I recently had a discussion with another author as well as a couple of my readers about the place of technology in SF. Probably the most difficult part of writing science fiction is projecting present-day technology into the far future. Change happens so rapidly these days that what I or other authors project to be true 90 years from now may well be the case in 10 years---or even tomorrow!
But the tech must still be believable or readers won't buy it ( the tech, not the book! ) Remember when Star Trek's communicators were an "Oh, wow!" invention? Now we all have communicators, only they are called cell phones! Many other technologies were once SF and are now reality. Most people don't even realize that to be true.
So SF writers have to walk a fine line when it comes to inventing future technology. In the long run, I believe, the story has to be predominant, not the tech, for a book to long remain relevant.
Just finished my phone conference with my publisher and everything looks on track. My ideas for the cover of True Son of Tartarus may be a bit too difficult to fully realize, but we will see what can be done. Wish me luck!
MRTighe
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