Science Fiction in your neighborhood

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Rawled Demha

i could say we londoners are famous throughout the world, but then id say the we south londoners are unknown throughout the world....i know, my book'll be set in south london!

There is a young adult/children's book called 'The Secret Shelter' by Sandi LeFaucheur that is set in a school near Kent House Station in Penge.

HG Wells once lived in Penge/Anerley (he was born in Bromley) and has descriptions of the area in his books such as 'The New Machiavelli'. 'The War of the Worlds' has good desciptions of Surrey; Maybury Hill and Horsell Common actually exist.

[clovis-man]

Originally Posted by littlemissattitude

Oh, and the big funny-looking glass and metal building in The Puppet Masters? That's the city hall here in Fresno.

Sure looks funny as you view it to the west from the Amtrack station.

And not too far away, Kage Baker uses her own stomping grounds of Pismo Beach as a point of departure in her short story about granting immortality to William Randolph Hearst. Not to mention the castle itself.

Regards,

Jim

[quidscribis]

I lived in Vancouver, BC, Canada - Hollywood North - where many a science fiction television series was shot. XFiles, Dark Angel, Viper, Stargate, Millennium, Smallville, Supernatural, and so on and so forth. It was fun spotting locations I recognized. It also helped that one neighborhood I lived in was used - a lot - for a lot of movies & television series.

Of course, now I live where Indiana Jones was filmed. Not that I'd be able to recognize anything from that...

[gully_foyle]

I grew up in outer suburban Melbourne, where Nevil Shute's On the Beach was set and filmed. My parents used to drive me through a nearby suburb called Berwick and tell me it was set there. Ava Gardner was credited with saying that Melbourne was an appropriate place to make a film about the end of the world. It has improved since then.

[littlemissattitude]

Originally Posted by clovis-man

Sure looks funny as you view it to the west from the Amtrack station.

That it does.

[Daenerys]

Plenty of books have been set in Amsterdam, none scifi themed though, as far as I know. And none of the fictional books, usually written by 'foreigners' have ever struck me as particularly accurate. Maybe they got the places right, but never the atmosphere. To people who don't live here Amsterdam is either the city where anything is possible (except maybe anything scifi related) or the sodom and gommora of its day. And neither of those places is where I live.

Bearing that in mind, I don't take realistic settings in books that serious. I know that the author's view on a place is just one view, often tainted with theneed for the storyline. Which is great! But to go on a touristy tour with a book in my hand, like they did for books like that one with the Da Vinci stuff, nah.

However, it always warms my heart to see bits and pieces of Amsterdam in films. And I dont think it is likely that we'll ever see a spaceship hovering over Dam Square in any film. Though that would be cool.

[mandy86]

Originally Posted by Daenerys

Plenty of books have been set in Amsterdam, none scifi themed though, as far as I know.

The sci-fi novel Accelerando by Charles Stross takes place in Amsterdam. Or the first chapter does anyway, I have no idea about the rest of the book because I haven't read it.

[Ice fyre]

I think it was Ian Mcloed wrote a book set in part in a near future Edinburgh, he had a flea market where there is a posh shopping centre now. Also in another book "Moonseed" Edinburgh is destroyed by Lava........Hmmmm

[gully_foyle]

Had to unearth this thread. I was reading Bester's Tiger, Tiger last night and Gully Foyle attended a new years eve party at Government House in Canberra, just down the road from me. I new I picked this handle for a good reason (apart from Gully being one of the greatest SF characters of all time).

[tangaloomababe]

Sadly where I live is known for its apples and market gardens and nothing even remotely sci fi. Although they did film a couple of scenes for a movie here once, what was it again, oh yes Ghost Rider withe Nicholas Cage, never seen the movie myself and I don't think it did to well at the cinema. But thats it!

[Kissmequick]

A small market town in Sussex doesn't have much written about it, no Sci fi or fantasy as far as I'm aware.

Though Ruth Rendell's Wexford detected from a fictional town just to the south, so I recognised quite a few places in that series.

[bruno-1012]

Originally Posted by sanityassassin

As another Glaswegian(although I am not really I'm a Portonian(Port Glasgow) and proud. I agree with Ace and Taggart but as for books I remember a supernatural thriller I read was set across the river Clyde from me on the Roseneath peninsular and mentions the sinking of the Sugar boat which still lies in the river and can be seen at low tide. I also read a thriller called Garrowhill set in Glasgow and part of it was set just down the road from where I lived at the time in Maryhill.

Just picked up on this thread due to the new postings.

Think you actually mean Garnethill which is where I live.

I took great delight in passing the book to some relatives to read before they came to stay.

My favourite references are in 'The Bogie Man' comics. The bit where there is a Sierra flying through the arches from Royal Exchange Square is particularily memorable.

[white_wanderer]

I'm currently developing a storyline mixing fantasy and comtemporary fiction, and basing it around my home town / area. I also have a world that I am developing where the major continent is a scaled up version of the UK.

I read a book when I was at school about a caveman type person, and that was based around the Humberside area of England, but i can't remember the author or the title.

[Citadel]

My city has been featured on the show, "Cops" like two times in the last few years. Does that mean anything!?

[Steve Jordan]

Originally Posted by Citadel

My city has been featured on the show, "Cops" like two times in the last few years. Does that mean anything!?

Yeah... it means you should probably keep your head down.