Great SciFi ideas, that will never be.

[GePap]

Right now I am reading Kiln People, the latest workd by David Brin. Now, one of the htings I like about Brin is that he comes up with some very far fetched ideas, but then builds very interesting worlds arpund them that work.

For example, the basc concept of this book is that scientists found a way to measure and record the soul (they call it the Standing Wave), and also found the ability for people to transfer a copy into humanoid molds. IN essence, people could make copies of themselves and use an army of "other thems" to do any chores they in person did not want to do, or do tasks that would be dangerous, or indulge in depravities that real flesh would not survive, and at the end of the day they could upload the new memories (the copies have very limited life spans of 24 hours, and are made of a sort of energized clay, also colored to make it easy to distinguish the "real" one from the "copies") The books also covers lifestaly changes and economic changes brought about by this new tech,a s well as deal with the question of indentity, and interesting storytelling techniques (the book has multiple "characters", who happen to be the "same" guy).

So, what other stories, and or authoers, have created similarly new distinct ideas and created wrlds aorund them?

[asleepathewheel]

Brin

I liked his novel, Earth, where there was a blackhole towards the center of the earth, from the meteor that struck Siberia in the early 1900s (?)

a black hole in the Earth that doesn't destroy it? And can be harnessed for good, or ? Pretty farfetched. but I liked the book.

[chequita guevara]

Moo 3

[GePap]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Moo 3

What does everyone read boring Star trek or star wars novels or something!

[DinoDoc]

Jurassic Park. I loved the book.

[Eli]

For example, the basc concept of this book is that scientists found a way to measure and record the soul (they call it the Standing Wave), and also found the ability for people to transfer a copy into humanoid molds.

There was a very similar concept in a book I read couple weeks ago. It's odd, but I dont remember it's name.

[mapfi]

well - final fantasy goes along the same line, so the idea is not that far fetched as you say

[problem_child]

Adam Roberts's book 'ON', absolutely fantastic concept, blew my mind, completely showed me a way of seeing the laws of physics in a way I'd never begun to imagine before, and a very basic and realistic concept at that. Mind-altering.

I can't tell you why though as that would spoil the story if you ever read the book.

[rah]

I read Kiln People a while back. I really liked the first 90% of the book. The last 10% was a bit much. (with the exception of the one clay vs. the missle launcher)

But overall, a very entertaining book with a great premise. I wish I had a clay doing my job today so I could be golfing.

[Harry Seldon]

Have you ever read The Truth Machine? I can't remember who wrote it but it was a pretty good story about a man who creates a machine that is 99.9% accurate at determining truth in conversation and the social ramifications it brings. Pretty interesting, the twists involved in creating and marketing the device.

[Q Classic]

I liked Red Mars.

I don't think there's enough political will for that to happen in the next two to three hundred years.

[Eli]

Originally posted by Q Cubed
I liked Red Mars.

I don't think there's enough political will for that to happen in the next two to three hundred years.

/me cries.

[loinburger]

Card's The Worthing Saga. Similar to the idea of the Standing Wave, except that people weren't able to create new bodies. Instead, people developed a drug called Somec that would basically put someone into a state of suspended animation, but would wipe their memories clean in the process, so people would have their memories extracted and be injected with Somec before going on a long interstellar voyage, and would get their memories back when they arrived at their destination. (The "soul" was proved to exist through experiments in which somebody else's memories were put into a person -- almost invariably, the recipient would go insane.) Somec was eventually used in a strange social heirarchy in which the best managers/scientists/etc. would skip across time -- they would live for, say, a year, and then go under Somec for four years, and then live another year, etc., so they would "sort-of" live for hundreds of years. It was a great honor to be allowed to use Somec, and so the most capable people had the least direct impact upon the world. It also enforced separation between the different classes in society, since the elite would "sort-of" live so much longer than the proles.

[Eli]

Originally posted by loinburger
Card's The Worthing Saga. Similar to the idea of the Standing Wave, except that people weren't able to create new bodies. Instead, people developed a drug called Somec that would basically put someone into a state of suspended animation, but would wipe their memories clean in the process, so people would have their memories extracted and be injected with Somec before going on a long interstellar voyage, and would get their memories back when they arrived at their destination. (The "soul" was proved to exist through experiments in which somebody else's memories were put into a person -- almost invariably, the recipient would go insane.) Somec was eventually used in a strange social heirarchy in which the best managers/scientists/etc. would skip across time -- they would live for, say, a year, and then go under Somec for four years, and then live another year, etc., so they would "sort-of" live for hundreds of years. It was a great honor to be allowed to use Somec, and so the most capable people had the least direct impact upon the world. It also enforced separation between the different classes in society, since the elite would "sort-of" live so much longer than the proles.

I thought the book(more like a collection of short stories) was named Capitol?
(this is the one I was talking about earlier)

[loinburger]

The Worthing Saga includes some disconnected short stories about Capitol at the end, but the main story is about 250-300 pages in length (IIRC) and takes place thousands of years after Abner Doon destroys the Empire. It's primarily told as a series of dreams experienced by one of the main characters, though, so it sort of reads a bit like a collection of short stories.

[Sandman]

Asimov's three laws of robotics immediately spring to mind.

[Eli]

Originally posted by loinburger
The Worthing Saga includes some disconnected short stories about Capitol at the end, but the main story is about 250-300 pages in length (IIRC) and takes place thousands of years after Abner Doon destroys the Empire. It's primarily told as a series of dreams experienced by one of the main characters, though, so it sort of reads a bit like a collection of short stories.

I didnt know Card wrote something about the period after the fall of the empire.

My "to read" list expands yet again.

[loinburger]

Don't worry, I haven't spoiled anything -- you figure out that the Empire has been destroyed within the first coupla pages. I highly recommend the book -- it's one of my favorites.

[GePap]

Originally posted by rah
I read Kiln People a while back. I really liked the first 90% of the book. The last 10% was a bit much. (with the exception of the one clay vs. the missle launcher)

But overall, a very entertaining book with a great premise. I wish I had a clay doing my job today so I could be golfing.

So would you need an orange, a green, a gray, an ebony, or an ivory ?

[Neutrino]

I like Brin's books, especially the Earthclan trilogies. Stephen Baxter also writes good books..very 'hard' scifi material.

[Q Classic]

i liked brin's uplift series too. i also doubt that world will exist, mainly because either a) science will stagnate as religion overpowers it (i like 'em both, but they both have their proper place. neither one can be--or should be--a replacement for the other), b) we'll kill off the species described (dolphins are rather tasty...in my tuna salad), or c) we'll kill ourselves before then.

[rah]

Originally posted by GePap
So would you need an orange, a green, a gray, an ebony, or an ivory ?

Ebony or Ivory, of course.
But I would have a green for posting here.

[MattH]

The Heechee(sp?) saga... with putting your brain into a comp when you die...

[Imran Siddiqui]

Well, perhaps an obvious one is psychohistory by Asimov.