what are good books to read

[shamguy4]

im writing a sci-fi book that takes place in galaxies and all that
what are good books to read to see all about this genre?
im writing a sci-fi and i have not even read a lot of them!

there are tons of scifi words i hear all the time and i dont know what they mean or how to apply them
outpost planet?
remnant (actually this ones quite self explanatory)
rebel yadda yadda

so what are good books?

[Lith]

You might try the General Books forum. I believe there's a recommendation thread in there.

Rebel and remant are both in the dictionary. If you're going to write even as a hobby you need to keep a good one close at hand at all times. For other terms there's Wikipedia.

[shamguy4]

i know what remnant means and of course i know what rebel means
it was just off the tip of my tongue i was trying to choose common words found in a scifi book
but i still dont know what a planet outpost is
an outpost should be on a space station? its called an outpost!
but i read somewhere the words planet outpost
?

there are a lot of books there!
i wanted books to read that are similar to my book so i get a feel
my book is about a 17 year old who lives in a huge universe of many planets

i intertwined scifi with fantasy in an amzing way (at least i think so...)
my character has to uncover a secret that can destroy the peace that now rests among all the planets
of course... he uncovers it... but too late

[j. d. worthington]

To be honest, you're going to have to do a lot of work if you're going to write sf; you'll need to familiarize yourself with the science involved, for one thing, and what and how much that will entail depends on the type of sf story you're going to be doing. From the description you have here, you'll need to do some work on cosmology, planetary formation, physics, astrophysics, gravitation, chemistry, biology.....

The thing about science fiction (as opposed to fantasy or most other types of writing) is that the person doing it has to have a fairly good understanding of the underlying science, as well as of the fictional concepts which abound in sf. The sorts of books you're talking about (including such concepts as rebels, a -- if I'm reading you correctly -- sort of galactic empire, outpost planets, etc.) are more in the way of science fantasy -- more fantasy with a few trappings of science fiction; quite a different critter, really. There we're talking things such as the Star Wars sort of concepts, or the Hollywood version of sf.

One of the best things to do to prepare yourself to write sf is to read sf -- and LOTS of it! The readers in this field can be very impatient of writers who simply rehash something that's been done before (which is all too easily done, considering how long the field has been around), especially if they don't know what they're talking about with the scientific aspects as well. So familiarize yourself with the field before attempting something like this as science fiction; another type of story you might be able to do, but sf per se does require a fairly good understanding of these concepts if it's going to fly.

As for particular terms: planetary outpost would tend to indicate an outlying planet on the borders of an empire (whether of a solar system or galaxy), or some other sort of multi-planetary political organization (a federation, an union, etc.) You say that this "takes place in galaxies and all that", which indicates a very vague idea of what that is (at least, so it would seem from your choice of words here). Any story would be unlikely to have as its stage of action more than one galaxy, considering each galaxy is likely to be several thousand light-years across, and there are even wider spaces between galaxies. If you mean "planetary systems", then they are, of course, much closer together than that... but still extremely distant (ours, for instance, is a rather small system, yet it is still amazingly vast. Here's a practical demonstration:

The Solar System

Size of the Solar System

So the first thing you'll need to do if you're going to be writing science fiction as opposed to the Star Wars-type science fantasy, is to do some research on things like this, to get a feel for the scale of what you're dealing with. These are crucial to the "suspension of disbelief" you'll need to build with your readers. (With the science fantasy thing, simply think of it is a combination of swords-and-sorcery and Wild West in outer space... completely ignoring science, for the most part.)

As for good books... frankly, there are too many to list, if you're talking science fiction. Science fact -- look for sites that would give you recommendations on the best current science books on various subjects, such as Lisa Randall's Warped Passages (about particle physics and the possibility that we live in an 11-dimension -- at least -- universe, of which our particular part may be a [more or less] 3-dimensional pocket)... or even Carl Sagan's Cosmos, which would be a very good place to begin.

At any rate... good luck. Do the research, enjoy the mind-stretching... and best of luck with the story.

[shamguy4]

i guess im not writing a science fiction
theres magic and stuff in my book
so according to what you said it looks like what im writing is science fantasy
i actually look at it as a fantasy that takes place in the stars
like star wars i guess
but everyone considers star wars a science fiction, no?

and scifi books dont have more than one galaxy?
i always thought people travel through light speed or wormholes and stuff and get very far
but i guess its all within one galaxy?

i was going to create different galaxies or dimensions each with a different colored sun.... it was part of my story
can one galaxy have more than one sun?
i mean i can make up whatever i want its my book but i just want to kow your thoughts...

i dont think i need to know all about how these things work, though i did look up a lot of stuff about space way before i started
just to get a general idea
so i guess i should read science fantasy?...

i just looked at a picture of the star wars galaxy (i guess there is one galaxy)
there are so many planets... how do they all go around the sun?

[chrispenycate]

Terminology in science fiction is flexible; it has to be, as many of the objects it describes don't yet exist (or, at least, nut onearth) It is up to the author to make it clear what a particular term means.
One of the techniques used is to use words which already exist, in combination. Thus a "hover cycle" is a complete misnomer (cycle coming from the greek for circle, or hoop, and having come to mean a wheel) but you've immediately given an image, and you can eliminate all the nasty explanation bits, alwaya so embarrassing when both the characters know the object intimately.
An "outpost" comes from military terminology, largely predating science fiction, and is just a settlement near the limits of the territory, or in the wilds, and "planet" you know. Therefore, it suggests a very large organisation or empire, so that entire planets can be considered mere markers on the board.
Mind you, if you're working with multiple galaxies (and I can't offhand think of a science fiction story that has convincingly portayed an organisation that large), then planets are very small fry indeed.
Light speed? Even within our local cluster, you're talking about decades or centuries of travel; intergalactic, it's tens or hundreds of millenia; not very convenient for adventure stories.
But read everything. If it's obvious that the more technical books are going to be beyond you (though this doesn't necessarily have to continue being the case) concentate on the more psycological ones, but read wide, not merely deep. That way your book won't be merely a carbon copy of fifty others, but a synthesis of different sources with (hopefully) your individualistic viewpoint an important part.

[shamguy4]

ok...
so back to my first queston what would be a few good books of science fantasy to read?
just to get a feel
i was about to make a book with many galaxies
i always thought when i watched the star wars movies that they were traveling across galaxies but apparently it was all in one

these are the reasons i need to read books to get a feel on science fantasy
and i still dont understand how all the planets in star wars get light from the sun or how so many planets circle it

this thread has confused me- i should not have started it
i mean- im writing a book- there are no rules- i create them
ill decide if theres hyperspace traveling and if theres 50 galxies or one? right?
i just want to understand how other people set there galaxy up
i went to wikipedia and saw star wars galay and how its made up
when i created mine i broke it into regions -same as star wars did
but i dont use hyperspace- i create my own way of traveling -its kind of weird
but i dont want to get into it

[C Of K]

Originally Posted by shamguy4

but everyone considers star wars a science fiction, no?

Only people who aren't really interested in Star Wars consider it sci-fi, and then most of them don't. It's technically science fantasy.

and scifi books dont have more than one galaxy?
i always thought people travel through light speed or wormholes and stuff and get very far
but i guess its all within one galaxy?

Light speed in Star Wars is also called hyperspace, I imagine, because they are traveling much faster than the speed of light.

"She'll(the Millennium Falcon) make .5 past light-speed." --Han Solo

.5 past light-speed is pretty darn fast.

Wormholes usually have less to do with moving, and more to do with "folding space" than anything else.

i was going to create different galaxies or dimensions each with a different colored sun.... it was part of my story
can one galaxy have more than one sun?

You can have different colored suns in one galaxy. Every galaxy has more than one sun. Every galaxy has billions of suns.

i just looked at a picture of the star wars galaxy (i guess there is one galaxy)
there are so many planets... how do they all go around the sun?

There is only on galaxy featured in Star Wars. There are billions of stars in the Star Wars galaxy. All the planets do not revolve around on star.

Tatooine even had two stars, but I'm uncertain as to whether or not it revolved around both of them. Just remember, each star is a sun, and there are several planets revolving around each star in every galaxy.

Was this helpful?

[shamguy4]

very helpful!
thanks
any science fiction books you think i should read
maybe a star wars one
ive only watched the movies and played a few games of the expanded universe

but thanks for the info

[C Of K]

If you do read any Star Wars books, pick up "Heir to the Empire" "Dark Force Rising" and "The Last Command" by Timothy Zahn.

I'm sure 99.9 percent of all Star Wars fans will agree that this is the best. In fact, it's better than the novelizations of any of the movies I've read.

[Lith]

I recommend the Eyewitness Books in the children's library. There's no better place to get the straight-forward basics than a children's library, because they don't assume you know half of it already. Get one on the solar system, or astronomy.

[shamguy4]

i will look for it though i am writing a fantasy
so i dont really have to obey reality but its good to make it somewhat real and to learn about this stuff in case it pops up...
thats actually a good idea
it wont give me too much info just enough for me to expand ideas on it
thanks!

also is it normal for a planet to orbit an asteroid -i just made it up... is it normal or wacked

this site is great thanks to all

[Culhwch]

Yeah, I think you were getting your basic terminology mixed up. One or more planets revolve around a star, making a system, and many such systems make a galaxy.

The only books I've read in such a setting really are the Star Wars books, so you might want to read some of those. I'd suggest you don't steal too many terms from there, though, as they are in general quite setting-specific (hyperspace, Rebellion, Empire, and so on), and readers may be turned off just another Star Wars rip-off. Originality will pay off. I really do think you need to get in a read a whole lot of stuff if you are serious about writing. There really is no other way to learn than reading a lot and writing a lot. Good luck, anyway.

[Culhwch]

Originally Posted by shamguy4

i will look for it though i am writing a fantasy
so i dont really have to obey reality but its good to make it somewhat real and to learn about this stuff in case it pops up...
thats actually a good idea
it wont give me too much info just enough for me to expand ideas on it
thanks!

also is it normal for a planet to orbit an asteroid -i just made it up... is it normal or wacked

this site is great thanks to all

Keep in mind that there is only so much you can make up before a reader is going to throw the book at the wall in mingled disbelief and frustration. The more far-fetched a thing is, the better your writing is going to have to be to pull it off.

And I can't see a planet orbiting an asteroid, unless the asteroid was huge - orbits are governed by gravity, gravity is governed by size. Besides which, without a star, they'd both be frozen and unihabitable. A small asteroid orbiting a large asteroid, possibly. There are smarter minds than mine here that could probably add a whole lot more...

[Birol]

Shamguy, if you haven't read much science fiction, why do you want to write in it?