Charlie Stross
Charlie Stross  路  2 months ago
#WritersCoffeeClub 26: Do real-life events inspire your writing? Share an example.

As Ken Macleod remarked, "history is the secret weapon of the science fiction writer".

Not every time, not for every story element, but it's an *amazing* toy box that you can borrow from whenever you're stuck for an idea! Because fiction illustrates the human condition and humans get up to some really weird shit, for values of "you can't make that up" weird.

Coach P膩峁噄ni 庐
Coach P膩峁噄ni 庐  路  2 months ago

Content Warning

@cstross
These #history deep-dives by #IsaacAsimov are great reads and illustrate your point about using our actual world for #worldbuilding in #SciFi.
Michael Whelan
Michael Whelan  路  3 months ago

Content Warning

PEEKABOO FUZZIES (1983)
Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 16" x 22"

The Fuzzy Sapiens created by H. Beam Piper first appeared in the early 1960's and they were a welcome contrast to the menacing aliens that seemed to dominate science fiction of the day. 1/2

#sciencefiction#scifi #scifiart #sff #illustration#hbeampiper

A pair of adorable furry creatures poke their heads out from the cover of dense tropical vegetation. Their huge eyes are strikingly green, cat-like and glossy so that the treetops reflect in the light. Their noses lie long, wide, and flat. Their mouths aren't pronounced like an ape, but thin lips and the slit of their mouths does seem ape-like. Long tufts of light brown hair sweep outward around the eyes like a flaring mane, giving their faces a disproportionately wide countenance. Hair over the pate is smoothed back of their heads. Cat-like ears鈥攕oft rounded triangles鈥攁re set above and just outside their big eyes. One thick-fingered paw, lacking claws or nails of any sort, extends as if pushing the alien foliage aside.
A pair of adorable furry creatures poke their heads out from the cover of dense tropical vegetation. Their huge eyes are strikingly green, cat-like and glossy so that the treetops reflect in the light. Their noses lie long, wide, and flat. Their mouths aren't pronounced like an ape, but thin lips and the slit of their mouths does seem ape-like. Long tufts of light brown hair sweep outward around the eyes like a flaring mane, giving their faces a disproportionately wide countenance. Hair over the pate is smoothed back of their heads. Cat-like ears鈥攕oft rounded triangles鈥攁re set above and just outside their big eyes. One thick-fingered paw, lacking claws or nails of any sort, extends as if pushing the alien foliage aside.
A pair of adorable furry creatures poke their heads out from the cover of dense tropical vegetation. Their huge eyes are strikingly green, cat-like and glossy so that the treetops reflect in the light. Their noses lie long, wide, and flat. Their mouths aren't pronounced like an ape, but thin lips and the slit of their mouths does seem ape-like. Long tufts of light brown hair sweep outward around the eyes like a flaring mane, giving their faces a disproportionately wide countenance. Hair over the pate is smoothed back of their heads. Cat-like ears鈥攕oft rounded triangles鈥攁re set above and just outside their big eyes. One thick-fingered paw, lacking claws or nails of any sort, extends as if pushing the alien foliage aside.
Michael Whelan
Michael Whelan  路  3 months ago

Content Warning

LAST LOOK BACK (1989)
Acrylic on Watercolor Board - 36" x 24"

The way to the far horizon can only be made by transcending the red hill...beyond is only sky. 1/4

#sciencefiction#scifi #scifiart #illustration #robertheinlein

Portrait of author Robert Heinlein standing boldly in profile to face the twilight of an alien world. White hair recedes back on his forehead. A thin mustache traces his upper lip. He looks debonair, with the air of a mystic as shadow falls across the back of his coral robe. He holds a cane loosely in his right hand; his weight doesn't rest on it. Baked by strange light, papers and a half buried book lie discarded on the rippling sand behind him. A shiny silver rocket, suggesting a Hugo award, points skyward. Caught in a moment鈥攅ither taking flight or landing, with wings unfurled鈥攁n owl curls its talons about a curl of branch set on a plaque. Just beyond the shore where Heinlein stands, pearlescent blue water undulates and churns. A pair of islands, flanking him on either side, sit the horizon. A striped moon hangs over a mountainous peak on one isle; a square arch sits on a longer stretch of land to his right. Higher up, two gibbous craggy moons hang overhead.
Portrait of author Robert Heinlein standing boldly in profile to face the twilight of an alien world. White hair recedes back on his forehead. A thin mustache traces his upper lip. He looks debonair, with the air of a mystic as shadow falls across the back of his coral robe. He holds a cane loosely in his right hand; his weight doesn't rest on it. Baked by strange light, papers and a half buried book lie discarded on the rippling sand behind him. A shiny silver rocket, suggesting a Hugo award, points skyward. Caught in a moment鈥攅ither taking flight or landing, with wings unfurled鈥攁n owl curls its talons about a curl of branch set on a plaque. Just beyond the shore where Heinlein stands, pearlescent blue water undulates and churns. A pair of islands, flanking him on either side, sit the horizon. A striped moon hangs over a mountainous peak on one isle; a square arch sits on a longer stretch of land to his right. Higher up, two gibbous craggy moons hang overhead.
Portrait of author Robert Heinlein standing boldly in profile to face the twilight of an alien world. White hair recedes back on his forehead. A thin mustache traces his upper lip. He looks debonair, with the air of a mystic as shadow falls across the back of his coral robe. He holds a cane loosely in his right hand; his weight doesn't rest on it. Baked by strange light, papers and a half buried book lie discarded on the rippling sand behind him. A shiny silver rocket, suggesting a Hugo award, points skyward. Caught in a moment鈥攅ither taking flight or landing, with wings unfurled鈥攁n owl curls its talons about a curl of branch set on a plaque. Just beyond the shore where Heinlein stands, pearlescent blue water undulates and churns. A pair of islands, flanking him on either side, sit the horizon. A striped moon hangs over a mountainous peak on one isle; a square arch sits on a longer stretch of land to his right. Higher up, two gibbous craggy moons hang overhead.
Hippie Scuba Steve
Hippie Scuba Steve  路  3 months ago

Content Warning

Naomi: "Detonation confirmed, two of ours for two of theirs"

Holden: "Copy that"

Naomi: "Our other six are protecting the Razorback"

Alex: "Hell of a plan, cap. You must've aced tactical warfare at the Navy OCS"

From E302

#TheExpanse #SciFi

Alastair Temple
Alastair Temple  路  3 months ago

Content Warning

Because I other things in life have kept me stupidly busy recently and there has been no new art for a while. Here are the pieces that made up my Jumpgates series, completed between 2019 and 2021.

A mix of 2d and 3d techniques were used in creating these.

#ThrowbackThursday #DigitalArt #MastoArt#ArtOnMastodon#ArtByAlastairTemple#Scifi#ScienceFictionArt #spaceship

Hippie Scuba Steve
Hippie Scuba Steve  路  3 months ago

Content Warning

Amos: "In case I have to kill you, I just wanted to say thanks. You were always trying to be a good man. Not everybody does. Thank you. It was nice not having to worry about being on the right team"

From E213

#TheExpanse #SciFi

Rob Turpin
Rob Turpin  路  3 months ago

Content Warning

The Seventy Three. (Four colour options).

Fast Diplomatic Picket.

#SciFi#Spaceship #Illustration

Diane Magras (she/her)
Diane Magras (she/her)  路  4 months ago

Content Warning

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

5 stars

I finally read this beautiful character-driven sci-fi about a species-diverse team that's hired to tunnel wormholes and is heading toward a big, dangerous job. On the journey, they become a close-knit family, even the most antisocial outsider among them. A deep, socially-conscious, and powerful portrait of deep relationships and so many big issues.

@bookstodon #Books #Bookstodon#AmReading #Reading #SciFi

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