What about a plague in a SF/F world?

[Ursa major]

I find it hard to believe that in a large cosmopolitan city (like London), where people are arriving and departing all the time, the authorities would evacuate children across the country in the face of a plague (which could already be in the city). They'd have enough problems trying to stop everyone spreading the disease about, I'd have thought.

[Ishar]

I read this a little while ago, but forget where it was. I had input, but silly me didnt write it.

Eddings once did a plague.

I think it was in Mallorean, but I may be wrong and it could have been Belgariad.

But what happened, if my memory isnt hurting me, is that one of the gods diseased a single man. That man went into a town and then a few days later just died. Everyone he had met was infected, some of them travelled to other towns. Soon the epidemic was spreading throughout the whole continent. There were no clear symptoms of it until they just up and died.

Any help?

[Wiglaf]

Originally Posted by Ursa major

I find it hard to believe that in a large cosmopolitan city (like London), where people are arriving and departing all the time, the authorities would evacuate children across the country in the face of a plague (which could already be in the city). They'd have enough problems trying to stop everyone spreading the disease about, I'd have thought.

When I started this thread, I was thinking fantasy not sci-fi. Whether people think the cause is airborne germs, physical contact, or miasmas would probably affect their reactions.

[Urlik]

Originally Posted by Ursa major

I find it hard to believe that in a large cosmopolitan city (like London), where people are arriving and departing all the time, the authorities would evacuate children across the country in the face of a plague (which could already be in the city). They'd have enough problems trying to stop everyone spreading the disease about, I'd have thought.

I was actually thinking that the evacuation could be the reason for the spread.

have the plague reach the capital (or other strategic city) either by design or fate while the country stands on the brink of war.
the plague has a long and highly contagious incubation period, so when the war breaks out, no-one is sick and the children (maybe even the entire population of the city) are evacuated or become refugees, travelling across the land, spreading the plague among their contrymen.

as reports of the plague reach cities that haven't been infected, it could become knowledge which city is responsible for the plague's spread, and they become pariahs, hated and pitied, but never welcome.

[Esioul]

Read up on the original bubonic plagues etc- both fiction and non-fiction should give you an idea of how plagues work and spread. Or you could invent a really different one, that was it's own way of spreading.

[David Gullen]

A couple of older novels that use themes of disease or transformation that might be interesting are:

To Die in Italbar - Roger Zelazny
The Crystal World - JG Ballard

In the past plague commonly spread as infected people without symptoms fled. These days, with regards to controlling deliberate release, such as anthrax attacks, I believe the plan is to ring-fence the infection zone and clear up afterwards. Tough if you're on the inside.

[Celine]

What if the main character is already infected and trying to get a cure for him/herself? Of course he/she is at least a little selfish, not to mention thoughtless and stupid, but if his/her family is also infected, he/she doesn't have to look that bad... only human. He/she has to hide his/her condition carefully, especially when the people become really terrified of that plague.
Perhaps something like this could be an interesting twist?

(I just read Diane Wynne Jones remarks on diseases in 'The tough guide through fantasy land'. According to her, the main characters always seem to have immunity for plagues).

By the way, I read a few years ago an interesting book about a plague - a couple of teenagers are trying to escape from a city, in which all people are locked up by the government. It is an young adult book and I can't remember the title, but if it can help anyone, I'll try to look it up.

[Grymalkyn]

And, even older (though I like both of those quoted) is John Wyndham's "Day of the Triffids". the effects he describes from over 50 yrs ago, would still happen now if that sort of plague-transformation happened. Worth reading.

[Drey BP]

Not exactly fantasy or sci-fi, but have you read Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"?

That deals with the aftermath of a plague that wipes out the modern human race; no why, no how, just what would happen if you woke up tomorrow and found the world a different place.

I think you could do a plague story in any sort of world, but you would need to focus on bringing something new to the table. For eg, Cormac McCarthy took the idea of plague and used it examine how man would react in a lawless world, and asked the key question - if there was no future for man, what would you have to carry on for? Knowing that, could you carry on?

I would use the plague as a catalyst rather than the key driver of a story.