If you read last week’s post, you got to see the relative timeline that all of my related books coexist on (Shadow Chronicles, Moons of Mystery, & Moon Shadow Saga). But as I sit and stare at the impressive span of years on my blackboard wall, it occurs to me that the end game is only fifty years in our future. That’s hardly anytime at all. And while, yes, there are several books that will technically take place in the future, I find my self struggling with how to incorporate that same inevitable future into the narratives.
My current work in progress (WIP) is Hart’s Betrayal. Now, I’m excited for this story for a number of reasons (probably the biggest of which is all the easter eggs I’m sneaking in there). However, the fact that I will have to include references to technological advancements is daunting. I don’t like to speculate on where we’ll be by then (namely because it terrifies me and because what if I’m horribly wrong?). As much as I would love to gloss over it altogether *cough* as I’ve done with the many of the other books, I feel like that would actually hinder the story, especially since the whole point is that it IS the future. And just for the record, I am fully aware how ironic it is that I don’t want to write about the future, since I’m writing fantasy.
But that’s the thing. I write Fantasy not Science Fiction. Yes, there is a distinction and that is a lecture for another day. Yet despite my trepidation, I am still excited about this WIP as this is the first book I’m making a conscious reference to future events and what will happen to the world. And I’m doing my best not to shy away from the more science bits. Honest, I am. Already I have found numerous places in the meager six chapters currently written to weave in some future tech. Of course, the real challenge is keeping in mind Moore’s Law, while still trying to make it believable/ relatable to today’s reader.
Moore’s Law: the principle that the speed and capability of computers can be expected to double every two years, as a result of increases in the number of transistors a microchip can contain.
Of course there is speculation that Moore’s Law is reaching capacity (all the puns intended). Be that as it may, just how much can we expect from the future? Our future? In the 50’s, they expected us to have flying cars by now and robots to do household chores. Well, we have self-parking cars and roombas. Does that count? Then there are other things that surpass every dream. Take for instance: A cell phone. We take this comparatively tiny piece of tech every where we go and it has enough computing power to put to shame the concept of computers that existed just twenty years. Heck, there are days I’m pretty sure my cell can do more than my laptop.
The future is there… looking back at us. Trying to make sense of the fiction we will have become.
― William Gibson, Pattern Recognition
So the question is, how much more can we expect? Already, I’ve integrated things like anti-gravity land skimmers for short distance travel through rough terrain. Data pads for comprehensive reports (which I think actually already exist). Implanted communication devices. And a few other things that I won’t spoil for you. But here’s my request: Tell me what you think the future holds…or doesn’t. Leave a comment here, Facebook, or Twitter. Who knows? Maybe your innovative concepts will make it into a book by S Bolanos 😉
I tend to look at the future as improvements instead of solutions. While they pictured robots that do chores (a solution to chores), we got the roomba (not a solution by far but an improvement on what was). Real life seems to work that way. We get a head a little and then work out a whole bunch of kinks and ultimately, we get a vast improvement in quality of life. So, maybe an improvement on the roomba, like, a roomba that can dust as well or climb stairs and so forth. Not as exciting, but more probable imo. Or if you want exciting, how about a robot that can do everything a human can including be your buddy, but also features a “leave me alone” option where it does leave you alone and doesn’t get mad or hurt by it? Haha. Man, that sounded cold. Ha.
Love this concept and I will be keeping it in mind as I have to introduce more technological advancements into Hart’s Betrayal. It’s an interesting line to walk since I’m having to meld it with magic as well.