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Sci-Fi within Sci-Fi

L

Lord Garth

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I always wondered what science fiction would be like in science fiction; speculating about the future in the future.

Did anyone else ever get a retrospective kick out of Garak telling Bashir about a novel that takes place in the future where the Klingons invaded Cardassia in The Wire?
 
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Wash: [talking about River] Psychic, though? That sounds like something out of science-fiction.
Zoë: You live in a spaceship, dear.
one of my favorite moments :D

It would seem that scifi is still scifi, but certain ideas seem less far-fetched than they do now
 
This is something I've always wondered about as well: I'm sure sci-fi would continue to exist as a genre, but I also wonder if we'd see works that now, in the 21st century, we'd classify as a sci-fi/fantasy blend--basically, technology meets the supernatural.

(For a 20th/21st century example, read the Mageworlds series by Debra Doyle and James Macdonald.)
 
The problem is, that's an EXTREMELY meta-fictional question, as you're asking about the possibilities of a genre of fiction within it's own genre. There are a few things you can extrapolate, though, give the historical progress of our own science fiction literature.

Many of the sub-genres of what we now call Science Fiction existed in the 19th century before the term was ever formalized. Particularly within the oeuvres of H.G Wells and Jules Verne, who, between them, explored space travel, time travel, alien invasion, genetic engineering, and many other fantastic possibilities... The problem was, though, that, with so little of the actual SCIENCE unknown at the time, it allowed a lot of room for imagination to fill in the gaps, as it were. As the 20th century wore on and new discoveries were made, and things like quantum theory and Relativity become fairly close to generally known of, if not quite understood, the rules for proper SF rose sharply. Things that once made for great stories, like life in the Solar System or the unlocked potential in our brains, etc. have fallen from favor as the real science just doesn't support that kind of thing if you're going to write it seriously. As a result, SF has become much 'harder' than it used to be, a trend I can only see continuing into the future, since we're still discovering new ideas and concepts about the universe we live in. One has to wonder, if there will come a time when enough science is understood that Science Fiction will no longer have any room to wiggle... Or else, if the trappings of science fiction become so commonplace in the real world that it ceases to be fiction anymore but just a standard literary setting... I mean, a story involving aliens, Faster than light travel or other universes wouldn't really be considered Sci-Fi in the Trek 'Verse, as there, these things are established facts, not vague theories or just plain impossible...

Though one does wonder what SF of the 24 1/2 century would even look like...
 
I would figure the existence of other universes and planes would still be fairly open for sci-fi literature, considering that seemed to be at the VERY cutting edge of 24th-century knowledge at the time. And there are still phenomena like the Prophets that are beyond understanding. It's the latter, though, that makes me suspect elements of mysticism would creep into the genre--that's the direction it would still be free to go.
 
Trying to guess future technology and society will always be one thing in scifi that won't go away. Sure, the 24th century has warp drive, and transporters and holodecks and all that, but there is still room for concieving of fantastical futures far, far beyond that.
 
Right, science fiction is speculative fiction. The only way to know what will be speculative is to know what is known at the time, and unknown. We know that it will concern what isn't known, and what is imagined as hoped for in terms of accomplishing some unresolved societal problem, managing a threat, matter/energy, or adventure.
 
my favorite is in the second ep of Enterprise, when Reed tries to get ready for an away mission. He pulls out a rifle and Archer says he watches too many science fiction movies. LOL
 
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