tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352878664335460671.post2238100355298842279..comments2024-03-28T03:49:18.528-04:00Comments on City of Kik: When Science Fiction LiesNick Leshihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04735641810049227247noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352878664335460671.post-86495845961496271582010-01-03T20:50:56.523-05:002010-01-03T20:50:56.523-05:00You know, that kind of annoyed me in the Flashforw...You know, that kind of annoyed me in the Flashforward book. It wasn't so much that it was set in the near future, which is our present, but that he tried to write about stupid cultural fads, like colored jeans being fashionable and only old people clinging to blue jeans. I wish he had left things like that alone since it immediately pulls you out of the story, far more than the fantastical stuff that is the crux of the story.<br /><br />~EAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352878664335460671.post-46368879326617242082010-01-03T17:54:41.002-05:002010-01-03T17:54:41.002-05:00George Orwell's 1984 handled it brilliantly be...George Orwell's 1984 handled it brilliantly because he specifically states that he THINKS it's 1984, but it really could be any year. In a society where the totalitarian government and Big Brother control everything and alter history at their whim, even the very year you're in becomes a big question mark. That's a great example of how a speculative fiction writer can keep the "near future" date vague while providing specifics for the story.<br /><br />Max Headroom, by the way, was great!Nick Leshihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04735641810049227247noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1352878664335460671.post-90516620536585342202010-01-03T10:58:39.820-05:002010-01-03T10:58:39.820-05:00Yes time will quickly overtake things. 'UFO...Yes time will quickly overtake things. 'UFO' was set in 1980 and looked as futuristic as 'Space: 1999'. Then there was Orwell's 1984 (which was at least just a reverse of 1948, when the book was written), and the 70s TV show '1990'. None of that happened.<br /><br />But even if you do set things at a time far off in the future, time still catches up with you. The Martian Chronicles were set initially in 1999 and written from 1947 onwards, yet time has already passed them by. <br /><br />I'm sure Star Cops - made in 1987 and set 40 years in the future in 2027 - will soon be upon us and we'll all be wondering why there isn't a Soviet Union or a Ronald Reagan space station as predicted, or why computer viruses are supposed to seem like such a novelty.<br /><br />If you remember 'Max Headroom', that probably had the most elegant solution: it was set 20 minutes in the future:<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_Minutes_into_the_Future<br /><br />Immediately you know it's not literally 20 minutes in the future, but is just allegorical. No problems.Rob Buckleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12161472800655115351noreply@blogger.com