The Outer Planets, my Near Future SFR, is in the final phases of
trim down and tidy up. I’m really excited to see what kind of reception this
one will get from publishers. It fills a niche that isn’t often seen in
SFR—that of a future that’s within the lifetime of most readers.
Take a step into the year 2039—just 27 years from now.
And say “Happy Birthday” to my heroine. She was just born
yesterday. Literally.
Creating a Near Future world presents some fun twists. When there’s
a reference in the story to “His Majesty, the King of England,” I think most
readers will know exactly who holds that title.
Writing Near Future is a lot like writing a Contemporary with cooler
tech. The world and society isn’t that much different from what we know today, it’s
just a bit older, wiser and more battle worn.
In the year 2039, the next couple of decade are past tense. The
world is experiencing a new dawn, emerging from borderline dystopia, where a
global economic collapse and continuing climate change resulted in a scramble
to survive. In the previous two decades, the melting ice sheets decreased the
salt content of the oceans and partially altered the currents of the Atlantic Conveyor,
throwing weather patterns into chaos. While the oceans rose, drowning coastline
cities worldwide, drought turned former breadbasket regions into dustbowls. The
effects on society are dire.
Water riots were commonplace. Mobs formed to loot stores—not to
steal electronics to resell on the street, but to take the food they need for
their families and children to live. In rural areas, communities formed raid
gangs that stripped crops clean and butchered livestock on neighboring farms. Moral
principles took a back seat to survival. Outbreaks of anarchy prevailed. The
United Nations disbanded as governments refocused on maintaining order inside
their own borders and protecting their citizens. Police states and martial law
became commonplace.
By 2032, the climate begins to stabilize, thanks to an enforced
scale back in greenhouse gas emissions, and the world returns to more normal
conditions, socially and economically, leaving mankind still shaking in its boots
at what could have been.
And what might be again in the not too distant future.
The Nations is formed, a multi-national entity with a focus on
expanding and diversifying mankind’s interests beyond the “all the eggs in one
basket” scenario of having the fate of the species tied to one planet.
International resources are pooled to re-ignite a global space
exploration program. ASP—Armstrong Space Port—with its orbiting shipyards
begins construction in orbit in 2033 and is completed by the close of 2035. A
year later it houses a population of over 15,500 military, corporate and support
personnel.
With regular shuttle flights from ASP, temporary bases are
constructed on the Moon and Mars as the first step in establishing permanent
mining operations.
With the fire-up of ASP comes Project Destination. Spearheaded
by The Nations, it’s an ambitious multi-national exploratory mission to the
Outer Planets—Jupiter and Saturn—or more specifically the 120+ moons they share between them—to identify resources and future colony sites.
Construction of the Nations’ Star Ship—NSS Destination—is underway.
And the debate about crew selection begins…
Your turn to envision the future. How do you see it? Do you think it might unfold much like the past described in The Outer Planets or do you think history will take a very different course?
Your turn to envision the future. How do you see it? Do you think it might unfold much like the past described in The Outer Planets or do you think history will take a very different course?
