Attention to all readers of "The Wormhole War"
Posted: 2003-11-26 11:51am
Yep, once again I've decided to revise my award-nominated original story.
This time, it's after finding out that sci-fi usually depicts future societies as too similar to previously-known societies.
I am partly guilty in this, too - I originally intended Xril society to be based upon an amalgam of The Third Reich, the Soviet Union under Stalin and Kim il-Sung's North Korea in the same manner as WH40K's Imperium of Man is based upon the Roman and British Empires. However, it ultimately wound up as a rather bog-standard totalitarian dystopia.
Now, something which can make a sci-fi story good is not only to depict advanced technology, but also the impact which technological advancement will have upon society.
Therefore, I have decided to revise my story with following elements:
1. More emphasis upon cybernetics and their use - for example, I am toying with the idea of the Xril all having cybernetic implants in their brains which allow them to telepathically communicate with each other. Due to the ultra-hierarchial structure of Xril society, I will also explain in future chapters how the Xhatrr Dominion authorities use said cybernetics technology to keep its citizens in check and maintain its order. For example: an internet-like network between the Neural-Telepathic Communicator Implants (as I call these cybernetic doo-hickeys which enable Xril to communicate telepathically) which is controlled by a propaganda-spewing Artificial Intelligence loyal to the Xhatrr Dominion authorities, and maybe mention of high-ranking Xril being able to access higher-security parts of the Neural-Telepathic Network than lower-ranking Xril. Perhaps I will even include a Matrix-style group of Xril hackers who rebel against the system?
2. Description of the various uses of AIs (Artificial Intelligences) by the Xril as well as the Jardra.
3. The fixing of typos and grammar errors.
In my drawings and so on, (which I sadly can't post due to the lack of a scanner) I have also changed the look of the Xril so that their origins are more obvious. However, I am rather reluctant to reveal said origins as they're a potential colossal spoiler. And the Jardra neither look as Bothan-ish as I originally envisioned them.
I ask some questions to you, my dear readers:
1. Any other ideas for the revision???
2. Am I starting to rip off The Matrix too much in my eventual use of cybernetics and AIs, or would a cyberpunk space-opera be interesting??
3. Will I ruin the balance between sheer description and actual plot? Some authors (you know who they are) have an annoying tendency to write novels with so many details that the reader loses the overview, and I wish to describe the difference between the Xhatrr Dominion and historical societies without drowning everything in detail.
4. Am I falling into pitfall clichés?? I know that the ending I have up my sleeve sounds rather original (again, I'm not revealing a potential mega-spoiler), but I'm afraid all that "cybernetics and AI used by totalitarian state to keep citizens in check" has been tried before. (eg. Demolition Man)
5. Exactly how dissimilar to historical dictatorships can I make the Xhatrr Dominion, and how? I am now - unlike before - aiming to make it very different from any 20th century dictatorships - but I don't want it to become some sort of evil version of The Culture, either.
6. Am I becoming too obsessed with making the setting more futuristic, or is it in sci-fi only a good thing to emphasize the distinction between the depicted society and the one which the author lived in?
This time, it's after finding out that sci-fi usually depicts future societies as too similar to previously-known societies.
I am partly guilty in this, too - I originally intended Xril society to be based upon an amalgam of The Third Reich, the Soviet Union under Stalin and Kim il-Sung's North Korea in the same manner as WH40K's Imperium of Man is based upon the Roman and British Empires. However, it ultimately wound up as a rather bog-standard totalitarian dystopia.
Now, something which can make a sci-fi story good is not only to depict advanced technology, but also the impact which technological advancement will have upon society.
Therefore, I have decided to revise my story with following elements:
1. More emphasis upon cybernetics and their use - for example, I am toying with the idea of the Xril all having cybernetic implants in their brains which allow them to telepathically communicate with each other. Due to the ultra-hierarchial structure of Xril society, I will also explain in future chapters how the Xhatrr Dominion authorities use said cybernetics technology to keep its citizens in check and maintain its order. For example: an internet-like network between the Neural-Telepathic Communicator Implants (as I call these cybernetic doo-hickeys which enable Xril to communicate telepathically) which is controlled by a propaganda-spewing Artificial Intelligence loyal to the Xhatrr Dominion authorities, and maybe mention of high-ranking Xril being able to access higher-security parts of the Neural-Telepathic Network than lower-ranking Xril. Perhaps I will even include a Matrix-style group of Xril hackers who rebel against the system?
2. Description of the various uses of AIs (Artificial Intelligences) by the Xril as well as the Jardra.
3. The fixing of typos and grammar errors.
In my drawings and so on, (which I sadly can't post due to the lack of a scanner) I have also changed the look of the Xril so that their origins are more obvious. However, I am rather reluctant to reveal said origins as they're a potential colossal spoiler. And the Jardra neither look as Bothan-ish as I originally envisioned them.
I ask some questions to you, my dear readers:
1. Any other ideas for the revision???
2. Am I starting to rip off The Matrix too much in my eventual use of cybernetics and AIs, or would a cyberpunk space-opera be interesting??
3. Will I ruin the balance between sheer description and actual plot? Some authors (you know who they are) have an annoying tendency to write novels with so many details that the reader loses the overview, and I wish to describe the difference between the Xhatrr Dominion and historical societies without drowning everything in detail.
4. Am I falling into pitfall clichés?? I know that the ending I have up my sleeve sounds rather original (again, I'm not revealing a potential mega-spoiler), but I'm afraid all that "cybernetics and AI used by totalitarian state to keep citizens in check" has been tried before. (eg. Demolition Man)
5. Exactly how dissimilar to historical dictatorships can I make the Xhatrr Dominion, and how? I am now - unlike before - aiming to make it very different from any 20th century dictatorships - but I don't want it to become some sort of evil version of The Culture, either.
6. Am I becoming too obsessed with making the setting more futuristic, or is it in sci-fi only a good thing to emphasize the distinction between the depicted society and the one which the author lived in?
