1. AboveTheAngels

    AboveTheAngels New Member

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    Thoughts on a Sci-Fi plot

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by AboveTheAngels, Feb 22, 2010.

    I am a new writer in terms of novels. I have created a somewhat I beleive to be great plot however the problem is a plot at this height is very controversial and I was hoping fellow writers could give their input on whether this could work or not. If you think that this plot may make or break a good Science fiction series.

    My dream is to create a science fiction novel and hopefully create a universe big enough to house a series with many different aliens and worlds such as Startrek and Starwars.

    My plot is illustrated through the collision of galaxies. What I pictured is that each galaxy has many different races and planets. Example the Milkyway is the galaxy of the human race. Eventually the Milkyway will collide with the Andromeda galaxy. Which I have pictured the Andromeda Galaxy as housing many other races and planets. When the two merge so to speak I pictured that they would coexsist in the same galaxy and live among each other.

    The main problems are:

    1.) The merging of galaxies would take millions of years and even if a race could last in terms of time could they survive a clash with another galaxy seeing as their is little evidence of galaxy collision.

    2.)Obviously i would have to establish routes of getting around space within a reasonable time because getting from planet to planet would take years at least. So I would have to create a means of getting from point A to point B within a reasonable time.

    and there are many more issues that would get in the way of this theory.

    My plot begins as there was once two races that lived among each other in one galaxy eventually that galaxy collided with another galaxy which introduced new races and so forth. These galaxies kept colliding until it came to the Andromeda and the Milkyway. My story takes place after the Andromeda and Milkyway galaxies have already collided which the new galaxy is called the Alistar Galaxy.

    I want to call my series Galaxy Clash.

    Anyways that is the basic body of the plot.

    My first story is about the human race being one of the newest races to the galaxy due to the milkyway being the latest galaxy to collide. The humans are coexsisting with several other alien races each with their own agendas and flavors that they add to the universe. The story then goes on to explain how each race has their own home planet which is exclusive to that race so humans have their own planet in which is theirs no other species can set foot on their world without consent or privelage.

    Then to maintain a balance of peace I created a huge mother planet which acts as a soupbowl so to speak. Any race can go here and here is a council in which each race has a representative.

    The plot conflict which makes the story then says that life sustaining planets are rare and vary among races but most can alter the planet to fit their needs to survive. The humans planet is nearing its end and without another planet to call home they will eventually see the end of their race. A new planet is discovered capable of sustaining life to a great deal of the races thus conjuring voices to rise. The humans seek the planet to call home others seek the planet for power, breeding grounds, resources etc... This brings a war over a planet to a galaxy that has maintained peace for centuries.

    The plot then will go on to have a great battle between races take place on the planet where a new race a parasite that infiltrates itself into a host and takes over it. The host is controlled by the parasite however the bodies only last about a week before they are dead. This race is called the fallen because anything can become one. The parasite when in a host can choose when it will be active or dormant. It can spread like wildfire. Through contact etc.... When the virus lays dormant in hosts that leave the war and return to their home worlds etc.... It is quickly spread through out the universe which brings a galaxy from war to a galaxy united to stop a galactic threat....

    My plot is very large and needs many bridges to be built before it will become crystal clear but I would appreciate ideas thoughts and suggestions.

    Thank you for your time sorry about it being so long I tried to simplify.
     
  2. Space_Goose

    Space_Goose New Member

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    Well to be honest, I am working on a sci-fi story myself and some elements of it are very similar to yours, very similar. So I of course think it is a good idea. ;) The only major difference I see between mine and yours is the amount of different "aliens". At the most, my primary story will have 15 alien races in it not the loads that Star Wars and Star track has.

    Anyway, I think it works :)
     
  3. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    A story concept means nothing. I can tell you now, it has been done before. What matters is how you write it, the characterization, the flow, the imagery, all of it.

    There's no benefit in asking what other people think of the concept! They'll either say,"Sounds great," or, "it sounds like a ripoff of..."

    If the idea stirs you, write it. Then ask people what they think of the final story. After they tell you what they don't like about it, revise it, usually several times, until you're happy with it or until you throw up your hands and say the hell with it.

    Please read this thread about What is Plot Creation and Development?

    Having said that, there are problems with the concept. As you already noted, the time frame for galaxies to "collide" is on a much larger time scale than the evolution and extinction of life forms as we know them.

    Also, the universe is expanding, so nearly all galaxies are moving away from each other. If galaxies do "collide", the gravitational fields interacting will disrupt planetary orbits around their stars. This will extinguish most life forms on the affected planets as the climates are altered: ice planets becoming molten balls of rock, habitable worlds losing their atmospheres, etc.
     
  4. JTheGreat

    JTheGreat New Member

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    Meh...it sounds an awful lot like Star Wars. Plus, your topic is so broad you rpobably won't know where to start.

    First off, consider changing the title. Copycat names are an awful turn-off when they're not parody.
     
  5. fandango

    fandango New Member

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    You've built a universe (which I don't think will work), but where's the story? Even in the star wars and star trek world there are protagonists and antagonists to hang the story on. Start thinking small and consider the main characters before you go big.
     
  6. Endricte

    Endricte New Member

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    Truth be told, I like the idea.

    Galaxies do in fact collide, but for the most part they are pretty boring. You're looking at around a few billion years or so before they start to come together, and after that it's a very slow process. Between Andromeda and The Milk Way, there is so much empty space in them, there will really be very little interaction between the stars and such until the super massive black holes at the galactic core merge.

    Also, by the time the galaxies start to merge, life will no longer be sustainable on Earth. Either the sun would have bloated out to consume the planet or the dwindling mass of the sun would cause the Earth to push back as the sun bloats out. Either way, no life on Earth.

    Also, merging galaxies make bigger galaxies. But you seem to assume that all these aliens would know of each other, when in fact they'll probably be very, very far from each other. And, in our Local Group of galaxies, The Milky Way and Andomeda are the biggest, with mere dwarf galaxies within it that are small (not even close to the description of what a galaxy that has merged several times would be like). If you're talking about something coming in from within the Local Supercluster, the other closest group is still about 11 million light years away from the boundary of our group, and that might have massive galaxies in it, but the chance of those making their way towards the The Milky Way are astronomically high to near impossible. The universe will have probably expanded out to a cold, dead place before that happens.

    I see why you want to go with the concept, but there's no way around the hurdles, unless you throw logic out the window, or if you place your merging galaxies somewhere else in the universe.

    The war and virus aspects sound interesting, though. I think what you wanted was to establish your universe first, then start on the stories. I've been there. It's a neat concept, but I wonder if it is so improbable that basing your stories around such a concept would immediately throw off a reader.

    *Sorry for being such a damper*
     
  7. ManOfSteel

    ManOfSteel Member

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    An interesting cosmic event for a sci-fi story would be when the Sun is starting to become a red giant in about a billion years. The increased heat will kill all life on Earth. Your story could happen at the beginning of the process, as oceans dry up and life starts to die.
     
  8. Cazaric

    Cazaric New Member

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    Am I the only one to think of the Halo series when I read this?
     
  9. Manic056

    Manic056 New Member

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    As a politics student, perhaps I can offer some advice on the galactic council you mentioned. I've been doing constant research on the EU over the last few days, and perhaps Federalism is the answer to this issue.
     
  10. betterletters

    betterletters New Member

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    Like Space Goose, I was working on a story almost identical to yours (with a very similar title), except I was going to have the juncture between the two galaxies to be a recent discovery and that juncture would be some kind of gate-type phenomenae. As I thought it out, I decided what's the point, plot-wise? I did have in mind a symbolism regarding dual galaxies but the practical science of it and my lack of technical knowledge seemed to make the concept unwieldy. I suppose that is why it is more popular to use a stratified reality with beings on different planes or in other dimensions. I mean, what is the advantage of two galaxies? The primary one I can see would be highly developed races that have arisen without previous exposure to each other. But like everyone said galaxy crashes aren't like car crashes, they take a very long time. You just need your races to be separated by some kind of barrier or phenomena that comes down suddenly and throws them all in the mix. If you have developed all your races, etc you can recycle them into a new story, but if your like me, you're so emotionally invested in something so big a frustrating you might try to tell yourself your going to write a totally new story. All your old work will find its own way into your new story without you trying. This is all mostly my opinion, I'm no expert. Hope it helps. Good Luck.
     
  11. Nackl of Gilmed

    Nackl of Gilmed New Member

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    I like the idea of using galactic drift as a way to explain your different alien races and worlds coming together. I think what you need is some reason for the galaxies to all dramatically speed up. As I understand it, the Milky Way galaxy is set to collide with Andromeda in about 3 billion years. This could probably benefit from some sci-fi Maguffin.
     
  12. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    You are talking about accelerating incomprehensibly huge masses to close to lightspeed. Consider the mass of even a single solar system, then multiply that by a hundred billion, and you're close to the mass of our one galaxy. And a galaxy isn't a single chunk of matter. It's bound together by gravitational forces, but would come apart like smoke in the wind if you tried to exert the forces needed to accelerate it to speed up the collision to a timeframe on the same order as biological lifespans.
     
  13. Nackl of Gilmed

    Nackl of Gilmed New Member

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    Science is always spoiling my fun.
     
  14. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    It's what separates SCIENCE fiction from fantasy. ;)
     

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