[ SECRET POST #2557 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2557 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 013 secrets from Secret Submission Post #364.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I agree with all of this.

I'll admit to not reading terribly much hard sci-fi, so I'm not sure about the actual state of the genre, but it wouldn't surprise me if there's been a shift in subject matter, that might also be throwing the OP off. Old-school hard SF was all about robots and spaceships and very *mechanical* advances, as well as an off-world theme. Whereas modern hard SF could be focusing more on the biological and medical advances to come, and be more likely to be set here on Earth rather than in space. That might seem more "soft" to people used to Asimov and Niven. Doesn't make it any less hard if the research and plausibility is there.

Hell, thinking about it, some of the near-future thriller stuff sounds pretty hard to me, where the authors put in the time to actually come up with a plausible biological agent or rogue drone or whatever.

OP

[(Anonymous)]

This anon sums up exactly my problem. We're on the freaking ISS, for crying out loud! Pros think it's "too boring" to extrapolate from THAT, fifty years into the future? Or Mars? Or the (alleged) Chinese moon base? These are all things that are happening that would still make good hard SF. Write 15 minutes into the future? No problem! There's plenty of space stuff to write 15 minutes into the future about!

But no, it's all about body-mods and extra-longevity and always, always, being Earth-bound. :-(

Thank you to the anon above who recommended Jack Campbell, I will look him up.

Re: OP

[bringreligiontothewamwams]

Those stories about Chinese Mars and Moonbases (and they will all be Chinese, as will any future space stations) have all been written back in the 1950s. There is no new mileage in them. There is no new mileage in hard sf because the future of space exploration is Chinese and the future of Western readers is grubbing for welfare checks, or cardboard boxes to sleep in, in the ruins of symbols of 80s and 90s prosperity.

Frankly it'll be amazing if there are any realistic attempts to reach other planets even within our solar system from even China. We don't have the oil reserves to support the energy requirements a society capable of reaching them would need any longer. We missed out on space travel because we cut back in the 80s with a damn truck instead of pressing outwards. Now we're groundbound into a slow extinction.

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

I disagree, I think there's definitely mileage in other countries conquering space...if for no other than reason than because they will. And don't forget, all those stories written in the 1950s were, er, less than optimistic/positive towards the occupants of said bases and colonies (because of the Cold War / red scare stuff).

Even we are groundbound, that doesn't mean the fiction has to be. :-(

Re: OP

[(Anonymous)]

Yep, if you want science and spaceships Campbell is a good bet. Timothy Zahn also writes pretty regularly, although his recent 'space train' series is less 'hard' than many of his others.