[Asimovking]

What would you think of the idea of a sci fi book series spanning multiple sub genres?

Like...

1. Book 1 is dying earth

2. The next few are generation ship

3. Then the next 1 or 2 are on a giant abandoned artificial planet

4. And after that the series turns into space opera


I think it would be awesome to write like that. Less awesome but still cool if it was a shared universe instead of a series.

Maybe other combos of sub genres?

What are your ideas/thoughts on this?

[JimF]

The first two parts sound like the series I'm reading right now. Genesis (http://www.amazon.com/Genesis-Ark-Paul-Chafe/dp/141659163X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302571652&sr=8-1) and Exodus: the Ark (http://www.amazon.com/Exodus-Ark-N-Paul-Chafe/dp/1439134316/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1302571652&sr=8-2) by Paul Chafe.

I'm really enjoying them so far.

Jim

[Omphalos]

I think Baxter's new books, on is catastrophe, the next is generational starship. This has been done a lot before.

[Asimovking]

with 3 or 4 sub genres though? not just two?

[JimF]

with 3 or 4 sub genres though? not just two?

I don't know of any that mash up 4 sub genres. "Colony ship" fiction has been done seval times in various forms, so has the artificial planet story.

Doing a mash up could be interesting, but like anything it has do be done well. Do you have a thread in mind that can link the stories to each other. Is there a reason the characters in the artificial planet story have to the descendants from the colony ship?

Jim

[Asimovking]

Im really new to the space sci fi genre. I read Asimov's Nemesis 8 or 9 years ago when i was in high school and nothing after that until a few months ago. Now im reading a ton of them. Lol. But I've been interested in being an author for years. Even if it's something that turns into a 10 or 15 year project.

My lack of experience with the genre is the reason I've come on here asking about what makes sense. I have a very active imagination and am an idea machine. Also i believe space sci fi leaves a ton of room for fresh and new ideas, simply based on the fact that there's so much out there that we truely don't know about. Even things that could completely defy the current laws of physics, though, as i said in another thread, i dont want to completely ignore the science.

It would be awesome if I could get some help with ideas. But so far the basic thread would be:

1. Dying Earth: Humanity gets an advanced warning of Earth's destruction by

A. Aliens (in which case they build and send out a generation ship)

B. Blackhole/Supernova/The Sun etc. (in which case they build and send out a generation ship)

C. A super virus (in this case they would have already built and "stocked" a generation ship 10 or 20 years prior in case Earth faced destruction)

2. The Generation Ship books: this involves the ship sent out from Earth.

A. There's tons of ways to go with this and I have yet to put much thought into any of them

3. The Artificial Planet book/books: the inhabitants of the generation ship land on an artificial planet created and abandoned by a race long ago.

A. They eventually evolve to be able to reverse engineer what the race left behind and create space ships.

B. They evolve to where they can create ships on their own.

C. Some other idea. Lol.

4. The series turns into space opera and/or they are incorporated into confederation of planets that they were able to come into contact with.


That's what I have so far. Feel free to say anything that pops into your head. Lol. Also if anything needs further explanation please say so.

[Solicitous]

The first two parts sound like the series I'm reading right now. Genesis (http://www.amazon.com/Genesis-Ark-Paul-Chafe/dp/141659163X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302571652&sr=8-1) and Exodus: the Ark (http://www.amazon.com/Exodus-Ark-N-Paul-Chafe/dp/1439134316/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1302571652&sr=8-2) by Paul Chafe.

I'm really enjoying them so far.

Jim

OMG I started that yesterday (Genesis). I got Exodus as part of a webscription from a year or so ago (freebie) and only just bought Genesis. Had started off well, though I'm not far into it atm.

[JimF]

I can see you still need to do some planning. I can see how part 2 will follow from part 1. What I don't see for story cohesion, is how part 3 must flow from 2 and how 4 must flow from 3. Each segmant can stand on t's own as an interesting idea. And there is nothing wrong with the idea of mashing up generes, but don't just do it to do it.

The idea's you've presented are very big picture but things may flow on the personal level. Chafe does this very well in Genesis. The Book is split into 3 parts. In the first section a visionary sees the end coming and to save the species he sets out to build an arc ship. Big ideas yes, but told from a very personal level. The following 2 sections dealing with launching the ark and them life on it are also told on the personal level. If you want to embark on this project I reccomend giving it a read.

Jim

[Asimovking]

Yes I have alot of planning to do still. Im open to any ideas that i could use or any books you guys can point me to that would help. Im definitely going to check out Genesis and Exodus.

Maybe do Artificial Planet as a stand alone? That way the series goes...

1. Dying Earth --> 2. Generation Ship --> 3. Space Opera

I think I could make just a Space Opera series 8-10 books long, not for the sake of it being so many books, just that I have a ton of ideas for it. So I don't absolutely have to add it onto the end of this idea. I just think it would be awesome to do, whither it has been done before or not. But I will only do it if i can find an interesting way to do it that makes sense.

[Asimovking]

Does that sequence make more sense/sound better for a series?

Dying Earth--> Generation Ship--> Space Opera