Retro Science Fiction?

[BakaTensai]

Hi, this is my first thread (ever) so if this has been asked before please forgive me!

I don't know what it is really called, but I have always been into a certain type of SF; I call it 'retro science fiction.' Some of my favorite examples of this are "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" and the "Lost" TV series. Both of these feature science fiction that is not based on current technologies (i.e. nanotech), but on technologies present in the 40's and 50's (Captain) or 70's (Lost- the Dharma initiative).

Anyway, I LOVE this type of SF and I was wondering if anyone else out there has the same addiction. If you have some good examples of this kind of SF please let me know!

Thanks all!

[Dave]

Welcome to Chronicles BakaTensai!

I think the phrase you might be searching for is Steampunk thought that is more Victorian/Edwardian than Second World War.

Read this thread: http://www.chronicles-network.com/fo...steampunk.html and you will see that I have also been on a learning curve for the last few years too.

If that is not what you are looking for, can I suggest 'The Man in the High Castle' by Philip K Dick, or the alternative history books of Harry Turtledove. There is actually quite a lot of alternative history in print, and much of it takes the Nazi Regime as the starting point for the schism in Time.

[BakaTensai]

Thanks Dave. I've actually never heard of the word, "steampunk," so thank you for introducing me. I've started browsing the thread and it sounds like it is what I was looking for... now I just need to find the time to read!

[Sephiroth]

I hadn't heard that word either, but I love the genre, too (what I have come across, anyway). My own stuff has an element of it, since it inspires me.

Interesting thread, cheers.

[BakaTensai]

I'm glad that you popped your head out of the lifestream and decided to visit my little thread here Sephi!

[Sephiroth]

Heh.

It's a really interesting subject. Not a subject where I have much to teach, more one where I have a lot to learn, but it fascinates me. I, too, am a big fan of Lost. I haven't seen Sky Captain, yet, but I will.

A lot of the later Final Fantasy games feel like this, don't you think? Putting aside the magic, they always seem to have machines that look like they were built somewhere between the Victorian era and the '70s.

[BakaTensai]

Yeah, a lot of Japanese RPGs seem to have that kind of trend.

[gully_foyle]

What about the Rocketeer? Does that fit in your scope BT?

[Anne Lyle]

Originally Posted by gully_foyle

What about the Rocketeer? Does that fit in your scope BT?

Ah, that's a fun movie!

As well as steampunk (in which typically the whole of society is technologically advanced), there's what I call "weird science" - fiction in which a lone mad inventor is singlehandedly creating advanced technology. It's older than steampunk, encompassing anything from "Frankenstein" to "The Prestige"

[BakaTensai]

Yeah, I think that both the Rocketeer and the "weird science" subject fit into what I'm talking about. I don't know what it is, but that kind of SF really interests to me...