Who is the most powerful hard as a rock science fiction civilization (nothing thought to be impossible or extremely implausible)?
Who is the most powerful semi-hard science fiction civilization (mostly possible stuff but with a few exceptions)?
Most powerful hard and ultra-hard sci-fi nations/races
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Dr Roberts
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Most powerful hard and ultra-hard sci-fi nations/races
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Ahriman238
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Re: Couple of questions
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Oh brother, are you asking for it.
It may help to further clarify what you mean by both hard and powerful, since both are extremely relative and difficult to judge objectively.
Would the Culture count? They have teleporters and mind-state backups and godlike-AIs. Does OA qualify? They're a bit nuts about being "hard" and conforming to the theoretically possible, but that all sort of falls apart if you think about it for a couple seconds. Does the Foundation qualify as "hard?" Does Andromeda? Xelee Sequence? Babylon 5? Honor Harrington? Star Trek?
And so on and so forth. We usually eventually agree on a small number of universes that are absolutely NOT hard: 40K, Lensmen, Star Wars, Perry Rhodan. Probably one or two more I'm missing.
I'll go ahead and volunteer the Fourth Empire, from Mutineer's Moon, for category B. Not even sure what to say for A.
Oh brother, are you asking for it.
It may help to further clarify what you mean by both hard and powerful, since both are extremely relative and difficult to judge objectively.
Would the Culture count? They have teleporters and mind-state backups and godlike-AIs. Does OA qualify? They're a bit nuts about being "hard" and conforming to the theoretically possible, but that all sort of falls apart if you think about it for a couple seconds. Does the Foundation qualify as "hard?" Does Andromeda? Xelee Sequence? Babylon 5? Honor Harrington? Star Trek?
And so on and so forth. We usually eventually agree on a small number of universes that are absolutely NOT hard: 40K, Lensmen, Star Wars, Perry Rhodan. Probably one or two more I'm missing.
I'll go ahead and volunteer the Fourth Empire, from Mutineer's Moon, for category B. Not even sure what to say for A.
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NecronLord
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Re: Most powerful hard and ultra-hard sci-fi nations/races
Edited the title into something vaguely descriptive.
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Simon_Jester
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Re: Most powerful hard and ultra-hard sci-fi nations/races
Combining the words "hard" and "powerful," and then repeating them several times, makes the original post look... a bit weird.
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Re: Most powerful hard and ultra-hard sci-fi nations/races
"Hard Science-Fiction" has always been a reference to male anatomy.Simon_Jester wrote:Combining the words "hard" and "powerful," and then repeating them several times, makes the original post look... a bit weird.
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"Destiny and fate are for those too weak to forge their own futures. Where we are 'supposed' to be is irrelevent." - Sir Nitram
"The world owes you nothing but painful lessons" - CaptainChewbacca
"The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of a mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one." - Wilhelm Stekel
"In 1969 it was easier to send a man to the Moon than to have the public accept a homosexual" - Broomstick
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Simon_Jester
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Re: Most powerful hard and ultra-hard sci-fi nations/races
I don't think that's strictly true, Serafina, and I don't think it's fair, either.
But saying it about this guy's original post... heh. Yeah, pretty much. It's when you go from talking about it in the sense of consistency to an almost shroomy parody with "BIG AND HARD" or whatever that it gets weird.
But saying it about this guy's original post... heh. Yeah, pretty much. It's when you go from talking about it in the sense of consistency to an almost shroomy parody with "BIG AND HARD" or whatever that it gets weird.
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