Plausible

I do not write ‘hard’ science fiction but I attempt to write plausible science fiction. That works best if I remain somewhat vague on details; that is, the more we attempt to explain things, the more likely we are to be wrong!

When Jack McFee claims his sidearm is constructed of a ‘carbon-beryllium matrix,’ it is a meaningless statement of itself. I give no further explanation as to what that entails but Jack does make an offhand assertion that it is difficult-to-impossible for sensors to pick up. All that is plausible if I don’t go further and attempt pseudo-scientific explanations.

Similarly with the various ships’ drives: I name some that are known today (such as ion drives) but only in passing as propulsion units no longer in wide use or only for specialized applications. But I do not explain at all the ‘thrust tubes’ that power most craft (including air-cars). Even while pointing out they come in more than one version, pulse-tubes and so on, and attempting to give a very rudimentary idea of what the differences are. I will probably never give any sort of details on the science behind the thrust tube, though there is information in my notes that may fill out my readers’ understanding in future books (as much of the technology I allude to in the novels, it is based on the use of ultra-heavy elements). They do not really need to know more, of course, but most SF readers like a little detail in their world-building.

Nor do I give any explanation of jump-drives, other than some quantum cliches and the suggestion that my folk of the future don’t completely understand the mechanisms themselves. At least, there does seem to be science involved, though the human mind also plays a part (though it’s not teleportation purely by thought, as in ‘Alienese’).

The best way to make science fiction—or any fiction, for that matter—plausible is to be consistent. Have reasonably clear-cut rules and stick to them. That I do attempt. I do fairly fully-realized world-building, both before and as I write, and if things do not fit, I will probably change the story before the rules. Definitely if the rules have already been stated in a previous book in a series.

As far as hard science-fiction goes, I’m doubting I’ll ever write any, under this name or another. I’m no scientist, though knowledgeable enough—at least about things that interest me.

(reblogged from the older site)