Monday, March 25, 2013

World Building and the Universal Worlds Problem - Guest Post by M Pax!


Please Welcome, M Pax, author extraordinaire!
 

Tyrean and I are switching blogs today... Thanks for letting me borrow yours, Tyrean. The view over here is awesome. A change of scenery is always nice...

Which is why I write about other worlds... whether out in the galaxy, magically hidden here on Earth, or just plain made up. Other worlds in the galaxy seems to be my favorite, though.

A few issues in reality have formed my creation of worlds in the Backworlds series. First, traveling long distances in space... Voyager I is finally about to leave our solar system. It launched in 1977.


Even if we develop faster than light speed or light speed capability, we have no idea what’s out there, and there are probably very few worlds exactly like ours.

So, in the Backworlds, humanity has only spread out farther in the Orion arm of the galaxy and hasn’t gone very far yet in my books, relatively speaking. They use a roadway — the Lepper — that accelerates speed between stars, but they don’t arrive instantly. It still takes days, weeks, or longer – depending on the distance.

People are so well adapted to Earth, that it’d be tough for humans to live and thrive elsewhere. Even if a planet was very similar in atmosphere to Earth, the gravity may not be, and that can be a real sticking point.



In the Backworlds, I figured it’d be easier to adapt ourselves through genetic manipulation to thrive on new worlds than to terraform planets. We can’t even manage our own planet, so I don’t see it as likely that we’ll be able to manage another’s. It’s more efficient and seems like it’d be less work to change the people. That’s what I did in the Backworlds

 The first wave of modified humans, the Foreworlders, were the most like Earth humans and settled world most like our own. The Backworlders were created later, basically because they have more modifications, and were made to settle less Earth-like worlds. After all, there are more planets not like ours than like ours. And we’re pretty good at adapting. So I think that’s what we’d do.

 What do you think? Do you think we’ll ever settle a world beyond Earth?
 
Yes!!! (Just had to throw my two cents in here) Thanks for the awesome post, M Pax!!!
 
If you would like to learn about my own messed up journey with world building and language, come join me at M Pax's blog for a bit about Babel Fish.
 
 
M Pax recently released the third book in her Backworlds series, Boomtown Craze! Check out the Backworlds and take a trip into the wild unknown with Craze, a reluctant hero with a heart of gold!  

M. Pax is author of the sci-fi series, The Backworlds, and the new adult contemporary fantasy The Renaissance of Hetty Locklear. A Browncoat and SG fan, she’s also slightly obsessed with Jane Austen. In the summers she docents as a star guide at Pine Mountain Observatory where the other astronomers now believe she has the most extensive collection of moon photos in existence. No fear, there will be more next summer. She lives in stunning Central Oregon with the Husband Unit and two lovely, spoiled cats.

You can also find M. Pax on LinkedIN, Pinterest, YouTube, and Wattpad


You can try the first book in the series, The Backworlds, for free. All formats for all ereaders and now in paperback (not free). LINKS

Boomtown Craze can be found here:
Ebook and paperback: AmazonUS / AmazonUK / B&N / Smashwords

Other Outlets can be found at http://mpaxauthor.com

In the far future, humanity settles the stars, bioengineering its descendents to survive in a harsh universe.


To secure his future, Craze must propel his world into a more prosperous era. Only days away from the grand opening of his new and improved tavern, he is confronted by a loony Backworlder intent on mucking up his plans. Gaunt and trembling, she claims her spaceship is possessed. She also has a connection to the underworld that shakes loose the dark past of one of Craze’s closest friends. It all threatens to end Craze’s prosperity before it begins.


Meanwhile off world, Captain Talos works desperately to outwit the mercenary Jixes and lure them away from his and Craze’s budding prospects. The mind-control weapon Talos uses against them is wearing thin, and his next move may be his last.


Will Craze and Talos’s efforts bring about a grand new age of boom or damn them to forever struggle in the dust?


Want a chance at a free ebook? Just come up with a crazy combo, ie, a dainty flower that devours people, leave your reply either HERE or HERE.

 

 

20 comments:

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Earth is pretty unique. I doubt we'd find many worlds exactly like our own.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Modifying humans makes more sense. It would be easier to adapt to a new planet than the other way around.

mshatch said...

I am also writing a scifi novel and I've chosen to use both FTL and wormholes for my peeps to get around the galaxy. But like you I have humans spreading out from earth. No aliens - yet :)

And genetic modification does make the most sense.

M Pax said...

Thanks for letting me borrow your blog today, Tyrean. It's fun being here.

We'd probably find close, Diane. Close is most likely where we'd start.

I agree, Alex

Moving around can be a sticky widget, MsHatch. My observatory friends go off on fiction all the time. I remind them it's fiction and entertainment, and that reality is often boring. :)

Natalie Aguirre said...

Thanks for sharing about your world building. Your story sounds good and I've been admiring the cover.

Off to see Tyrean's post.

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

I do think we'll settle a world beyond Earth. I hope we actually make it to another solar system. That would be awesome. I want Star Trek to be real.

Laura Eno said...

I like the route you took, Mary. Adapting people seems more likely than whole planets - all that messy spin, gravity, density, light, etc - gives me a headache just thinking about it. Throw in a pinch of gene splicing... :)

M Pax said...

Thanks, Natalie :)

I want it to be real, too, Michael.

It is headache worthy, Laura.

Suzanne Furness said...

Modified humans, yeah maybe changing the people rather than the planet would work. Interesting concept and a different view of life away from earth.


PS. Tyrean, If you read this I left you a sunshine award on my blog today :)

Luanne G. Smith said...

That makes so much sense that we would be better at manipulating our genes and adapting to our environment (we've been doing it for eons) rather than changing the atmosphere of a another planet (though we're also really good at building the equivalent of beaver dams to change a place to suit our needs). What fun you must have with the worldbuilding. :)

Unknown said...

At the rate our world changes, anything is possible!

M Pax said...

I think it makes sense, Suzanne.

True that we can be good at both, LG. But I figure it's more cost effective to change ourselves.

That's true, Adriana

Carol Kilgore said...

I think things we can't even imagine now will happen. I hope we all are still around to see some of it.

Nick Wilford said...

I love the logical thinking behind all this. We are meant to adapt and evolve and as an impatient bunch it makes sense we'd try to speed it up if needed.

Christine Rains said...

Great post! I want to believe humans will one day start populating other planets, but I'm not sure we'll make it that far. Yet I agree that adapting through genetic mutation is a clever way to live in other places. It makes a lot of sense. We see it a lot with organisms on our planet adapting to various climates. With science, we can force the changes too.

Mark Means said...

I definitely see humanity developing faster than light travel. When that happens, is anyone's guess :)

Elizabeth Seckman said...

You sci-fi world builders amaze me! Great post.

Tyrean Martinson said...

M Pax - Thank you!

Tyrean Martinson said...

Diane - Earth is amazingly unique!

Alex - I had an interesting conversation about genetic modification yesterday that made e realize that although I think genetic modification sounds really cool in fiction, the reality might be a bit scary.

mshatch - humans spreading out makes the most sense to me at this point, and with our curious nature and desire to go beyond the horizon, I'm sure that many people might willingly head down the modified path someday.

M Pax - Thanks for being here. It gave me a chance to think about travel, modifications, and scifi stuff in a new way.

Natalie - M Pax's story is good. :)

Suzanne - Wow! Thanks!

LG - the things that we can do are amazing, whether it's modifying plants, or ourselves, it seems as if humanity as a whole is always pushing the envelope . . .which makes M Pax's story all the more realistic.

Adriana - True

Carol - I agree.

Nick - we are definitely an impatient bunch!

Christine - humanity has a way of making things happen, and I think the genetic modification ideas presented in fiction could very well be part of our reality someday.

Mark - yes, and it's fun to imagine it.

Elizabeth - M Pax has an amazing gift for story-building!

M Pax said...

I hope so, too, Carol

I believe we would, Nick

Exactly, Christine. I guess that would make us a bit like a virus to the galaxy.

I would love to see that happen, Mark, and I'd love to go on the ride

Thanks, Elizabeth!

It's been really fun hanging out here, Tyrean :)