FANTASTIC REALMS

The urgent implications of climate change give an edge to writing sci-fi. Alex Davis looks at the vital questions involved in finding ‘another Earth’ in science-fiction

As climate change continues to have an ever-deeper effect, and discussion on the topic expands in all forums, the topic of space colonisation appears once again on the horizon.

Of course you’d like to think we’re a good many years away from that point, but the idea of humanity heading out into the stars and populating other planets has long been a staple within science-fiction. In the time of the Golden Age of science-fiction, this was a hopeful and optimistic forward expansion into lands unknown, brave travellers exploring an unfamiliar frontier. However as the genre has become darker it has become a pressing concern, a question of basic survival for the species in these far-flung tales.

In this article, we’ll be exploring how to write stories of humanity’s journey into the stars and colonising other worlds, and some of the creative and practical concerns it might bring.

The end of the world as we know it

When it comes to stories of space colonisation, one of the first things you’ll need to consider is what prompts the move. There’s a secondary question of when the story is going to be set, whether we are in the earliest days of efforts to move humanity elsewhere or if this has been an ongoing concern, but to have some concept of what prompted this mass migration into space is important as a writer. Of course there are a number of ways to play this, and you can make some serious social and political points depending which way you go. Here’s a few ideas to get you started: