-fi not fantasy fiction. So maybe I could call it "Science Fantasy" but that isn't a genre that I can actually use when selling or promoting. Typically I tell people it is Sci-fi/Fantasy because it is a little bit of both. Thank you Dreamway and Kurt McFry for your input. Hopefully the genre name won't effect the overall opinion of my series. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:51:02 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_16258 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_16258 keolah in my spare time - Certainly sounds like scifi to me. You've got a dystopian setting, as well as alternate universes. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 17:07:32 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_16583 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_16583 thegreatescape2014 Alternate history stories? Mine is based off of "what if hitler never fell." Sci-f? Or not... Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:01:05 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_17613 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_17613 Cydnorg Mine's defintely torture, incest and terrible, terrible mutations c: And this all came to me during Geometry! (obviously has issues here...huehuehue) Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:08:20 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_17762 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_17762 in my spare time Great! Thanks for the feedback. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 18:26:05 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_18129 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_18129 PrayForAidan Sci-Fantasy sometimes gets lumped into the same molds as *punk. My novel this year is a cross between sci-fi (dystopian society, aliens, etc.) and supernatural (psychic/superhero-esque abilities). I put it into the sci-fi group only because of the aliens. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 19:49:09 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_19783 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_19783 PrayForAidan In a way, you are implying an alternate timeline or maybe even a parallel universe. That screams Yes to me. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 19:55:11 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_19907 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_19907 Sight of the Blind So basically the story is about a girl who has visions, and after she moves to a new town the visions start becoming more and more deranged; through a series of events she is led on a journey to discover the secret behind her visions. A major part of the plot has to do with time travel, aliens, space portals and ancient cultures. I'm not sure if it could be considered fantasy, but I don't think its completely sci-fi either. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated(: Tue, 11 Oct 2011 20:47:37 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_20986 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_20986 keolah Sight of the Blind - Well, you could call it science fantasy, but honestly, "psychic powers" like her visions can go in nicely with straight scifi of the softer sort. In my experience, scifi can get away with "magic" if it calls it "psychic powers" or the like. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:19:06 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_21518 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_21518 Gryphon-kl This definitely sounds like science fiction to me. Tue, 11 Oct 2011 21:19:49 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_21530 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_21530 MaryJeddoreBlakney Yes, it's sci-fi, but can you help me with sub-genre? Pyte: Set in the present. Well, technically, the present is an elusive non-linear point in time, but it's set in our contemporary time period. Part One: Jade -There's a man in Jade's back yard, dressed in a ridiculous sci-fi-con alien suit and claiming to be from another planet. His name, supposedly, is Zukk Gevv. Jade doesn't believe in interstellar travel. When he steps into an apparently-very-real spaceship and disappears, Jade is compelled to understand what really happened. She does research, she enlists the help of UFO investigators, she searches her soul. With the help of her family, she finally comes to the conclusion that her experience didn't happen in the physical world: it was a vision. -Subplots include the story of how Jade's town was founded and developed to the current day, and how she meets and gets close to her boyfriend. There's romance there, but her romantic girlfriend-love never gets any more attention than her family-love for her daughter, mother, sister and nephews, or her platonic love for her best friend. -The two feelings that I expect will pervade in Part One are: Jade's struggles with questions such as: Am I going crazy? Are the laws of physics nothing but an illusion (and hence, do I need to worry a monster will eat me or the floor will disappear)? Maybe a lot of people would just shrug that off, but it shakes Jade deeply. The many emotions of the characters' relationships. Not sappy, not gritty, but a realistic in-between. -Just when Jade has finally decided her experience is a vision and found peace with herself, she gets an email from a woman who says, "You're not crazy. I had the same experience myself. Can we meet?" So Jade and her boyfriend jump in the car and drive 16 hours to meet her--only to find that she's just a crazy lady, blurting out things that make no sense at all. Part Two: Piper -Piper wakes up in a desert on an alien planet, dying of thirst. Some people rescue her and keep her as a pet. It takes them a while to figure out what to feed her. Her first approach is to try to teach them English and all the other things they need to know. After a while she realizes she's the one who's different: she's the one who needs to learn. It takes time to learn a language, and as desperate as she is to tell them where she's from and demand a ride home, she has no choice but to wait. She finds herself in a close-knit community with a rich culture, surrounded by selfless friends who save her life repeatedly, risk themselves for her sake. But she doesn't notice because she's too consumed by her indignation at being held there against her will. -As she acquires communication skills, Piper learns that occasionally, objects and animals from other planets appear at the edge of the village, and she's one of those animals. They think it's a side effect of something they're doing in a nearby research center, and nobody really knows where any of the things come from. Finally, one day, she succeeds in communicating to her owners that she really, really needs a ride home. She draws a diagram of our solar system, marks the third planet as the destination. They understand, they're enthusiastic about finding Piper's home star in the maps. Then they find it, and Piper is ecstatic: she's going home! -But they tell her no; that's not the way we handle first contacts with alien worlds; you'll have to stay here. Piper argues, but they just laugh at her like she's cute, like they did back when she tried to teach them English. Just then her owners' son, who up to now has been a tadpole, metamorphoses and crawls out of his pool and walks into the room. Piper looks at the child and says in English, "You're my hope. I'm going to be so nice to you that you're going to love me, and when you're old enough, you'll get me home." In keeping with tradition, one of the parents tells the little boy his name, officially welcoming him to the community of air-breathing, walking people. "Your name," says the parent, "is Zukk Gevv." Tue, 11 Oct 2011 22:18:33 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_22333 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_22333 Writerfangirl I am calling this an urban science fiction metaphysical novel. I don't usually use 'urban science fiction.' Normally I lump it all under 'urban fantasy'. This time around I'm using scientific concepts. My novel is set in the present and concerns the next stage of humanity. The thing is, we all have it in ourselves to join this new race too, but people on the autism spectrum have a foot in the door. I am going to make mention of Jungian concepts and of quantum physics (specifically how it relates to the Law of Attraction). Tue, 11 Oct 2011 23:38:19 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_23155 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_23155 yoghurtelf I am writing 2 novels this year, and one of them is what I consider to be sci-fi/fantasy cross-over. Fantasy because she has magical powers, and sci-fi because it involves spaceships and intergalactic war type stuff! What do you all think?? Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:38:36 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_23613 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_23613 50percentDakini That makes a lot of sense - thanks for the explanation and for the inclusive welcome! I'm getting pumped to write. Wed, 12 Oct 2011 06:41:21 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_26182 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_26182 keolah Writerfangirl - I suppose the reason you don't see "urban science fiction" more frequently is because science fiction isn't assumed to be taking place in another time period so frequently as fantasy. There's plenty of scifi that takes place in the present day, or "it could happen now" or whatnot, and not even necessarily being an alternate universe, either. Good luck with your story. :) Wed, 12 Oct 2011 08:27:07 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_27335 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_27335 keolah yoghurtelf - Science fantasy is a perfectly legitimate subgenre of both scifi and fantasy. :) (Although straight scifi of the softer variety can often get away with just calling its magic "psychic powers".) I'm writing science fantasy myself this year -- a dimension-traveling wizard IN SPACE! Wed, 12 Oct 2011 08:29:22 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_27363 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_27363 Silvercry Questions: does the inclusion of time travel automatically make something SF? I ask because the antagonist in my story is actaully the future version of the protagonist, having traveled back in time some 20 years or so in order to influence and/or coerce his younger self onto what he believes to be a better path in life. The actual time travel only happens once, occurs off-screen, and wouldn't be revealed to the protagonist until the climax or shortly before it. Aside from that, the setting is an unremarkable American suburbs circa 1985-1990 or so (still working on the timeline). Thoughts? Wed, 12 Oct 2011 08:30:06 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_27370 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_27370 Wickedly Sorry, I didn't see your post sooner. Actually, the zombie part was pretty much an image. It's more like a virus that "kills" everything human inside the person, and makes him or her ready for the Angel to inhabit his/her body. The alien abilities are just their own, they needed something to inhabit Earth and created the human race as shells that they possess. So it is something they could do. The magic idea pretty much comes in with those who are part human - part alien, or the aliens who have unsettling abilities for their kind - such as switching body-form, or having the capacity to inhabit another body while having a main host. Wed, 12 Oct 2011 08:41:03 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_27532 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_27532 Wickedly Thanks for the precision! Wed, 12 Oct 2011 08:42:13 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_27551 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_27551 keolah Silvercry - Well, time travel isn't the exclusive province of scifi -- there's fantasy stories that include it as well. And, of course, it could also be magical realism, depending on how it's done. But yes, barring anything that would put it somewhere else, time travel will make something scifi. You'll never run across books on the "realistic" section where you have a perfectly mundane setting, and then suddenly at the end you get a genre whiplash into aliens, time travel, wizards, what-have-you. People don't seem to like when something that's supposed to be "realistic" suddenly turns into something that's not. Wed, 12 Oct 2011 09:31:57 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_28088 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_28088 MaryJeddoreBlakney Silvercry, I think that yes, technically, it is science fiction because of the time travel. But I guess you don't want to reveal the fact that it's science fiction until the end. So is it possible to publish it under a different genre anyway? Wed, 12 Oct 2011 09:32:00 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_28089 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_28089 NeverBefore So I'm having a bit of a problem with my novel's genre. I was thinking mainstream fiction, and I wasn't even considering sci-fi, but it does take place in the future. Not a defined future, and not in a defined place; something like WWIII takes place (yay for rhyming). Other than that, it has no sci-fi elements. It's not post-apocalyptic, nor quite dystopia, it's just...erm, something. Any ideas where it might belong? Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:00:06 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_30055 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_30055 keolah NeverBefore - Definitely sounds like scifi to me. ;) Speculation on what might happen in the future is a big part of scifi, after all. It hardly requires spaceships, aliens, or any of the more obvious elements... often just taking place in the future is enough. Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:02:40 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_30092 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_30092 MaryJeddoreBlakney Analog magazine defines science fiction as "stories in which some aspect of future science or technology is so integral to the plot that, if that aspect were removed, the story would collapse. Try to picture Mary Shelley's Frankenstein without the science and you'll see what I mean. No story!" So here's a different perspective. I'm not taking sides. Good luck! Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:23:22 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_30360 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_30360 Silvercry Thanks for the input! Though when you put t that way, it does sound kind of like a bait-and-switch plot. I'll need to make sure to drop a few not-to-obvious hints along the way. Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:16:56 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_34059 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_34059 fluteplayer I've decided that my novel is somewhere between fantasy or sci-fi. But I want a second opinion. So, to make it short, humans discovered faeries, freaked, and created the Iron People, which are mostly human (not going to explain that). Then, the Iron People and the faeries started a war, and the humans were almost completely wiped out. The story takes place a thousand years later, and the MC is an Iron Person. But that's not important. I've decided that, because this takes place in the future, and I've created a new race of people, it could be sci-fi. But then, there are also the faeries to consider. There is no way science could explain that. Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:41:08 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_34430 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_34430 Amethyst_writer62442 My novel is set in the future, but a rather dystopian future, without any major technological advancements or things that typically would sound Sci-Fi-ish. It's not specified how far in the future it is, but society has moved more backwards than forwards. There is no interplanetary travel, no aliens, no fancy gadgets, etc. (If you've read Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry, it's similar.) Anyway, the novel is set in France some time in the future. Basically all of Europe is under the control of a superpower that wants to create one unified culture &amp; society (we all know how well that works out). Part of this "unification" involves burning books, destroying art, eliminating history to start with a "clean slate", etc. The main character is involved in one of many scattered rebellions, and her job, specifically, is to try to preserve books by rescuing them in her small city. It gets more exciting/interesting, but that's the gist. My main question is, if a novel is set in the future, does that make it sci-fi by default? -Kelsey :) Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:45:42 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_34504 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_34504 keolah fluteplayer - Sounds like science fantasy to me. :) I love when fantasy worlds aren't stuck in a perpetual medieval stasis for no good reason. Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:55:37 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_34657 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_34657 keolah Amethyst_writer62442 - Scifi isn't just about advanced technology. Nor spaceships and aliens. Dystopian scifi is a very popular subgenre at the moment, apparently. And that's still very definitely scifi. Speculating about the future is a huge part of scifi, whatever that future might hold. (I haven't heard of "Gathering Blue", but the first sentence of its Wikipedia article says "Gathering Blue is a 2000 children's, social science fiction, dystopian novel by noted children's author Lois Lowry." Take that as you will.) Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:58:48 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_34705 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_34705 Outasync Yet another wanderer here, lost between genres, peering anxiously at signposts and finally resorting to (oh, the shame) asking directions. My novel features a virtual world, housed within a massive computer. The people of this virtual world are self-aware, and legally recognised as being alive. The story centres around the programmers who created the world, and the hacker who is trying to take it over. It is set in the future, and the action takes place in both the real world and the virtual one. The machine itself doesn't malfunction or rebel, although the people living within the virtual world make individual choices about whether to support the programmer or the hacker - or just to ignore the whole thing and get on with their own lives. The conflict is between the programmer and the hacker, and their battles are fought variously face-to-face, in the virtual world and, ultimately, in court. So, what do you think? Is it sci-fi? And if so, in which sub-genre does it belong? Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:00:24 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_34726 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_34726 Sight of the Blind keolah- thank you ^_^ Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:08:21 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_34855 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_34855 keolah Outasync - Definitely sounds like scifi to me. Why would the machine have to malfunction or rebel for it to be so? :) It'd still be considered scifi even if the virtual world were a fantasy world. As for subgenre, I have no clue. It's obviously not space opera. Your description doesn't make me think "dystopia" either, but doesn't necessarily preclude it either. Wed, 12 Oct 2011 17:08:49 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_34863 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_34863 Chibifukurou So I'm thinking about writing a story based in 'New Rome' my world's answer to New York. Things that are involved: Rome never fell Roman Gods Religious persecution Sky-scraper/glass and steel buildings as temples Priests as Superheroes A law banning religions that work independently from the government Vid Screens Air Ships A subway like transit system. A inner city where religion is the drug of choice So to summarize it's one part Alternate history, one part Cyber Punk Derivative, One Part Near-Future, One part Superhero story, and one part Mythological retelling. Do you think it would count as Urban Fantasy, Sci-Fi, or something else entirely? Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:56:55 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_37401 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_37401 keolah Chibifukurou - Is there literal magic, tangible gods, and whatnot? If so, then yes, it'll be fantasy of some sort. I'd call it... alternate universe superhero urban fantasy! heh. But I don't think that would fit in the little box. Wed, 12 Oct 2011 20:19:03 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_37713 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_37713 lokale Alright, so my novel is basically about a fallen star. Every time a person wishes on a falling star, that star falls and becomes human so it can bring the wish to fruition. Through some plot points I don't want to give out, my star falls after this female makes a wish. He has certain uncanny abilities. The Feds find out. Female doesn't want Star to get captured so they kind of, well, flee. A big chunk of the book is them on the run and some plot development yadha yadha. The end I don't want to give away yet. Sci-fi, supernatural, fantasy...? Wed, 12 Oct 2011 20:48:13 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_38116 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_38116 keolah lokale - That sounds more toward the fantasy end of the spectrum than scifi. Urban fantasy, supernatural/paranormal, take your pick, I can't for the life of me remember what the differences between those are supposed to be. :) Wed, 12 Oct 2011 21:21:36 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_38586 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_38586 Lord Darkstorm Aliens fall into the realm of scifi, most of what you are describing 'could' be loosely science based, so it can be scifi. Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:09:33 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_44649 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_44649 irreverent_writer I hope that yours is Sci-Fi because my novel is similar in theme. 500+ years in the future, the vast majority of the population live off of earth (but not in space. They occupy gigantic "facilities" that are erected high in the sky but still in the Earth's atmosphere). There are no aliens and no special powers. Technology is advanced, obviously. But the heart of the story will be on the characters. I am calling it Sci-Fi, mostly for lack of a better term! Thu, 13 Oct 2011 11:58:16 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_45919 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_45919 keolah irreverent_writer - Relax. That is most definitely, certainly, 100% science fiction. ;) And not just "for lack of a better term". Speculating on what may or may not happen in the future is the heart and soul of scifi. Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:35:55 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_46426 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_46426 jentus I think because my character carries a cyborg phone around with her everywhere as an immortal through all of our times from 300 million before present to present it is scifi, plus she was on a different world in part 2 and I am writing part 3 during the Nano. Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:09:39 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_47684 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_47684 irreverent_writer :D Thanks! Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:23:21 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_47857 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_47857 lokale Definitely NOT fantasy. I view fantasy as more Tolkien-esque realms. Like I would understand maybe urban fantasy but it just still doesn't fit that classification for me. I can see supernatural though, definitely. Thanks! Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:00:48 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_49768 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_49768 yoghurtelf Ooh, yours sounds like heaps of fun!! I know I can't wait to start writing mine :) Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:25:25 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_50040 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_50040 Ephemera Sci fi...or something else? I've only got some general thoughts on my novel, but it's basically going to be set in the not-so-distant future, and my MC is a scientist who didn't give up on being an astronaut when NASA decided to give up on manned space exploration and needs to pursue less conventional means for reaching the stars. But I think it will be mostly be set pretty close to present day, maybe 5-10 years in the future (so no crazy new technologies or anything). Thoughts on an appropriate genre would be appreciated (: Fri, 14 Oct 2011 03:45:42 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_55188 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_55188 keolah Ephemera - Science fiction doesn't have to be set in the far future. Even speculating about the near future counts as speculating, and likewise you can have science fiction that's actually set in the present day or past! And it especially doesn't need "crazy new technologies", either. The main thrust of scifi is asking "What if?" And it sounds to me like you've got that going on pretty solidly. Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:44:00 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_57234 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_57234 SegoLily.311 I can see why you would classify that as Sci-fi. Aliens are definitely not what is pictured as fantasy. The more I outline my book I have realized it is fantasy so I'm going to role with it in that direction. Thank you for posting your replies. They have been really helpful! Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:43:06 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_58393 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_58393 Animalious I guess mine would be more of a phys-fi as Kurt Mcfry put it, for my story does contain physic like stuff but its more in the lines of different versions of telekinesis and pyrokinesis, not seeing the dead or visions...But its in the 1950's, so its a slight AU history and with a slight superhero element is in it, and its got teenagers in it...Should I still have it classified as Sci-fi? Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:06:45 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_59330 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_59330 keolah Animalious - Surely you mean "psychic", not "physic"? :) Anyway, alternate universe is also scifi, and superheroes are frequently scifi also. And what do teenagers have to do with anything? Ender's Game isn't children's fiction just because it has kids in it. "Young adult" is a based around the audience, not the plot or setting, and hence anything could be "young adult". And while having younger characters is common in young adult, just having young characters does not automatically make something young adult, nor vice versa. Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:33:40 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_59634 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_59634 Animalious Oh...I seem to understand how in the world of fiction the characters age must match the audience, and I think I wrote that because I tried to think of what else to say about the story... Thanks for correcting my spelling that even google couldn't catch. Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:36:34 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_59674 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_59674 murazrai My entry for this year's NaNoWriMo would be a man gets teleported to a planet outside of the milky way which has technological advancement better than earth, but with higher percentage of nature. He was asked to take back drugs that supposedly giving immortality by forcing the body to stop aging and constantly regenerating. Battles are done in fantasy style but includes sci-fi weapons like positron cannons. Fri, 14 Oct 2011 18:36:16 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_64005 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_64005 keolah murazrai - What is "fantasy style"? Anyway, I don't see anything in what you've described that doesn't scream "scifi". :) Fri, 14 Oct 2011 19:03:10 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_64331 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_64331 murazrai By fantasy style, I mean involving magic and medieval weapons. Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:05:04 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_65086 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_65086 keolah Then you're looking at science fantasy. Welcome to the club. ;) Fri, 14 Oct 2011 20:17:50 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_65222 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_65222 Dreamer74 Pretty sure this is sci-fi, although certainly not Hard SF. Set on an alien world. The original inhabitants of the world (flight capable aliens) have been mostly eliminated by the settling humans. There is a cloud sea over a massive rift in the planet and it messes with electronics, making it impossible to navigate by humans. The MCs are a human whose scientist wife was killed in what most believe was an assasination by the aliens she was working with, although they were also killed, and the son of her alien colleague who stands trial as his father's proxy for the death. Although he's exonerated, he goes into hiding, only to be located by the human MC and blackmailed into helping him cross the cloud sea to the mountain on the other side. The human believes his wife may not be dead and has left behind the means of bringing her back. The alien hopes to regain the lost honor of his people. Kinda sci-fi, even though I don't know what the science is yet? Fri, 14 Oct 2011 21:02:07 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_65626 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_65626 keolah Dreamer74 - Contrary to what the name might imply, science fiction isn't exactly about science. ;) You've got aliens and another planet, that's pretty clearly scifi right there. Fri, 14 Oct 2011 21:10:37 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_65722 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_65722 AmosTFairchild Heck. I'm doing Vampire Planet. Alternate reality earth dominated by peace loving environmentalist vampires who live on organic cow blood and travel through dimensional portals. They find alternate earth filled with 7 billion very dangerous humans who want to kill them. I still say scifi ;) Fri, 14 Oct 2011 23:34:01 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_66956 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_66956 albnutty My novel is about a girl living in a futuristic dystopia and a boy living in 2000's Wisconsin. The boy has been experiencing the ability to time travel ever since he was a little kid but he can't really control it. He travels to the girl's village, sees its state of turmoil and destruction, and takes her back to his time to "rescue her." the girl, who is very independent and used to the war-torn, lonely life of her home place, is in awe of the technology and abilities citizens have, and decides to stay there in that time period instead of returning to her own. Cue the universe getting upset with this paradox of a person who's not supposed to be there being there, and she and the boy struggling to not have things switch back to the way they were. I'd classify that as YA Sci-Fi, but what do you think? Sat, 15 Oct 2011 10:45:29 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_70873 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_70873 keolah albnutty - Dystopian futures and time travel, yep. :) Sat, 15 Oct 2011 11:02:11 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_71056 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_71056 tally1302 So my question is, what if it's only 20 years or so in the future and all the scientific advancement etc is stuff that's already underway now... no aliens, no spaceships a robot army like those being constructed at the moment.... I think my problem is 10 years ago my story would have been sci-fi. Now real life is catching up with sci-fi so I'm not sure :P Sat, 15 Oct 2011 11:11:19 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_71171 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_71171 ariellalphabet I put mine down as 'fantasy' at first but I think it's more sci-fi. It's set in a dystopian future, two runaways trying to escape from the government with help from technology and hackers. Sat, 15 Oct 2011 11:31:17 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_71413 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_71413 keolah ariellalphabet - That definitely sounds like scifi to me. I don't see anything in what you've mentioned that would be "fantasy" about it. Sat, 15 Oct 2011 11:40:16 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_71536 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_71536 ariellalphabet Thank you :D Sat, 15 Oct 2011 11:54:17 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_71707 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_71707 albnutty Cool beans. Thanks for the feedback! Sat, 15 Oct 2011 13:37:09 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_72846 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_72846 prettybellflower I would like to know about mine. Here is the smmary that will be added to my profile Damian was your ordinary average young man but with an irrational fear of death. When Death offers him the deal of a lifetime, the deal where he would never fear death, he takes it. The one thing he has to do is marry old Victoria Ann Jones. She's neither attractive or nice. But if it means conquering his fear and possibly living forever then why not. Little does he know that living forever may not be worth the cost. Sat, 15 Oct 2011 14:56:34 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_73699 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_73699 keolah prettybellflower - From your description, this does not sound like scifi. Actually, it sounds more like horror. Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:17:33 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_73945 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_73945 mustardgirl I'm wondering if mine is Adventure, SciFi, Mainstream...I've never written anything like this, so I'm just not quite sure. Basically Joey, the MMC, &amp; his best friend Wade created a very rudimentary time machine out of cardboard &amp; broken antennae to impress some girls. To their surprise they were actually able to summon Peter the Great from Absolutist Russia to 21st century Illinois. But oops...turns out the time machine is broken and so random historical figures can stumble upon it and into our world. Now four teenagers have to deal with the weirdest (&amp; deadest) of people running a muck in their lives. I'm pretty sure I'm going to focus it on their random adventures with places like Starbucks and ultimately, how each of these people get back into their own time. The tone will be very light &amp; comedic the whole time. Any ideas which genre this is appropriate for? Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:18:34 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_73956 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_73956 TheFlyingSeal I just want to make sure if it's SciFi-y enough to be worthy in this section. PLOT/SUMMARY: In the far furture, a strange alien race named the 'Hondon' have come down to earth to claim more land. The only way to do that is to enslave all the humans to work for them. Much like the English and America's. One Hondon fell in love with an earth female and they mated. The Hondon found out about this and killed the father. The mother Luciel managed to escape and gave birth to Sydney and Max. Skip to a few years later, we see them fourteen as well alive hunting the Flame Pups that the Hondons managed to bring. They don't know of their mothers past- just that she lived as a slave and managed to escape- so everything is fine. They come back and see their mother dead with traces of the Hondon. They set out to take revenge and slowly learn of their mother's and the Earth's past. And just who killed their mother. Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:22:31 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_74001 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_74001 keolah mustardgirl - Sounds like scifi comedy to me, ala Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:30:58 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_74109 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_74109 keolah TheFlyingSeal - I didn't even need to look beyond the first few words to know that's definitely scifi. ;) Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:32:20 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_74135 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_74135 prettybellflower Keolah: I never thought of it that way. I was stuck on either Sci fi or Romance. Horror is one of my favorite genres but I never considered writing one as a novel. Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:43:14 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_74259 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_74259 Yoite I'm torn between two plots right now, and I would say that one of them is science fiction... but it focuses more on friendship, cultural differences, isolation and trust issues more than anything else. Can it still be classified as Sci-Fi? Twenty years ago on a distant planet, a young scientist and a haughty noble decode a message filled with thousands of foreign images and symbols, a transmission from another world; Earth. But instantly being declared as ambassadors to this new race of people, shoved onto an untested ship, frozen in stasis and eventually crash-landing is not what they had in mind. Especially as Earth is twenty light years away, and now they cannot get home. Skip ahead to Gilbert Mason, college dropout, all around punk and universal loser. Being able to see through camouflage shields is not something he thought he was capable of, either, but now he finds himself the keeper of a dangerous secret. Humanity is not alone. Mishaa and Reen need his help. But how far can he go for them when they don't even live in the same Solar System? (Yes, the second and third categories are humor and drama, respectively) Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:46:53 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_74313 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_74313 mustardgirl Thanks very much :D Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:47:34 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_74325 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_74325 TheFlyingSeal :D Thank you so much! I just wanted to make sure, thanks! ^^ Sat, 15 Oct 2011 15:53:04 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_74407 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=2#forum_thread_comment_74407 keolah Yoite - Scifi (and its kissing cousin, fantasy) isn't about a particular plot, but about a setting. You can put _any_ plot in a scifi/fantasy setting and it will still be scifi/fantasy. Sat, 15 Oct 2011 16:09:45 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_74624 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_74624 Yoite Thanks for pointing that out - nobody I asked around here knew T.T Sat, 15 Oct 2011 16:14:41 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_74683 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_74683 spastic_visions I always seem to be flirting with the sci-fi/fantasy line myself. I think I'm on the sci fi side this time. A world where about 0.1% of the population has some sort of telepathic tendency. The lucky ones are more or less shunned to the fringes of society. The very unlucky ones wind up as guinea pigs for the government or various other dubious organizations. But that's more or less the backdrop. My MC's a telepath who's been living on the streets for a while when she psychically witnesses a murder. From then on I think it's going to be mostly suspense/action with the telepathy stuff as more of a backdrop. IDEK. Maybe like The Demolished Man if it were crossed with X-men? Sat, 15 Oct 2011 17:20:44 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_75383 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_75383 keolah spastic_visions - Most scifi is action. It's the backdrop that makes the genre. And "psychic powers", while undeniably "magical", tend to get a pass in scifi. Sat, 15 Oct 2011 17:25:40 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_75426 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_75426 spastic_visions Heh, I'm still kind of looking for the subgenre 'speculative science fiction.' You know the change one thing no questions asked and build a society from there. Thanks for the help. Sat, 15 Oct 2011 17:28:58 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_75454 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_75454 Mad Man Thief My book takes place in the future and the main character is going to be a ship captain in her future (doesn't happen in the book) her father is also a captain but everything takes place on earth/the floating cities as earth was abandoned. They have teleporters and hover cars and spaceships but that's not really the plot? It's about a girl finding her father and being in love with her best friend and taking down the government a bit too. THOUGHTS?! Sun, 16 Oct 2011 02:00:37 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_79792 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_79792 puigcaro Hmm, alright, 'm thinking it's Sci-Fi but it's always good to ask. No specific time or place, one of those "could be today stories". Humanity discovered a way to switch one person's character, ~soul, etc from one physical body into another. I'm thinking this fits into Sci-Fi because it won't be a magical process but a more gritty one, with some effects on the body. Of course the technology is outlawed and there are a lot of social/political implications but that won't stop people from taking advantage of it for their own gain. Sun, 16 Oct 2011 06:44:29 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_81155 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_81155 keolah Mad Man Thief - Scifi has nothing to do with the plot. It's a genre describing a setting. You can put any plot in a scifi setting and it'll still be scifi. Sun, 16 Oct 2011 09:09:54 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_82268 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_82268 keolah puigcaro - It's using "magic" with a coat of "science" paint, so it's still scifi, yes. :) Sun, 16 Oct 2011 09:15:48 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_82327 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_82327 thegreatescape2014 Not sure if it's sci-fi or not. I could go into a whole spiel about my plot but it's basically a dystopia society/alt history novel. Sci fi? Or not? Sun, 16 Oct 2011 11:18:51 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_83492 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_83492 keolah thegreatescape2014 - Alternate history is a subgenre of scifi. Dystopia is usually a subgenre of scifi. So yes, that'd be scifi. Sun, 16 Oct 2011 11:43:03 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_83764 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_83764 lapixystix So I initially decided that my novel was Chick Lit, but those people are scary, so I need to know if I'm close enough to sci-fi because yes my lead is female, yes she's a career driven baker, but please god, don't make me write shoe frenzy. So here it is: Heroine is a successful baker despite being barely functional in a social setting due to her OCD. Hero is top secret government built cyborg that escapes from the lab with no knowledge that he's not human, but knowledge about pretty much everything else, including how to survive as a human and how to bake. Hijinks ensue. I'm planning on 100k, with about 25k of, "Hey, this guy's kinda weird, maybe I should hire and possibly bone him," then 25k of, "Let's figure out why this guy is so weird and who is the shady looking fellow that's been stalking us lately," then 25k of, "Oh god you're a robot and is that shady looking fellow a murder," then finally, "Yes, he's a murderer and now he wants the robot that I love back." Sun, 16 Oct 2011 11:57:24 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_83924 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_83924 keolah lapixystix - You've got cyborgs. That makes it scifi. :) Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:22:55 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_84224 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_84224 -Erurainon- Mine starts out like a classic "trapped in a box" story, with the main character waking up in some kind of cell with no idea how he got there. Unlike the "trapped in a box" stories, this guy gets out, and finds himself in a sci-fi type landscape (machinery, absurdly tall buildings, etc.) with ABSOLUTELY NO PEOPLE. It isn't exactly a post-apocalyptic wasteland, everything still works, but you get the impression that the place hasn't been inhabited for some time. He wanders around from place to place, trying to figure out where he is, where everyone else is, and, of course, how to get home. Aaaand... I have no idea how it ends. He probably dies. Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:38:22 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_84414 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_84414 keolah -Erurainon- - Well, there's certainly a scifi setting involved. The question, however, is whether it's also horror. It certainly sounds creepy, but that depends on how you go about it. Sun, 16 Oct 2011 12:42:58 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_84457 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_84457 bookhobbit Let's see. The government of a certain region(which still hasn't been named) has recently been taken over by a new dictator who has been instituting quite a lot of new policies and rules. The societies' laws, never friendly to vigilantism, have slowly tightened their grip around the place and now all superheroes are outlawed. Most have been captured or killed. A few have surrendered, reckoning that living as a civilian is better than dying as a hero. Now, only four of them are left. Adalee White, also known as Ghost; Lei Anming, Zei; Benjamin Wraith, Doublestrike; and Levi Zaccardi, Kairos. The four of them must band together to survive. Otherwise they'll be caught and executed as well. They've also got to continue patrolling to keep the region safe, lead a resistance to take down the government, and fight off their own archnemeses, who have decided that now would be a delightful time to wreak havoc, what with the police concentrating on catching superheroes and all. The source of the heros' powers vary, since that seems relevant to the question. I'm sure that several characters use magic, but Adalee's powers were from a supersoldier lab program, and Anming's seem to be hereditary with no source explained. The technology is going to be slightly in advance of what we have today, Twenty Minutes Into the Future if you speak tvtropes. The setting is dystopian, which is traditionally sci-fi, but I dunno. What do you guys think? Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:43:34 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_85208 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_85208 SandyGunfox Science fantasy? When you have elements of both scifi and fantasy? For example, Star Wars has spaceships and lightsabers and the like - and they have the Force, which is just outright magic, or at least beyond the bounds of in-universe science. So I'd call Star Wars science fantasy. Meanwhile, if you're familiar with Mass Effect, they have telekinetics, but their powers are caused by a (fictional) element and a lot of pseudoscience, so it's just soft scifi. Basically the rule of thumb I've always used is: If a phenomenon has a scientific explanation in-universe, it's sci-fi (and hard or soft depends on how realistic and researched that scientific explanation is), but if it doesn't have a scientific explanation in-universe, it's fantasy. Note that the characters don't need to KNOW the scientific explanation if it's a new phenomenon or well hidden or something, just if it HAS one or not. Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:51:02 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_85313 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_85313 SandyGunfox It sounds more like fantasy than scifi to me. I usually don't consider works Twenty Minutes Into The Future to be scifi unless they focus on new technology, which yours doesn't seem to. Plenty of works have had supersoldier programs that weren't considered scifi. Urban fantasy, perhaps? Sun, 16 Oct 2011 13:53:11 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_85347 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_85347 mediarulesthepen So, my story is about an Astronaut who goes on a manned mission to jupiter and finds aliens. The story is mainly about when the Astronaut returns to Earth and it deals with his relationships with his family. Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:07:07 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_85515 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_85515 keolah mediarulesthepen - It doesn't matter what the plot focuses on. You have other planets and aliens. It's scifi. Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:14:44 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_85623 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_85623 keolah bookhobbit - Scifi isn't about technology, and it certainly doesn't need to focus on technology to be considered scifi. You can have an alternate universe set in modern times or even the past and still have it be considered science fiction, because you're speculating on a "what if?" things had happened differently, what if society and the world were like _this_, etc. Likewise, there's also no reason why fantasy and science fiction need to be mutually exclusive. But from the sounds of things you're looking at a superhero story, which are often a grab bag so far as fantastic elements are concerned. (See: list of Batman villains, for example.) If I were you, I'd just select "other genres" and put in "superheroes" or the like, and then hang out in scifi, fantasy, adventure, and/or other genres forums. :) Sun, 16 Oct 2011 14:19:44 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_85693 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_85693 -Erurainon- Hmmm... I actually hadn't thought of it that way. You may have given me an idea. Thanks. Sun, 16 Oct 2011 15:32:56 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_86615 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_86615 phantomlass I have been juggling between genres for days now and I can't decide which one my story belongs in, maybe you guys can help me:) My story does come under the YA category I know that much - although i am hoping to keep all teen drama to a minimum (I hate reading it so I sure ain't going to write it) But the thing is I can't figure out if it belongs to fantasy or scifi. There is no magic, well, not that I can see yet anyway, so that would make it clear of the fantasy section I would think (but then I know fantasy isn't all about magic) BUT my MC is being turned into a half person half sea-creature. NO magic though. So there we have it. No pixie dust or wands but no space-ships and man eating aliens either. Just a plain case of genetic manipulation ;) Thoughts on genre would be great guys. Thanks :) Mon, 17 Oct 2011 14:17:05 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_99534 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_99534 keolah phantomlass - You don't need spaceships and aliens to be scifi anymore than you need dragons and wizards to be fantasy. Genetic manipulation is definitely a quite solid scifi topic. ;) Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:03:28 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_100314 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_100314 EFBQ What makes you say they only happen when there's a pure 50:50 chance? That's not my understanding at all. The basic mistake most people make when dealing with quantum universes is that they should only happen with quantum states, not with macroscopic events. Choices and history have nothing to do with it (if you're really aiming for hard SF).... but it doesn't make for good story, so it's generally ignored. Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:23:04 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_100619 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_100619 EFBQ I'd think it would go best in Religious, Spiritual and New Age, because you're focusing on themes of spirituality and the eventual disposition of the soul. Take a look at that forum and see if it looks like it will have useful discussion... :) Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:27:18 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_100681 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_100681 EFBQ Another book with SF elements, and the back story is definitely SF (inspired by a suggestion Dr. Lisa Randall made about the apparent FTL speed of neutrinos generated at CERN being caused by a shortcut through a higher dimension). I'm going with that, then speculating that *something* which lives N-dimensionally got curious about an unexplained phenomena caused by the neutrino stream, checked it out, and began having odd effects in our world. Effects which are noticed only by 'sensitive' individuals (not necessarily all human). The story itself, however, will probably not go there. Events will happen on the path between neutrino emitter and detector, but particularly near either one. There will be no obvious, logical tie-in unless you know what you're looking for, and at this point I'm thinking the characters are more likely to look for supernatural or pseudo scientific explanations. I won't put in any clues for the readers unless it somehow enhances the story (and at this stage in the game I don't expect it will). It will probably read as a combination of random psychic events, and a spiritual quest for someone who is experiencing them. Not sure where that puts it genre wise, but the hard science gives me a model for what's 'really' happening, and helps me put limits on things... Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:37:58 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_100821 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_100821 Cadaverine So - I'm thinking a post-apocalyptic future scenario, incorporating a neolithic spirituality. Counts, right? I don't really have any more of it fleshed out than that, so it's hard to be sure! xD Mon, 17 Oct 2011 20:42:28 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_104802 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_104802 EFBQ Cadaverine - it works as Sci Fi, but you might want to look at the Religion/Spirituality forums as well, if that's a major theme. Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:42:20 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_115941 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_115941 keolah EFBQ - I have no idea what you're talking about, so that probably means you're writing scifi of some sort... heh. Scifi can certainly get _weird_ at times. Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:48:59 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_116028 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_116028 Muryō I think that my novel is sci-fi, and defiantly set in the near future, but the thing is I'm not certain about that. I have gone with the whole world will end on Dec. 21 2012; the planet has flooded and it is seven months in to the year, the story take place in the now, mostly historically accurate, the technology is what we currently have and some of the in development, most of the story happen on one ship with interludes to ships' captained by the main characters friends, there is some romance (not much as it is a side arc), there is a militant feel to it. This will be my first novel ever. Any help is greatly appreciated, If more info. is required I can post more upon request. Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:32:51 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_120574 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_120574 dhitzunako Hi, everyone. I'm dhitzunako, and this is my first year on NaNo. Btw, finally, I found this thread. I kinda confuse in choosing genre for my novel. My novel will be about a society who lives in the same timeline with other common people, with, em... different speed. I mean, for them, common people's seconds could be hours for them. So basically, they moved very fast so everyone can't notices them. Is it Sci-Fi? Anyone knows about real theory about this that I can learn from? Thank you very much. :) Good luck for everyone. :) Wed, 19 Oct 2011 08:27:45 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_125092 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_125092 dhitzunako IMHO, it depends on the "conflict" that will happen in your story. If discovery of a new technology or a new place to live is what you're aiming at: I think it is Adventure with Sci-Fi as sub-genre. If it is about struggling to develop a new life under a dictator government (for example), I think you can go for Action-genre. If in the journey the characters found or developed new technology that changed their life, it is Sci-Fi. Btw, note that I'm an amateur, this is just my opinion. :) Good luck. ^^ Wed, 19 Oct 2011 08:39:16 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_125247 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_125247 keolah dhitzunako - Certainly sounds like scifi to me! At its heart, scifi is about asking "What if?" Wed, 19 Oct 2011 08:48:58 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_125359 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_125359 phantomlass keolah - Brilliant! Thanks :) Wed, 19 Oct 2011 09:11:47 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_125656 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_125656 sixleaf I think this is sci-fi, but I wouldn't mind some second opinions. I put it in "sci-fi" because it involves an apocalypse. It's not going to be a post-apocalypse novel, as the actual apocalypse isn't going to occur until near the end of the book. (I'm still working on what the actual apocalypse will entail, but it's not likely to involve aliens or robots.) The technology is going to be very similar to what we have now, with perhaps a few minor advancements, particularly in surveillance. The technology isn't going to affect the plot that much. The basic idea is that a young woman inherits her father's job: she has to gather together a group of people that will be placed in a government provided fallout shelter in the event of an apocalypse. The novel covers her coming to grips with her father's death and what she has to do, finding and interviewing potential shelter candidates, deciding who of the candidates will actually get a place in the shelter, and finally bringing the people to the shelter when it becomes apparent that the world is going to end. Since it's more about internal struggles and interactions with characters than "ooh look at this alien society/planet/technology/zombies/spaceship!" maybe it's "literary science fiction"? Wed, 19 Oct 2011 09:39:38 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_125982 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_125982 keolah sixleaf - I find it funny how many people keep trying to convince themselves? that they aren't writing scifi, because it's "not all about the technology" or "about the internal struggles and interactions with characters"... or that it doesn't involve aliens or robots. Scifi isn't all about spaceships and aliens and robots... and neither does it need to take place _after_ an apocalypse! You're looking at the impact the prospect of a nuclear holocaust would have upon people, and how they're going to survive it, as well as survive being around one another. The thing is that quite a lot of written science fiction is more about characters than technology. The thing is that most of what you see in movies is going to be the sorts involving aliens and robots and explosions. Because, apparently, dealing with social issues doesn't make for a good Hollywood blockbuster. But that hardly means that only movie-scifi is scifi. ;) Wed, 19 Oct 2011 09:54:30 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_126188 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_126188 dhitzunako @keolah: thank you for replying. Now, I get that sci-fi is wider than just technology and invention. :) Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:03:17 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_126297 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_126297 Genie Ok, so my story is about an archaeologist that actually finds skeletal remains of a cyclops and a fairy (little humanoid with actual wings) and reaizes that mythology was in fact history, and the impact that has on the world and everything we beleived about it. It is based roughly on the ancient astronaut theory, but with definitive proof. Sci-fi? I am a little confused, because it involves characters previously viewed as fantasy, but now they are scientific fact and much more to be worked out during writing. Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:23:27 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_126605 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_126605 keolah Genie - Well, Pern is scifi, and that involves genetically engineered dragons, so why not? Wed, 19 Oct 2011 10:44:56 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_126946 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_126946 sixleaf You have a good point, although I think perhaps I've just read a lot of bad sci-fi, that was all about the technology/explosions/aliens/etc. I'm just not sure that someone actually reading my novel would think "oh hey, this is sci-fi!" unless they were told it had that label in advance. Wed, 19 Oct 2011 11:50:01 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_127945 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_127945 Marietta Not sure if mine is or not. (spoilers for my story are probably ahead - not that it matters that much) It's basically about a Groundhog Day Loop where my FMC is reliving the same time over and over again (it'll probably be the span of a week) and as it keeps moving on finds out it all revolves around this watch her father gave to her after she was born. I don't want to reveal too much of it though. But basically she's descended from stranded Time Travelers and I pulled a Madoka Magica in that their souls don't exist in their bodies, but their watches to make their bodies better suited for time travel. So their bodies are all around more durable than the average humans are. But the watches are their weak spots. If it stops then they could either die or just slip into a coma (if it's fixable then they wont die). And if it breaks, they die. And due to a reason I haven't decided yet, the Loop happens as a side effect when the Synchronization of the Soul and the Watch are nearing completion (before that, it gradually syncs) and the Loop doesn't end until "maturity" is reached. Afterward, full Sync is complete and they have the ability to use Time Stepping and Mental Time Travel (but not Physical). It more or less takes place during modern times though. In some small Texas town with less than 400 people and in a small high school. Other than the Loop and Time Traveling there's not much Sci-Fi stuff in it. So I'm not sure if it's Fantasy, Sci-Fi, or Science Fantasy. Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:01:46 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_128130 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_128130 Paul Washington ok so my story is about a man whos llife is just a dream of another person and he is realizing slowly that his life isnt real when strange things start happening to him! this is all i can provide at the moment! is my story sci-fi? Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:05:24 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_128181 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_128181 keolah Marietta - You have time travel as a central part of the story -- you could have time travel as a _minor_ part of the story and it would still be scifi, even if that were the only scifi element. Now, time travel is an obvious speculative fiction element, but it's found perfectly fine in pure scifi, pure fantasy, and anywhere in between. That distinction just depends upon how the time travel is accomplished and whatever other elements are around. "Time of the Twins", for instance, is very obviously pure fantasy, as it's accomplished by magic and in a D&amp;D type fantasy setting, whereas "The Terminator" is very obviously pure scifi. From your description, this can still easily go either way, depending on what you do with it and how you handle it, whether you describe the time travel as being magical or supernatural in nature, or toss in technobabble or whatnot about it. Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:11:14 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_128267 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_128267 keolah sixleaf - You're kind of looking at that backwards. I mean, if someone were actually reading your story, they _would_ know that it's scifi beforehand, because they picked it up off the "Science Fiction" shelf or looked it up from the "Science Fiction" category. But I'd say your story _is_ heavily about the technology, regardless. The technology of nuclear weapons, and protection thereof. And, like any good science fiction, is about how people react to that technology and what impact it has upon society. Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:14:34 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_128314 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_128314 keolah Paul Washington - Doesn't really sound like scifi to me. I'd put it more in Horror/Supernatural. Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:15:04 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_128323 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_128323 sing_of_nocturn My story is sort of bridging literary fiction and sci-fi. I'd like to know whether you guys agree that it's sci-fi. I just felt out of place in the literary fiction area, where everyone was going on and on about how their book was totally character driven, no plot to speak of, etc. Here's my summary: An orangutan is born with human-level intelligence. After being discovered by a team of anthropologists in a remote village in the jungle, he's taken to a university laboratory for analysis, where he begins his journey bridging the world of humans and of animals. From the jungles of Sumatra to the tedium of 1990s American academia to present-day Paris, this nameless orangutan's story is an intense exploration of nature, loneliness and humanity. Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:27:43 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_131571 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_131571 keolah sing_of_nocturn - A lot of written scifi has been very "literary". At its heart, scifi is about asking "What if?" An intelligent orangutan could qualify as this. :) And good scifi is very much often about presenting something and exploring how people might react to this and how it might change society. Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:00:14 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_132700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_132700 Genie cool, thanks. Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:37:49 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_133266 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_133266 moonlight293 Heya! I'm slightly uncertain about mine, so I'll just ask. Mine is set in a world where music is the heart and soul of everyone. Everyone is born with a Soul Voice and can use it to excel in their talents. They look, talk and act like modern humans though. The story is mostly set in the military, and they fight using their Soul Voices rather than guns and other standard weapons. The main part that got me stuck is that the story never leaves this world, so I wasn't sure whether it was a sci-fi or just fantasy. Wed, 19 Oct 2011 21:37:23 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_136901 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_136901 keolah moonlight293 - Well, you don't need to be writing about other worlds to be writing _either_ scifi or fantasy. But the way you describe these talents sounds more "magical" of sorts, which would put it in fantasy. And if you mean it's set in modern Earth, that'd make it contemporary fantasy. Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:16:28 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_137262 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_137262 moonlight293 Awesome - thanks for your help! :) Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:25:00 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_137349 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_137349 celestic-arrow I'm fairly certain my novel this year is science fantasy, since the other two have been classified as such, but I thought I'd pop in and check anyway. Since my synopsis doesn't really cover it, basically, the Earth in 2100 has been turned to desert, and humans have since found refuge in a man-made city floating in the sky called Arcadia. On desert Earth, eukaryotic bacterial beings called Archaeans roam. There's quite a bit of tech involved in the stories but there is a race of mystics called Dreamwalkers who can harness magic if they have access to a certain type of crystal found buried in the desert. So there's tech and magic combined. And sometimes they collide and produce dangerous consequences. What do you fine folk think? :) Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:33:12 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_137436 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_137436 keolah celestic-arrow - You're writing science fantasy. Congratulations! :) Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:38:14 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_137487 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_137487 celestic-arrow Thank you! (And thanks for the quick reply! Wow!) Wed, 19 Oct 2011 22:42:32 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_137545 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_137545 jabney I posted this in the 'got synopsis' thread in the Fantasy Forum and got zilch replies: Monoploy - A Teacozy SF Fantasy Quest Oogle's gram, an unlicensed astrologer in the Realm, is charged with missing an important retrograde forecast. Oogle, (who, as a serf, got a name at birth but doesn't care much for it) and his youthful master (who wants a name and has yet to earn one) hope to rescue her from permanent exile by locating the original Ephemeris of Eloise. Set to the background of Terramania caused by the newly introduced Quantum Entanglement Radio (QER), the two must navigate the rigid protocols that the Realm imposes on relations between master and serf, while trying to deflect suspicion that the young master's Uncle may have been the originator of QER which is officially considered a Disruptive Technology. Would I be more welcome in the SF Forum even though the serf's family is involved in (unlicensed) astrology and is said to posses the gift of premonition? Thu, 20 Oct 2011 09:04:04 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_141739 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_141739 keolah jabney - Well, for starters, you're perfectly welcome to hang out wherever you want, so don't be afraid of genre police coming and throwing you out of a forum just because it's not a perfect fit. ;) Anyway. I'd say if you have real, actual, provably working magic, then you might be looking at science fantasy. Otherwise, it's just scifi. But also remember that "psychic powers" of various sorts also show up in softer scifi without anyone (except hard scifi fans) batting an eye at it. (For example, The Left Hand of Darkness, award-winning ground-breaking science fiction novel, had telepathy and precognition in it. And that's not even counting things like Star Trek and Babylon 5, never mind Star Wars.) Thu, 20 Oct 2011 09:11:28 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_141827 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_141827 jabney Thanks! So maybe the question is, which sells better? I figure that just about any genre except steampunk is open to me. (For steampunk I'd have to use a pseudonym even though I had my last name long before members of the primo steampunk band ever picked up an instrument.) But readers' tastes apparently are very stratified these days. Sort of like music listeners. Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:30:52 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_142793 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_142793 EFBQ I'm not sure what 'real theory' you're talking about. The idea of time going at different speeds for different observers is the special theory of relativity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_relativity for an overview), and there's a lot written about it, but it doesn't exactly fit different groups of people in the same place. [Mathematically, one can treat time as a spatial direction, and say that speed through time + speed through space = C (the speed of light through space) because, from the PoV of a photon, light does not travel through time (it had length but no duration), it exists along a single path and does not experience time at all. ] Again it doesn't help directly, but it might give you a direction and a way of picturing things... Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:08:59 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_144200 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_144200 dhitzunako Thank you for sharing the link :) I think my story is somewhat has "time dilation" theme. Thanks again. :) Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:30:46 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_151469 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_151469 Nirele I'm not sure of my plot yet, but I know the world I'm writing in, and I'm not sure if a story in this world would be sci-fi or not - thanks in advance for any help! This world suffers from an incurable and universal plague. Over time, some methods have been developed to slow down the progress of the disease, and a strict caste system has been put into place - some people receive treatment and live relatively long lives, while others go untreated, are forced to work to farm the plants that help treat the privileged class, and die young. There's no magic or even much science - this is more a "what if" social story than anything else. Thoughts? Fri, 21 Oct 2011 06:52:07 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_155534 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_155534 keolah Nirele - Definitely scifi. The heart and soul of science fiction is asking "what if?" Contrary to what you might think from the name, it's not actually all about science. You might even fall under the dystopian subgenre. Fri, 21 Oct 2011 09:13:01 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_156915 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_156915 Lizzie74 Hi guys! So my novel is set in the year 3074. Machines called Hyborgs rule the world and made humans their servants. Humans are a rare species and are separated into Areas. Each year, an event takes place which is called the Adominion. During this event, all of the humans come to Area 1.001 to be evaluated by Healinotes (Hyborg helpers) to see if the humans have any special talents that the Healinotes could use. If they do, the Healinotes will keep the human for a year in Area 1.001 to become their 'servant'. The Healinotes will give the humans incredibly challenging tasks, and if the human survives, they can either stay and work with the Healinotes or go back home. My novel is centered around Liv and her family. I'm planning on having Liv and her younger brother, Adan, be chosen to stay. Liv will see that Adan is being mistreated and she will stand up to the Hyborgs. In response, the Hyborgs will place her in a barren, desert-like area where she must survive for 6 months. There is more to it but I think you get the gist of the story! :) Is my novel sci-fi? Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:17:36 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_157636 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_157636 keolah Lizzie74 - Definitely scifi! Sounds like you're looking at the dystopian scifi subgenre. Fri, 21 Oct 2011 10:19:29 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_157666 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_157666 Nirele Thanks! I really appreciate the quick response. Going to make myself at home here in the Sci-Fi forum now... Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:06:35 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_158263 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_158263 RobertLent The title of my novel is "Don Quixote on Mars". Don Quixote gets transported to a Barsoom-like Mars. I'm not sure if it is Science Fiction or Fantasy. Barsoom is historically considered science fiction, but a similar story today would, I think, be considered fantasy. While my Mars may be resemble Barsoom, it's not actually going to be Barsoom if only because Don Quixote is still fresh in my mind (I'm still reading it!) while A Princess of Mars isn't so fresh in my mind. I want it to be distinct enough so that a reader (if anyone reads it) won't say "Barsoom isn't like that!" Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:21:21 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_158463 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_158463 keolah RobertLent - Personally, I'd still consider Barsoom to be scifi even today. I don't see what's at all fantasy about it. Unless there was some magic going on that I don't remember that couldn't be handwaved by calling it "psychic powers" or "genetic stuffness" -- it's been a while since I read A Princess of Mars and never read any of the others. But even if there were fantasy elements, it'd be science fantasy, not pure fantasy. I think involving Mars alone is enough to get "scifi" slapped on a book, regardless of its content. Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:41:25 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_158699 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_158699 RobertLent Thanks for your input, I had tentatively classified it as fantasy, I think I will reclassify it as science fiction. My head is filled up with scenes, I know how it begins, and I know how it ends, and bits and pieces in the middle. Not really an outline, just stuff in my head. I do know the first sentence: "It was a dark and stormy night on the plains of La Mancha." Fri, 21 Oct 2011 12:04:57 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_158988 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_158988 Darkanna I'm pretty sure my novel is sci-fi, but I'm not too sure about the subgenre. So yeah, like most of these stories my novel is in space and mankind has moved to other systems/planets/etc. I deal with aliens a little bit, I deal with overarching governments and special programs for children a bit (but I take it a different direction than Firefly/Serenity). Yeah, the kids escape, but they aren't psychic so much as talented and well-trained/conditioned by the military. There is a solid enemy trying to kill everyone. There's a lot of technology, a lot of horror/suspense, and some regular space cowboy shenanigans between all the scary things happening. So what would the subgenre be? Hard sci-fi? Sat, 22 Oct 2011 18:46:38 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_177238 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_177238 laurenmaree0903 The setting is three different abstract planets known collectively as "The Worlds". The three worlds are: The Circus, The Factory, and The institution. Each world is meant to symbolise a period of one's life, with a final and fourth world 'Terra Prata' symbolising heaven. The protagonist's goal is to find 'goodness', a treasured currency within The Worlds which can be traded in order to reach the heaven world Terra Prata. If a character is unable to collect enough goodness by the time they reach their final moments in The Institute (the final world), they are forcibly reborn back into the Circus (the starting world), and must continuously re-live through these worlds until they find enough goodness. The protagonist discovers that she is but a rarity among the clowns, cyborgs and drones which occupy these dystopian planets, as she finds the greatest goodness of all during her final moments in The Worlds. Sun, 23 Oct 2011 03:33:13 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_181294 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_181294 Staysee OK mine is set around 2050 and theres a team about to undertake the worlds first deep sea expedition.....i mean deeper then anyone before, going where no one has before! Once down the team end up in another world/the past [not fully decided yet] but it involves dinosaurs, good and bad, survival and trying to find a way home. Sun, 23 Oct 2011 10:26:55 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_184363 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_184363 detailsofthewar I'm pretty sure my story is sci-fi although, I'm waffling over which sub-genre best fits it. Halp me! Medical science had made so many leaps and bounds that people were living well into their hundreds and then some. Four or five generations all using the same resources and living on the same land was putting a major strain on the economy. There wasn't enough money to go around, enough jobs or enough food and definitely not enough space to put it all. The economy weakened and then collapsed entirely. No one but a very small percentage of the world's population was spared from plunging into abject poverty. The governments were overwhelmed, trying to care for their poor. This is the world Tosh Brandt is born into. Scientific advancements have completely stalled, technology as we know it has come to an alarming halt. Those who have managed to hold onto a little of their wealth are in positions of power in the government, which has created a sort of bunker-type compound around the White House. The government is having trouble keeping up with the demand of the engorged population who can't afford the simplest things like milk or cheese or fruit. The food supply is dwindling with very little possibility to grow more in the polluted, over crowded environment. The government develops a secret campaign to thin the herd, so to speak. They begin by limiting food supplies to certain areas of the country, except that this backfires and those in those rural areas begin to flock to the cities and the promise of all they can eat. When that doesn't work, they strike in the dead of the night, taking whole families. Despite their best efforts, disappearances are widely talked about. But very few people understand what's going on. Those who do decide to fight back. Sun, 23 Oct 2011 10:50:51 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_184624 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_184624 keolah Staysee - Certainly sounds like scifi to me... Sun, 23 Oct 2011 11:37:57 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_185199 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_185199 keolah laurenmaree0903 - So in other words, you're writing dystopian scifi? Sun, 23 Oct 2011 11:38:48 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_185205 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_185205 laurenmaree0903 @Keolah - Essentially yes. My story is based on a philosophical theory of immortality. Sun, 23 Oct 2011 18:52:37 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_191244 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_191244 triyana I'm not entirely sure whether to classify my novel as sci-fi or fantasy, because its a pretty good mixture of both. :\ In a nutshell, the main character has a innate, uncontrollable power that intensifies the stong emotions (love, hate, sadness, etc) of other by people to the nth power. He father is a ruthless politician bend on world domination (to be all cliche and stuff), but she escapes in a "transporter" that turns out to be a stasis chamber. She wakes up on a ship some 200 years into the future - think Star Trek kind of ship - so she thinks she's finally escaped her father, who wanted to use her power for his little evil plan. However, her father had somehow developed some kind of technology that would give him "immortality" by transferring his soul into another, younger person. They meet, epic showdown, yada yada yada... What do you guys think? Scifi, or is it really more fantasy? Sun, 23 Oct 2011 19:01:39 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_191360 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_191360 Kyaerin For my story, the plot basically starts where she's in a foster home, and there's this guy, and this part isn't important so I'm skipping over it, and then in the second half of the novel, they'll be living in space. is that sci fi? Sun, 23 Oct 2011 19:11:13 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_191506 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_191506 laurenmaree0903 But with cyborgs, androids, drones and giant computers... Sun, 23 Oct 2011 19:20:06 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_191637 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_191637 keolah triyana - That'd work in straight scifi. It involves the future, and powers like that which might be called "magic" in fantasy can be called "psychic powers" or the like in scifi. Telepaths/empaths/psychics/etc are fairly common in softer scifi. Sun, 23 Oct 2011 19:58:59 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_192156 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_192156 keolah Kyaerin - "In space" will generally make something scifi, yes. Sun, 23 Oct 2011 19:59:45 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_192171 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_192171 caiknbake i'm really not sure what genre my novel might belong in, although i keep coming back to scifi as a possibility. the backstory is that after the cold war, the US decided to make some money by selling some of its submarines and (at least) one gets bought by some rich new englanders who want to take submarine pleasure cruises. some sort of nuclear disaster ensues, whereby everyone on board is subjected to radiation poisoning, but somehow all the kids under 10 come through unscathed. they basically grow up in quarantine because the doctors think their radiation might be contagious. after 10 years, though, they're pronounced safe to re-enter society, and this is the part at which my novel starts. the story is basically how they adjust (or don't) to normal society once they emerge. but they're not going to have superpowers or anything like that, they're just going to be normal people, and although there's a small element of alt history (would the US really sell their subs?), it's not an aspect i'm looking to focus on or play up beyond the initiating incident. what do you think, scifi or not? Sun, 23 Oct 2011 21:46:10 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_193540 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_193540 keolah caiknbake - I'd certainly call that scifi. You're speculating on technological problems and the way people might react to them. (Though you may want to rethink your backstory a little as radiation _isn't_ "contagious", but they still might want to study people who were exposed to a theoretically lethal dose of radiation poisoning. Or switch it to some sort of biological agent.) Sun, 23 Oct 2011 21:59:48 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_193722 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_193722 Kyaerin thank you (: I was confused because I've never written science fiction before, and when I first started thinking of the plot, there was no "in space" part :P Mon, 24 Oct 2011 05:11:40 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_196263 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_196263 tomchallis I think my novel will fit in here, but I am unsure? I am planning to write about a man who has amnesia, that discovers a boy in a bubble, hidden in the sky. He eventually learns the boy in the bubble was him as a child. Along with a lady companion plans to set the boy free. However the lady's true intention is to trap the present version of the man in the bubble, as it is an old friends orders. The old friend turns out to be a future version of the man, that apparently knows everything about the universe. He knows all that was, all that is, and all that ever will be. (cliche? Possibly, but I don't mind.) If the man is not put back into the bubble, the it is said by an ancient prophecy that the universe will collapse. Does anybody think that this sounds interesting? Hope it is not a too confusing summary of my novel. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 05:27:04 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_196356 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_196356 Staysee thank you! I just dont know where dinosaurs fall.....cos science is used to research them, but they are history and if they are involved....most times its adventure. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 05:30:31 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_196378 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_196378 Abbeyinc Okay, here it goes. I think my story falls in the realm of science-fantasy but it does wander all over. My novel takes place on multiple worlds. The main character's home is an artificial environment inside a moon. Their support system is failing and they need to find a new home. The only way they can leave their world is through a portal system that links multiple worlds. The portals are formed by rips in reality and have been locked with some extreme requirements in order to keep out the villain. There has been a loss of knowledge over the centuries which means the locals are using technologies that they no longer completely understand. Enter the second world. Some sort of interference keeps current technologies from working on this world. The world has a somewhat medieval setting with swords and horses and the like. The locals know about technology but cannot use it, some even hate it. The other worlds become more and more alien as the story progresses. The main character has some unusual talents- He is resistant to most things that harm the body, such as viruses, toxins, germs etc. even those from other worlds. He has an almost physic sense for impending danger and he has a device, worn on the wrist, that gives him instant access to all combat knowledge ever collected. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 08:40:19 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_198210 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_198210 keolah Staysee - Dinosaurs generally fall under scifi when they're being brought back to life genetically or encountered through time travel, though. :) Traveling to alternate universes or into the past definitely falls into the bailiwick of science fiction. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:36:44 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_198904 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_198904 keolah tomchallis - Mind-screwy time travel is often scifi, but it can also be fantasy. Ancient prophecies are generally fantasy, but some have appeared in scifi as well. (Especially when combined with time travel.) It could still be either fantasy or scifi depending on the rest of the setting and how you go about it. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:39:22 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_198946 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_198946 keolah Abbeyinc - I don't see anything fantasy about it, myself, unless there's some sort of actual magic or fantastic creatures in the parts you didn't elaborate on. Medieval settings don't make things fantasy by themselves, especially when arrived at by scifi means. Psychic talents are hardly rare in scifi. So yes, it can still be science fantasy or pure scifi, depending on how you go about it. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 09:42:41 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_198989 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_198989 singingchick200 I think my novel is sci-fi but it only has a small part that would make it into a sci-fi, so I don't know. My novel centers around an ensemble of teenagers who in the first chapter witness the murder of their friend. In the same incident, they all get exposed to a chemical agent that gives them superpowers. The problem is that they have superpowers because the chemical agent went in and started unraveling their DNA, which takes away the limitations humans normally have. (yes, i'm aware that this probably isn't possible in real life) The problem is that everytime they use their powers, it unravels their DNA even more. So their powers are killing them. The kids don't know this though for most of the book. They figure it out once they catch their friend's murderer. I'm thinking that there will probably be a sequel written where they try to fix their powers so they aren't killing them. So most of the book is a quest to find their friends killer (which is more to the adventure genre) with just the added bonus of superpowers in an otherwise normal earth. Is this adventure, sci-fi, or just YA? Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:04:25 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_199286 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_199286 DaveK I would say that it depends on what the powers are that you characters get. If they are mild like, better hearing or strength, then this can even be a mainstream novel. But if you have them flying or mind reading or telekinetic then it is SF or fantasy. I don't know what you mean by unraveling their DNA but the more you want to keep it realistic the less detail you need there. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telomere for some ideas. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:27:40 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_199621 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_199621 keolah singingchick200 - Scifi is a setting. Adventure is a plot. Young adult is an audience. These are not mutually exclusive things. ;) A lot of scifi has an action/adventure type plot -- something generally isn't going to get shelved under just plain "adventure" unless it pretty much takes place in the real world as it exists. Even "a small part" of scifi will generally make something scifi -- and from the sounds of it, your "small part" is central to your story. ;) Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:29:52 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_199659 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_199659 Abbeyinc Thanks for the reply. I guess my uncertainty lies in the fact that I cannot explain how a number of things work, esp the portal itself. I don't plan on getting too technical though. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 10:56:48 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_200011 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_200011 singingchick200 Thanks for the reply. I haven't read much sci-fi so I wasn't sure if just the superpowers put it into this category. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:20:21 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_200338 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_200338 keolah Well, superheroes is sometimes considered its own genre, but as that isn't one of the genre lounges here on nano, there's a superhero subgenre thread under scifi somewhere. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 11:59:21 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_200905 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_200905 Journeyman_88 I'm kind of on the fence about mine. It's sci-fi in that it deals with advanced technology that doesn't (to my knowledge) exist yet, and is set in our contemporary time. But it also has a thriller/horror atmosphere. The plot's basically a group of students get sent to after school detention with a weird/strict science teacher (Dr. Moreau). He pretends to fall asleep and the students, lead by the high school's resident troublemaker, sneak out. Very soon the students find themselves under attack by zombified former peers (presumed to be missing) with incredible strength and no remorse. One by one, each student is captured and presumed dead until only the protagonist, Samantha (who is the only legitimate good one out of the bunch), finds out that Dr. Moreau has been experimenting on students by corrupting their minds and hard-wiring into their brains to make them his slaves. What do you all think? Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:12:31 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_201122 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_201122 Dhalilhia What an interesting topic! Might at least try, as well. My story starts as a victorian uchronia where God revealed himself and directly controls the world, the Holy Roman empire still exists, and many other things are rather different from the victorian age we know. As the stories progresses, anachronistic, almost cyberpunk-ish tecnology is shown, and it becomes clear that the novel is not set in an alternate timeline, but in the future. There are no really magic powers or divinities, everything has a scientific explanation. I really dunno how can I define this chaos. I fear it's the type of novel that either the sci-fi and the alternate history fans will dislike... Is this even sci-fi? Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:22:43 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_201296 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_201296 keolah Abbeyinc - Scifi doesn't need to explain how anything works. In fact, most of my favorite scifi books don't explain _anything_. I can't stand the ones which do go into excessive technical detail. :) Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:25:49 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_202337 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_202337 keolah Journeyman_88 - Scifi is a setting. You can put _any_ story in a scifi setting and it'll still be scifi. Furthermore, there's plenty of scifi horror out there, eg. Alien and Resident Evil. There's no reason why something can't be both. :) You can easily, if you like, set your genre to "Scifi Horror" and hang out in both forums, even. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:28:54 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_202393 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_202393 keolah Dhalilhia - "Scifi fans" is a hugely broad spectrum, and hardly a monolithic group -- there's dozens of different subgenres and styles within the various speculative fiction branches. Hard scifi buffs might not like psychic powers in their stories, space opera fans might not like too many technical details that would make the hard scifi buffs happy, etc. You can hardly please everyone ;) But don't worry about the _fans_, no matter what you write, someone is going to like it. The most important person you should try to start by pleasing is yourself, because if you can't write something even _you_ would like, why should anyone else read it? :) Anyway, it certainly sounds like scifi to me. Don't underestimate how weird scifi can get at times. ;) I've read some very strange things, but there was never exactly any question as to whether or not they were "scifi". Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:33:39 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_202490 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_202490 Chickwit So this is a bit far fetched but I'm going for different and still trying to use my two favorite topics together. Werewolves and Conspiracy Theories with Aliens running the Government. My story involves the current economic/social crisis occuring globally with The Federal Reserve being puppeted by an Alien race who has been behind the scene's pushing the world (more specifically the US) into bankruptcy. Once collapsed the United States comes down to a small group of Apocalyptic survivalists who have been preparing for this day. A serious "tin foil hat" researcher adoptd a child who over time develops odd habits, dreams often come true, has uncanny physical strength during the full moon (A werewolf tie in), an d an affinity for wolves. The central focus is on the family members as they are forced to realize that life as they know it is about to end and the prevailing fall of society. The major population is too focused on their technological losses and the loss of every day conveniences to care what's really happening. They just want their Government to "fix it" or to "give them" what they need, only the Government as we know it no longer exists. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:42:17 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_202633 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_202633 Dhalilhia I know there are a lot of different subgenres of sci-fi, and mixing different themes within them is a common practice. My problem is that with such a plot, is difficult to write a back cover, a synopsis, a summary... It's complicated to explain the story in general without spoiling anything relevant and, at the same time, without deceiving a potential reader. If someone expects an uchronia and after half of the book discovers it's a completly different story, I fear he'll be pretty disappointed. I guess I'll think about that when I'll finish the book. This, implying I'll really finish it. Anyway, thanks for the help ^^ Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:11:09 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_203136 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_203136 Maiira Mmkay, here goes: Mine is basically about a machine that will rework the brain chemistry somehow so that a serial killer or other dangerous criminal will experience all of their past crimes from their victims' point of view--forced empathy, more or less. The idea is that it can be used to rehabilitate these people. With the really dangerous criminals, though, it screws them up so badly that they become insane. It's been used on one criminal, and part of the novel documents his progress and treatment in a mental institution. He regains lucidity, but unfortunately also regains his sadistic tendencies. So really, it's more or less Flowers for Algernon meets A Clockwork Orange. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:23:45 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_203347 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_203347 orchard24 im not sure if my story is scifi but not sure what else it is either. Basically its about Earth is dying and humans have found another planet to live on, but then people start to go missing. well in the end they find out that the planet is a living organism and is killing the people who hurt it by drilling and digging into it. So is this a scifi story. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:51:26 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_203718 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_203718 triyana Ok, thanks! Mon, 24 Oct 2011 14:57:36 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_203812 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_203812 keolah Dhalilhia - Generally you aren't the one who will be writing the blurb anyway. ;) Just write your story and leave it to the publisher to figure out how to market it. That's what they do, after all. :) Have a little faith in yourself and your readers. Scifi fans tend to be open to weird things. If they go in expecting aliens and discover that they were just genetically engineered humans, for example, they're not likely to throw the book across the room, as might be possible if someone were reading what seemed to be a generic murder mystery at first that turned out to involve aliens at the last minute. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:09:50 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_203995 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_203995 keolah Maiira - Certainly sounds like scifi to me! Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:13:12 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_204056 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=4#forum_thread_comment_204056 keolah orchard24 - "Humans from Earth traveled through space to another planet" generally qualifies something as scifi in and of itself, yes. :) Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:14:13 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_204073 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_204073 orchard24 thank you thats what i thought but wasnt sure :) Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:15:02 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_204085 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_204085 Gryphon-kl Chickwit: Except for the werewolf, it sounds like science fiction to me, and there could be a scientific-sounding explanation for that part (alien experimentation, for example). Or you could just call it science fantasy if you'd prefer a more traditional werewolf. Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:44:51 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_210277 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_210277 quinsifer Hi, I'm having a hard time deciding if my story is science fiction or fantasy (which seems to be a more common problem than I thought!). My story takes place in a world where the ocean floor is the in sky. Flish fly is schools, sharks hunt in the clouds, jellyfish disguise themselves as flowers and rise at twilight, and coral grows in clumps on the branches of trees in the warmer climates. BUT! One of the main characters is an android, and there are other types of robots throughout the story. There are also very hover-esque vehicles as well. Technology is advanced in this world, but it is also filled with things such as flying whales and (possible, still toying with this idea) shape shifters. So, where does it belong? Because I have no idea! Mon, 24 Oct 2011 22:41:02 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_210833 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_210833 Meowzbark I think my story is a mix of sci-fi, horror, and fantasy but I'm not sure which category it fits in better. My main character is a ghost who is very bitter towards his living relatives and haunts them, causing quite a few more deaths. He's a second generation alien - the alien race is immortal, so when the family's human bodies die, the spirits continue on indefinitely. In death my main character competes with his mother's ghost over control of the living descendants. She wants them to flourish and reproduce and he wants them all to burn. I'm leaning towards horror. What do you think? Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:18:06 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_211170 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_211170 Larabella So, my story is set about 30 years in the future, where people have begun to develop superpowers (a little like in the TV show 'Heroes'). Some of the powers run in specific families, but some develop to random people. The powers are somewhat attuned to nature-based things (i.e. different elements, water, fire etc.), so my first instinct was to categorize my novel as fantasy. But then again, my story has some scifi qualities as well, such as advanced weapon technology, gene-manipulated animals (i.e. a cat-dog hybrid, a humming bird with mechanical abilities) and also some high-speed travel possibilities. So I ask you, wise gurus, where does my story fall in the category department? -LB Tue, 25 Oct 2011 04:35:03 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_213174 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_213174 nccharge I believe my story is sci fi, but I'm wondering what type of sci fi ... In a world where the naturally birth rate has almost become non existant, children are born through a programe of genetics and "breeding" to fit the roles they will take in their lives. Abortion is punishable by law unless the child was considered defective or too sickly to survive to adulthood. Adrian is one of these children, born in a monestary on the outer rim of the Imperium's sphere of Influence where his mother fled to before his birth. Showing all the characteristics of a soldier, he is taken to the military academy and years later is a member of the Civil arm of the military, sort of a police officer. Whilst serving on Capital, his barracks become the focus of a terroist attack and he is badly wounded. Our story begins as Adrian is shipped back to his birthworld (Erska) for enforced leave to allow him to heal physically and emotionally, as he feels he let down his men during the attack as one of his cadets died in his arms. Whilst on Erska he is required to assist in an investigation (to be the face of the law) into the death of a newborn in the Monestary and it is here he finds a young man who shouldn't be there - a young man bearing the genetic markers of a soldier but is serving as a monk. His duty to the Law will not allow him to let the matter lie and he is forced to take the boy back to Capital. On route he makes two startling discoveries when they are ambushed by a group of ships from the Imperial fleet and are forced to crash on a nearby planet - this boy is of the Emperor's bloodline and is in line to the throne and that there is a plot to kill the Emperor. Somehow they manage to return to Capital and Adrian tries to find a way to save the Emperor. Except the person he thought could never be involved actually is ... and there is more going on than he realised. Is it just sci fi? Or military or whatever? Please help. Tue, 25 Oct 2011 05:45:44 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_213798 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_213798 one_flew Mine is similar to this. It is sort of an exaggeration of the uses of our current (or near future) technology. I am calling mine Scifi for now, but it is probably 40% LitFic. I would imagine my story taking place 10 to 20 years in the future as well. It has to do with virtual reality. Tue, 25 Oct 2011 06:22:46 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_214081 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_214081 knid44 I'd say sci-fi. Or... psychedelic sci-fi. Tue, 25 Oct 2011 06:24:12 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_214095 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_214095 Kariel Lateef quinsifer- sounds SciFi to me Meowzbark- This could fall under quite a few genres, fantasy, horror, scifi. without more information I can't peg it to just one but based on what you gave us the alien angle is the only hook I see making it scifi instead of fantasy/horror Larabella-sounds Sci Fi, there is a superhero sub genre I tried to find a thread for you but it must have been pre relaunch. nccharge- could be plain old generic SciFi could be written as military SciFi of could be hard Sci Fi, good story line it going to to depend on how you flesh it out as to what sub genre it falls under. Tue, 25 Oct 2011 06:35:34 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_214193 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_214193 Wayne51 In the year 2021 a huge meteor strike earth forever changing life for every biological organism in existence. Two years later a selfish young man wanders the wasteland of what used to be his world, now ravished by the falling when he’s suddenly finds himself living in the world he grew up in only to be thrust back to his bleak existence in the post-apocalyptic present. Unable to explain the occurrence Iven Gray continues wandering only to be thrust back yet again this time a choice is set before him. i thought it was SciFi but wasnt sure can someone help me pick a genre for my story pleasssss Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:28:50 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_215507 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_215507 keolah Wayne51 - Certainly sounds like post-apocalyptic scifi to me! Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:47:06 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_215720 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_215720 Wayne51 thank you very much =) Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:54:15 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_215812 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_215812 Meowzbark Thanks. The more I think about it, the more it seems to fall under the Horror/Supernatural category. I appreciate the help. Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:05:21 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_221149 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_221149 nccharge Thanks - I was just wondering as we have all these sub-genres out there Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:01:44 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_222014 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_222014 Dairenna I'm certain my novel this year is sci-fi which is weird because I'm almost always writing fantasy or supernatural. I wanted to check and see if there's a sub-genre or if it's actually hard or soft sci-fi though. Anyway, it's about a group of four who wake up in a futuristic medical center with no recollection of who they were before. They have been told they willingly signed up for experiments and the experiment was a success. So they all have their own new "super powers": one with mental powers (mind-reader, levitator, ect), one with elemental powers (fire, water, wind, earth), one with super strength and unbreakable claws (i might change him a bit, he sounds too much like Wolverine with the claw thing) and another with...well I haven't got her powers yet. They can only use one set at once. For example, the mentalist can only levitate, not levitate and toss objects at you with his mind at the same time. It occurs some years in the future, there's flying cars, laser weapons, cyborgs and a facility that can change your outer appearance with a few flicks of buttons and knobs. The only thing that keeps throwing me off is my elemental dude. I have no idea how to explain his powers in a scientific sense since I'm used to "oh it's just magic, there's no need to explain," And I'm lacking a "super power" for my only female. Poor thing. I had one but didn't like it...and it got used by a different character in a different story and I'm reluctant to reuse it. Plus it's utterly usless in this setting. I say super powers because technically they're heros. There's a big baddy in there and everything. So..help? Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:34:42 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_223303 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_223303 SarahJF There's a nasty dude who pulls people from various Earth-like worlds into his world through some kind of portal (maybe hyperspace, and maybe his world exists within hyperspace) and uses the people as conduits to suck the life out of their worlds. The power he gains from this is basically his food. This, um, "sucking" causes negative events to happen in the target world and all life on the target world is eventually destroyed. He pulls in a few people from our world who work together to defeat him. One of the people is psychic. The nasty dude can get into anyone's head, making them see things that aren't there. Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:48:16 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_223500 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_223500 detailsofthewar Trying this one more time because I think I got lost in the shuffle, haha... I'm pretty sure my story is sci-fi although, I'm waffling over which sub-genre best fits it. Halp me! Medical science had made so many leaps and bounds that people were living well into their hundreds and then some. Four or five generations all using the same resources and living on the same land was putting a major strain on the economy. There wasn't enough money to go around, enough jobs or enough food and definitely not enough space to put it all. The economy weakened and then collapsed entirely. No one but a very small percentage of the world's population was spared from plunging into abject poverty. The governments were overwhelmed, trying to care for their poor. This is the world Tosh Brandt is born into. Scientific advancements have completely stalled, technology as we know it has come to an alarming halt. Those who have managed to hold onto a little of their wealth are in positions of power in the government, which has created a sort of bunker-type compound around the White House. The government is having trouble keeping up with the demand of the engorged population who can't afford the simplest things like milk or cheese or fruit. The food supply is dwindling with very little possibility to grow more in the polluted, over crowded environment. The government develops a secret campaign to thin the herd, so to speak. They begin by limiting food supplies to certain areas of the country, except that this backfires and those in those rural areas begin to flock to the cities and the promise of all they can eat. When that doesn't work, they strike in the dead of the night, taking whole families. Despite their best efforts, disappearances are widely talked about. But very few people understand what's going on. Those who do decide to fight back. Tue, 25 Oct 2011 23:13:01 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_225684 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_225684 rsilverwood Here's a quick summary: While living in a village in the outskirts of a small country, Adalina keeps having dreams about the war that killed her parents and sister, even though it ended ten years ago. As the dreams become more vivid, Adalina realizes that they are not of the past...but of the future. As she races to the capital city to give warning of the coming attack, she learns more about her parents, of the world outside her home, and why she has the dreams. I think its more of an adventure, but the future stuff is making me think sci-fi? Wed, 26 Oct 2011 06:57:58 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_228876 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_228876 haubs The premise of my story (at least the one I think I will be writing) is that some people in society (exactly like our world except in this respect) are born with certain abilities and some are not. As it is a relatively new phenomenon the people in the society are unsure if it is a mutation or some kind of magic thing (I don't plan to discuss this very much in the novel). My main character has the ability to be in two places at once. He works for a small local government agency and is assigned a case involving a teenage girl. An agent who can predict the future sees that this girl (who has no powers) will attack the members of society with abilities when she grows up, so it is the MC's job to befriend her and try and change the course of her life. The question is will it work, or will she be even angrier and more violent when she discovers that her friend is really a government agent. Am I right to think this is sic-fi? And if so, what kind? Not exactly superhero... Wed, 26 Oct 2011 11:42:16 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_233061 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_233061 Paul Washington oh thank you you know what that would probably make more sense thank you Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:38:40 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_248317 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=3#forum_thread_comment_248317 sarai.schu I may as well preface all of these responses with the fact that I love soft Sci Fi and sci- fantasy (and plain old fantasy), and don't really enjoy Sci Fi by itself without an element of fantasy in it. With that being said, here are my opinions: Dairenna: Depending on how you explain the powers they received, it might be soft Sci Fi. I'm having a hard time finding a scientific explanation for how the elemental guy got his powers, which is making me lean toward soft Sci Fi. My suggestion if you are not 100% set on having them all have different realms of power is to make them all have different variations on mental ability. Another option might be to have the girl have ability with electronics (being able to hear radio waves or cell phone signals in her head, generating electrical energy with her mind... that sort of thing). Another idea (although slightly lamer in my opinion) might be communication with animals? SarahJF: Sounds pretty Sci Fi to me, especially since this baddie seems to be an extra-terrestrial. It would be cool if he draws in other aliens from different planets at the same time, rather than just bringing up a couple of people from Earth alone. detailsofthewar: I'll have to defer to others who know more about the sub-genres of Sci Fi... My comfort zone for Sci Fi is definitely the soft Sci Fi / sci-fantasy realm. It might be a *punk, depending on the details... But it does sound like an interesting read, whatever the genre! rsilverwood: You say "outskirts of a small country", does this mean a country on Earth? That would be the determining factor for that story to be Sci Fi. Depending on the severity of the war, this could be a post-apocalyptic Sci Fi too. I would need more info to be able to decide which way. haubs: Hmm. If this story would take place in the future maybe 100 years I would say 100% scifi. My concern is if it takes place in 2011 I wouldn't really consider it Sci Fi. If you have ever seen the TV series Heroes, that did not strike me at all as Sci Fi, more as an Urban fantasy, and that show is probably in the same sub-genre as your story. This is just my opinion, though. Someone else might think differently! Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:50:31 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_250264 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_250264 CDTurner My story is basically about a woman in a country where people's behavior and interactions with each other could affect each other's life and even the future of the country. There's kind of a "Ground Hog Day' concept to it. Fri, 28 Oct 2011 21:58:34 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_275726 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_275726 Itzika Once you come up with a reason, you're in "Alternate History" territory, which is generally classed under sci-fi, in my experience. But it can go either way. Sat, 29 Oct 2011 08:03:09 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_280657 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_280657 EelKat I'm thinking it'd be pointless for me to ask if my novel is sci-fi yet or not, seeing as, I don't know what I'm going to write! LOL! One I idea I had though, is sci-fi in that it's aliens invade a beach front amuesment park...but no idea other than that what I might write. :) Sat, 29 Oct 2011 19:33:02 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_289281 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_289281 Annaissocoollike I would best describe my book as Sci-Fi, Horror, and Romance. An unlikely combination, I know. My main character, Ivy, and eleven other children are taken from orphanages at young ages. They are put into a government program that uses injections into their brain. The injections link the left and right sides so that thought and action are blurred. When the children think of things happening, the other side of the brain makes it happen. The injections also alter their appearance slightly and make their brains extremely unstable. They have permanent emotional and physical damage from this drug. After years and years, the children are in their teens. Funding stops. They have to move to a large city and cope with life. Ivy meets a boy and begins to grow fond of him. The ending can only be described as horror. It starts off Sci-Fi, moves into Romance, and ends in Horror. I really don't know what to put it in. Sat, 29 Oct 2011 22:26:41 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_291964 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_291964 Owlor What to do about New Weird? As a genre it is pretty mcuh designed to blur the lines between science fiction and fantasy, I tend to count is as sci-fi rather than fantasy, since sci-fi is a genre that needs more love, and fantasy sorta evolved from science fiction anyway. Rather than go by increasingl technical definitions, I think one should go by audience. New Weird tends to include a lot of odd and downright xenophilic things that I think science fiction fans might apprechiate more than Fantasy fans, who seem to be more intested in Heroic stories and magical power. Going by attitudes is also an option, fantasy tends to have more of a Romantic attitude, while sci-fi is more Enlgihtement, that's why I think steampunk works better as a sci fi genre rather than fantasy, unless the story is closer to "Gaslamp fantasy". Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:14:21 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_325161 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_325161 Myaora Morals of Gold follows Jacob “Goldy” Rings, a gunman on the planet Tychus during the “Outlaw Era”. The story records the exploits of Jacob as he deals with several key figures in the anarchic society of “New Metropolis”. The characters run the gambit from hard-earned tycoons to rebellious warmongers, most of whom have a particular interest in Jacob’s particular trade of arms. We observe Goldy’s journey as he evolves from an honest sheriff into an immoral bounty hunter, as society struggles to reestablish order in the lawless wastes of “NW”. Technology is advanced, though not futuristic, nor does the world contain fantastical elements or interplanetary travel. Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:40:47 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_329085 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_329085 Marauder Cracker Year 2077, steam and ciber punk armory, a war. But there's no aliens, no space, no robots. There's cyborgs, of course, but not smart robots. The kind of sci-fi I'm used to read includes all the kinds of stuff I don't have. It is SciFi? Mon, 31 Oct 2011 14:31:47 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_331790 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_331790 triangleman Superhero/supervillain story. x_x The powers' origins aren't really explained scientifically, but they're not magic or anything. The most advanced devices in the story are built by the FMC villainess Cathode, and consist of a pair of big bulky lightning gloves and, later on, a chip that she sticks into her spine and allows her to bypass her lower-body paralysis and walk again. Superpowers are counterbalanced by the "thanatos," or fatal flaw, that is unique to each super and steers them towards death; it can be anything from a substance allergy to megalomania to an absence of risk-avoiding instinct. Think of it as nature trying to rectify the mistake it made in allowing them to exist in the first place. I, uh, have been posting in sci fi because I don't know where else to go. Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:54:57 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_333984 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_333984 creatorx2 Now I am legitimately wondering whether or not my story is Sci-Fi, because it actually doesn't have any kind of futuristic technology and could pretty much be an extrapolated version of our own world taken to extremes. There's a reality-tv-show that dumps a bunch of teenagers together in a facility to see what happens. Instead of predictably turning into an drama-orgy of drama, pretty much everything ends up in extreme violence. That's probably due to the fact that they allowed every kid to bring in their own personalized death-weapon. So far the most futuristic gadget has been a pair of goggles that immediately answers all incoming phone messages. Otherwise it's just cameras and computers and giant mace-rods that make things explode, all of which are possible with today's technology (with a little ingenuity). I'm sure the goggle things could easily be built too but I don't know how practical they would be. Oh, wait, I just thought of something. There's a device that detects speech and records it all perfectly. The official reasoning behind this device is that they need to immediately translate words for foreign audiences without having to hire people to dub the voices, but it's more accurately used to try and stamp down plots of escape. Also there's probably occultist magic somewhere in there, and one girl can do some trippy stuff with time, and another can make illusions. So maybe it's a fantasy....? But I like it better as Sci-Fi. I don't know. Mon, 31 Oct 2011 20:32:57 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_340612 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_340612 Drifting_Petals Immortality formulas, and...creatures, previously humans, who've lost the ability to feel, would be sci-fi, right? *just did a really bad job of explaining her novel* Tue, 01 Nov 2011 13:24:36 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_361407 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=5#forum_thread_comment_361407 neeorama Hi! I am new a newbie. Although the MC is in her early 20's, it is not YA; and it is not a mystery. Due to her telekinetic powers and the fact that she may be from another world, I think sci fi is the best fit, but I'm not quite sure. What do you think? The synopsis follows: Upon graduating from the Claiborn Academy, a school for extraordinary children, Samantha Wilkins is given two choices: accept a lucrative position with Claiborn's Secret Society, or accept a meager five thousand dollars to begin a life on her own. Eager to escape from those responsible for her harsh upbringing, Samantha chooses the money. During her twelve years at the Claiborn Academy, only three other graduates dared to venture out on their own. Each experienced an untimely, accidental death. Desperate to live a normal life, Samantha convinces herself she can succeed where the others failed. She can keep her oath to the Society and hide her telekinesis. Years later, fate tests that promise. Faced with the decision to do nothing and watch a young girl die or to expose her abilities to save the girl's life, Samantha opts to break her oath. Within days, she suspects she is being stalked; but is it by the Society? Or is she the next target of the serial killer the media calls The Dragon? Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:08:45 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_365118 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_365118 Ephraim Ben Raphael Alternate History is scifi, right? Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:28:49 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_368009 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_368009 Ephraim Ben Raphael Telekenisis sounds pretty scifi to me. Tue, 01 Nov 2011 16:30:18 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_368069 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_368069 raider.titan So, I know my novel is SciFi, since it takes place AGES into the future, but I'm not sure what sub-genre it may fall into. Basically, it's a story of a school in the future and drama that goes down, of course. There are space ships, colonies on satellites, and robots, but no aliens, or really anything that is generally associated with SciFi by anyone that I know, other than the space ships. Can anyone help me? Sat, 05 Nov 2011 00:26:26 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_485510 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_485510 raider.titan Oh, and it does have a utopian (or is it?) society sub-plot, if that may help with classifying it... Sat, 05 Nov 2011 00:29:02 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_485541 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_485541 Forbidden Snowflake The world was destroyed by humanity and it was humanity that saved an Elite of bright and intelligent people by keeping them hidden underneath the earth for centuries. The earth managed to recover, a new society is forming, humanity is slowly starting to rise again, mostly farmers living in small villages, they don't have any technology yet. This is the moment the Elite choses to come out of their caves. Still the same number of people, having lived in a confined space with a strict birth control, they take over the world. Their knowledge, technology and advanced gadgets make it easy for them to rule the common people. Knowing that humanity is stupid enough to destroy themselves they decide to take away what makes them human: Their free will. SciFi, Fantasy or WeirdThing? Sat, 05 Nov 2011 04:33:58 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_487693 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_487693 Jacqueline Rochow Couldn't you therefore argue that any internally consistent magical story is scifi, even in traditional high fantasy stories? Sat, 05 Nov 2011 04:38:03 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_487738 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_487738 Jacqueline Rochow I think it depends on what your story's like. If you're going with "this is here because it looks really cool and I love the feel," you're probably straddling science fantasy. If you're going for "for [implied or explained reason], modern tech looks like steampunk stuff, here's how it works/the social implications thereof/whatever", it's scifi. Sat, 05 Nov 2011 04:41:55 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_487785 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_487785 Jacqueline Rochow Scifi doesn't have to be hard. You're a lot harder than The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy, which is undoubtedly scifi. Some people might quibble over whether you've got science fiction or science fantasy but that's just normal differences in perspective, you can easily call that scifi. Sat, 05 Nov 2011 04:44:43 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_487817 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_487817 Jacqueline Rochow Sounds like unambigious scifi to me. Scifi doesn't have to be strictly about technology and how it works. Social implications of technology as a focus are a well-established scifi theme (in my opinion, they make up the most interesting science fiction). Sat, 05 Nov 2011 04:46:40 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_487840 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_487840 Jacqueline Rochow Definitely scifi. You could set that up as fantasy if you wanted (I've read a lot of 'elves enchant/enslave humanity' stories with almost that exact plot, making the elves human is nothing drastic) but as described, it fits firmly into scifi. Sat, 05 Nov 2011 04:49:54 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_487881 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_487881 Forbidden Snowflake I figured. But, I wasn't sure. Thank you! Sat, 05 Nov 2011 05:17:25 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_488160 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_488160 LuLiLa My novel's a bit strange so bear with me. It is posted under the horror/supernatural genre and is intended for young adults but whenever I think of it I keep thinking it seems to have some sci-fi aspects as well. My plot is in about fifty or so years in the future two twisted scientists begin testing replacing failing body parts of orphans with electroncs except then they take it too far and begin replacing things that are working fine. The children are malnourished, cruelly treated, beaten and they are all somewhat robotic and at most parts of the story still recovering from the last operation. Very early on the MC dies and the rest of the story is told from the point of view of his ghost. Not sure how much more I should say without giving away too much, hope this is enough to see if my novel counts as sci-fi or not (why must it seemingly fit into three genres?). Sat, 05 Nov 2011 05:30:19 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_488300 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_488300 raider.titan Robotic Children sounds pretty Sci-Fi to me. Sat, 05 Nov 2011 23:48:40 -0700 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_514979 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_514979 NewTimeLord My story is about a girl who gets taken over by an unknown being. So far they don't know what it is, but it's either going to be from another dimension or another planet. Sun, 06 Nov 2011 04:16:21 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_518302 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_518302 NewTimeLord Are other dimensions more sci-fi or fantasy? Sun, 06 Nov 2011 07:12:18 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_520993 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_520993 Tresa Cho Alternate History falls under speculative, so yes, I believe it would be classified science fiction. Sun, 06 Nov 2011 08:04:59 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_521990 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_521990 Tresa Cho Depends how you get to them- with magic or with science? Other dimensions could be either or both science fiction and fantasy. Sun, 06 Nov 2011 08:05:58 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_522016 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_522016 rainbowroach Mine takes place on an off-planet colony in a distant galaxy, it is the first time that humans have tried to colonize on a different planet. The planet is called Sororis and it's similar to Earth in a lot of ways. The technology is slightly futuristic. It's mainly about a war between the colonists and some rogue people. It's pretty similar to Lost in that the storyline is kinda complicated and muddled. It seems like it should also be an adventure or a mystery, but I went with sci-fi just because it's in space. It fits into a lot of genres, really. So would you say that sci-fi is the best one to go with or something else? Sun, 06 Nov 2011 08:57:36 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_523169 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_523169 txutxi I'm not sure if I care if my novel is scifi, but I want to ask for help about time travel and I don't want to make the mistake of asking it in the wrong place. So I thought I would start here. Does time travel make it scifi? Can I ask for help creating some sort of time travel? Is it only scifi if the time travel stems from a machine created by scientists? Or should I head over to fantasy? Should I ask in both places? Thanks for any help you can give me. txutxi Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:46:36 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_554143 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_554143 KitkatCat Is a novel on a notorious underground society which does recombinant science experiments Sci-fi or Dystopia or.... what? If they're not really, then I'll have to relegate my novel to gore. Thu, 10 Nov 2011 02:43:40 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_615975 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_615975 A.P. Navis Modern day underground Distopian, post-apocalyptic (or is it...) coming of age novel with elements of evil religious cult. Scifi or better suited to YA? Think 1894 meets City of Ember meets The Dollhouse (Joss Whedon TV series) I can't seem to place this one. Thu, 10 Nov 2011 12:48:48 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_623993 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_623993 AuroraMatsuei So I'm pretty sure I have my novel set in the right genre but there doesn't seem to be a subgenre. My story is centered around Lt Gabriel Forza, SIC for the city of Nox and commander of the larger, Eastern section of Nox known as Downcity. Nox exists on a planet that while I haven't named is definitely NOT earth. (to be honest, since the whole story is set in nox i haven't named the planet and come up with a galaxy either.) Nox has three dominating structures - the City Hall, in Uptown, a building that look new but is about as old as the resident church, a huge cathedral that's pretty old for the city known as the Church, and the Docks. The Docks host incoming and outgoing shipping as well as an Orphanage extension for Haven, and a Garden. The expanse of winding columns rising into the air and weaving set of suspended and supported bridges that not only curve around the spires of the Church but also stretch out beyond the limits of the church's property and northern edge of Downcity. Beyond that it's mostly sort of a crime novel but I haven't totally sketched out weaponry for the Police and Haven and the lifts that remove shipping for warehouses and such are certainly powered by something other than gas. Fri, 11 Nov 2011 02:20:39 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_636102 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_636102 Dretzle Depends where the magic is coming from? There could be a natural explanation to The Wheel of Time's "True Source", but it's treated in a very religious way. I guess it depends on the tone of your story, as well? Is Star Wars still strictly science fiction now that they have "midi chlorians" to explain where the Force comes from? I don't think so. The Jedis are still quite a spiritual group. Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:18:00 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_644383 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=1#forum_thread_comment_644383 Dretzle @AuroraMatsuei, The only sci-fi element that I see so far in your description is that you imagine it on a different planet (in a different galaxy). Will the weaponry be technology? Is there a fantastical side to the Church other than every day religion stuff we see here? I mean, it's certainly different, but does the Church give its leaders powers? (fantasy) or they rule through fear, divine right, and maybe some thugs with guns? (sci-fi) For example, Final Fantasy X has machines and guns and is on a different planet, but Sin, pyreflies, the Farplane, and magics certainly make it a fantasy story. Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:24:36 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_644541 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_644541 Aesc I know my novel is sci-fi...but I have no idea what named sub-genre it is. I looked in the sticky but nothing fit. At all. So here's my setting: The year is 2137. A giant virtual reality server, created and run by the company Sinc, is where most of the story takes place. Genetic alteration "surgeries" are possible, and can be used to change things like hair and eye color(my female MC actually has had this done). There are holocalls, which are just holographic phone/video calls, and all that jazz. While on the VR server, one's consciousness is actually uploaded, and you can feel, taste, touch, etc, everything that happens to you. The female MC actually has her consciousness trapped on the server after her body is killed while she's online. So what is this? I'm not going in depth about how everything works, so I was thinking soft SF. But at the same time I was half-thinking cyber-punk or the like(but because of the group of character associated with it that doesn't quite fit). Think Tron. Sat, 12 Nov 2011 00:34:42 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_654489 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_654489 ulyferal Hi all. I believe my piece fits more into a paranormal category but its set in the future making it sci fi. There is no romance going on so its not a sub genre of Romance. Here's the summary for my piece: It’s the year 2057 and mankind is finally headed toward a single worldwide government but there is still stiff resistance by those that fear the loss of their national identity despite the fact currency and language are already centralized. The ringleader of the movement against globalization was a wealthy Texan who, with the support of like minded individuals from around the world, formulated a plan to force the world's nations to leave things as they were. Having discovered, quite by accident, that shape shifters existed, he got the brilliant idea to use them as his unwilling army and have them kidnap all members of the UN that supported globalization, blackmailing the nations into dropping the effort. Shape shifters didn’t know what was going on when many of them turned up missing all over the world. Suspicious and worried, the leaders tried to handle the matter themselves without luck. Then UN Representatives began to turn up missing. Could it be a coincidence? The New York Coalition Leader Tam Weslaho thought not and decided something radical had to be done as the newsreporters filled the airways with rumbles of unhappy nations threatening the US with war. Weslaho met with Landon Bariman, Head of the FBI in New York. They formed an alliance and set up a task force made up of shape shifters and humans. Calling themselves HSSTF for short. Their first problem was trying to locate the kidnapper hideout but none of their leads panned out. Until Detective, first class, Jason Warkil, cougar shapeshifter, was kidnapped. His subsequent escape from his captor and return to New York, gives HSSTF their first break in the case but will they have time to take this madmen down before World War III begins? ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ Some of the information has since changed but not the plot idea. So is it Science Fiction with a paranormal sub genre as someone suggested to me? Sat, 12 Nov 2011 09:40:41 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_658702 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_658702 umiyumi My story starts out sounding like a horror novel, with gruesome hallucinations and being confined to a mental hospital, but the explanation and setting of the story are revealed in the end to be future quantum technology. None of us know it's sci-fi until the end. I'd call it sci-fi, but if it were on a book shelf, would putting it in that section be considered spoilers? Sat, 12 Nov 2011 13:40:18 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_662552 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_662552 TheBibliothecarius My novel is primarily about multiple universes, which is definitely a sci-fi thing. However, almost nothing else about it would probably be considered sci-fi, and most of the universes resemble our own, for technical reasons. It might actually be more of a mix of science fiction and literary fiction, but I'm not sure. Sun, 13 Nov 2011 15:03:47 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_680394 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_680394 LaparaLaela The aquatic ape theory says that it's possible that at one point we were semi-aquatic animals, much like hippos, going into the water to feed during the day. Eventually we came out of the water and became modern humans. My idea is an alternate history where we never came out of the water and eventually evolved into a cross between dolphins, frogs, and humans. I'm trying to make it as realistic as possible. They have no magic except that their government has all the people come together and sing until they match up and decide, but it's not really magic except in the wonderfulness of human connection. So...? Mon, 05 Dec 2011 02:07:39 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_936001 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_936001 Taekwondodo It's now three months since I wrote my Nano and I'm still not sure what genre it is. My MC can travel between worlds (but two of them are Earth and the rest are "bubble worlds" thrown off from the creation of the Earths), there are no fancy languages and no aliens, but there are souls made solid. Souls are collected by the bad guys and recycled back into human bodies but humans don't know this and there are no side effects, it's normal. There are no fancy weapons and although later my MC learns some fancy moves it's just related to being able to jump between worlds. Oh, and there is a being called the Creator who the souls (or soul pieces) actually belong to and my MC gets the piece of Creator soul in her woken up. ... If that makes sense. I've stuck with mainstream at the moment but I'm kind of hovering between there and scifi. Please help! Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:23:58 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_1113232 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_1113232 Annaissocoollike Personally, I'd call it adventure/fantasy through and through. However, I haven't read it, much less be its author. As the author, you're probably the best judge of your own work. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:17:53 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_1122981 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_1122981 keolah Taekwondodo - This is very clearly fantasy. It would under no circumstances be neither "mainstream" nor "scifi", from the way you've described it. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:42:10 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_1123061 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_1123061 Taekwondodo Thanks! X) Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:47:24 -0800 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_1124256 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/science-fiction/threads/696?page=6#forum_thread_comment_1124256