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Good story, believable characters, an interesting conflict, good language, a bit of mystery, some emotional punch, appropriate length, unexpected plot twists, decent dialogue... oh, and one or more ideas, well executed.
SF books are still books.
space travel
advanced tech (this could likely be broken down into multiple things)
psychic powers
either dystopian govt or utopian civ
alien dangers
Hmm...
Hope you don't mind if I change the topic a little bit, but here are three things that science fiction stories don't necessarily need.
Interplanetary travel
A lot of science fiction sub-genres rarely feature interplanetary/interstellar travel, like cyberpunk. That said, I think I'd enjoy Star Trek a hell of a lot more if they didn't jump from system to system, but instead settled in one place and fleshed out a whole planet.
Misused technology.
Repeat after me: A glass test tube works. A plastic one might work better. Using force fields as the only method of containment around the deadly virus we just discovered is frickin' stupid, especially if the power supply has been previously demonstrated to be unreliable.
And don't forget weapons. If my anti-ship Neutrino Doom Beam takes seven minutes to charge up and can't fire beyond "Visual Range", I think I'll stick to railguns and missiles.
Mechs
I can think of three, maybe four science fiction universes that used them well. The rest is trash.
The idea of mechs is ludicrous, to be honest. Even today, they compare the size and speed of the very biggest tanks (which seem to be on the way out because they are too large and not fast enough), limited firepower due to limited space and the terrain mobility of infantry (but infantry unable to find cover due to size).
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One thing I always say is, the difference between scifi and fantasy is in scifi you have adamantium, and in fantasy you have adamantine.
science that is at least based on enough real science to not annoy scientists that are watching the science fiction
LazarX is that a thing I said I consider or that you consider
Seriously, Cruise destroys every sci-fi project he gets attached too. Well, except Scientology, I guess.
Don't forget Will Smith. I'm amazed that Men In Black came out as good as it did.
1)Techno-babble
2)Strange exploration, or exploration of something new
3)Technology integral to the plot, such as space ships, future armor/weapons
4)a great foe, my favorite example being the Reapers from the Mass Effect games
5)Put the fate of the planet/galaxy/universe at stake
6)Great back story, to give depth to exploration, maybe an extinct powerful civilization, crazy tech being just now rediscovered
7)Fleshed out biology of the aliens, foes, allies
8)Future societies and implications to the new tech, aliens, and foes; such as the implications of a future govt to AI or galactic war
9) An awesome tech McGuffin that is a game changer or upsets the status quo that drives exploration
10) The story driver being separate even hated foes must come together in a desperate bid for survival, and the only way to possibly win is a desperate, insane gambit against all odds
Bonus 11) Make a bad guy a Magnificent Bastard, running a xanatos gambit :)
I also love the dichotomy between technology being the means to solve problems and the humanity being the sole means of survival. I also love the social implications of people using advanced technology and working with other races. My favorite example of great sci fi is Mass Effect; I love the way they introduced the social implications of AI run rampant and let's you draw your own conclusions, such as the difference between the Normandy, the Geth and the Reapers; three different examples of artificial intelligence on the universe.
Also the back story of the Proteans and their story; the rise of their civilization, their successes and failures, and their demise by the reapers. I really loved that it even showed that the Proteans didn't even create the mass effect relays and the citadel, it leaves so many questions while sating the want to find out more.
Also I love the idea of how the different races were so bad off and couldn't come together without such a strong presence as Sheperd. They were going to destroy each other even while the reaper threat was looming.
Seriously, Cruise destroys every sci-fi project he gets attached too. Well, except Scientology, I guess.Don't forget Will Smith. I'm amazed that Men In Black came out as good as it did.He doesn't destroy every sci-fi property though.
The MiB movies were good. Independence Day was (empty) fun.
Really it's just the last one that was horrible.
Yeah, Will Smith gets cast in some pretty lame movies, but ya can't blame the guy for accepting huge cheques in exchange for reciting some cheesy dialogue from someone's half-baked script.
And hey, I Am Legend is one of my favorite scifi films! I tear up every time I see...
Good story, believable characters, an interesting conflict, good language, a bit of mystery, some emotional punch, appropriate length, unexpected plot twists, decent dialogue... oh, and one or more ideas, well executed.
SF books are still books.
Yes, this!
I will add that while I can enjoy stories that involve time travel -- Lost, Star Trek, etc. -- I've never read or seen anything that I didn't enjoy despite the time travel. My favorites all have a conspicuous lack of time-space continuum shenanigans, even when the story flirts with time manipulation, as with Frank Herbert's Dune.
Whether book, tv, or film there are ten things you consider vital to good scifi. What are they?
One and one thing only...
Sexy aliens.
Seriously, Cruise destroys every sci-fi project he gets attached too. Well, except Scientology, I guess.Don't forget Will Smith. I'm amazed that Men In Black came out as good as it did.He doesn't destroy every sci-fi property though.
The MiB movies were good. Independence Day was (empty) fun.
Really it's just the last one that was horrible.
Yeah, Will Smith gets cast in some pretty lame movies, but ya can't blame the guy for accepting huge cheques in exchange for reciting some cheesy dialogue from someone's half-baked script.
And hey, I Am Legend is one of my favorite scifi films! I tear up every time I see...
** spoiler omitted **
If you liked the film, try the short book. For added immersion, read it while the songs the protagonist plays are on. That will take you to paranoid places good buddy.
And hey, I Am Legend is one of my favorite scifi films! I tear up every time I see...
The movie entirely missed everything that made the original book amazing.
It's like the script writers went through the book page by page and intentionally changed everything to the point where giving the movie the same name as the book is basically a lie.
I agree, and I sure missed the Robert Neville from literature being in the film (how I was looking forward to the drifting to sleep scene), but if he wants to get the real deal, he will track down the book (or read it online).
beleivable supernatural powers without nonsense technobabble and misused scientific terms. i'm not saying "it's magic" should be sufficient. but generally, any supernatural powers must be consistent and should they have an explanation, it should be beleivable, even if it isn't realistic. i know it is fiction. instead of tying magic to quantum theory, behind the guise of technobabble, calling it a lost science fueled by using a combination brainpower and personal electrical output to manipulate matter should be fine enough. keep the technobabble simple and don't go too overboard. guy can use psionics to enhance his strength? it is fine to explain the rarely used non-conventional discipline of Psychometabolism, as a Psionic power that is internally focused and uses one's own body fat as a power source for physical augmentation, whether to heal stuff that is otherwise impossible to heal, or to increase output. but how many psychometabolists do you honestly see in fiction?
That's funny... much of the best sci-fi I've ever read or watched has at most, only one of the above, sometimes none.space travel
advanced tech (this could likely be broken down into multiple things)
psychic powers
either dystopian govt or utopian civ
alien dangers
Well your sci-fi is WRONG!!! Just kidding. :) I didn't mean that you had to have all of the above, just that those are some things I enjoy. Sci-fi is so broad some of the best stuff will have none of that depending on the sub-genre. I loved "The Cat That Could Walk Through Walls" and it was pretty much just near future mystery on a space station. Same goes for "Outland", just a western in space.
Barring the obvious (well written characters, a solid plot, a good myth arc, interesting ideas, etc.) there's one thing I think sci-fi (and Fantasy, but especially sci-fi) needs.
Internal consistency.
Give me your technobabble. Have it work based on half-baked pseudo-science and physical impossibilities. Whatever.
But dammit, keep your story straight. If your explanation for why your plasma gun is able to fire without the plasma just dripping out the end is "a stable magnetic flux holding the plasma into a cohesive whole" then that better be how it works when somebody explains it again later. If it's now "gravitational manipulation to keep the plasma compacted until it reaches its target, where it expands" I'm gonna call b#!!%*%$ (and bad writing).
Well, since everyone has mentioned all the right things that a movie or book should have, I guess the only thing I can add are my favorite movies.
Babylon 5 Strazinski liked to have a beginning, middle and end. Even though the show wasn't complete, he strove to get all three in the show.
Dr. Who: getting time travel done the right way. I think Dr. Who looked to always have the right audience and have this little bit of "scare" in each show.
Firefly: Only once season but ahead of its time. It treats space like space (no rocket engine noise). I think if Clint Eastwood somehow appeared in an episode it would have been great (expensensive, but great).
I suppose there are tons more I could think of but these are the first one that come to mind.
Outland? Outland!? I'm sorry when the movie has characters going through an inflated tube on an airless world wielding pump action SHOTGUNS!space travel
advanced tech (this could likely be broken down into multiple things)
psychic powers
either dystopian govt or utopian civ
alien dangers
See what happens when you don't have advanced tech, psychic powers, and alien dangers! :)
Good story, believable characters, an interesting conflict, good language, a bit of mystery, some emotional punch, appropriate length, unexpected plot twists, decent dialogue... oh, and one or more ideas, well executed.
SF books are still books.
Yes, this!
I will add that while I can enjoy stories that involve time travel -- Lost, Star Trek, etc. -- I've never read or seen anything that I didn't enjoy despite the time travel. My favorites all have a conspicuous lack of time-space continuum shenanigans, even when the story flirts with time manipulation, as with Frank Herbert's Dune.
My absolute favourite time travel story is The Anubis Gates, maybe you should try that too.
Dr. Who: getting time travel done the right way. I think Dr. Who looked to always have the right audience and have this little bit of "scare" in each show.
Doctor Who has possibly the least consistent 'science' of any science-fiction. The time-travel and everything else runs solely on the laws of 'plot'. For example, the consequences of meeting your past self are totally different every time it happens.
Wibbly-wobbly, indeed.
Yes, I'm a bit jaded.
Beyond what everyone else said (Good plot, characterization, etc)
-Minimal technobabble. I don't mind if a science fiction uses speculative ideas to explain the technology, but please keep the science in the setting consistent. I hate it though when technobabble is used to randomly get characters out of any problem they have, or to restrict the characters actions in ways that it didn't a few books/episodes ago.
-Keep a theme. Having a consistent theme in a novel or science fiction show is good, whether it's exploring the consequences of a certain technology or taking another genre and putting it in a new setting. Some themes to me just don't gell well when they are used in a kitchen sink approach (I am looking at you, time travel)
-Realistic time frames: Personally, if you are going to create a story about people colonizing the galaxy, try not to set it within the next 20 years. I always get distracted when I read space opera set in the far future of 1990.
-Build a realistic culture: Another pet peeve of mine is how much a future setting coincidentally shares all the same fashion/moral qualms/etc as today. Obviously you need shared cultural touchstones, but I think it's silly to think society will remain static between now and a hundred years from now, when it hasn't even in the last 50 years. Also I eyeroll everytime a show set hundreds of years in the future has characters that are somehow intimately familar with all of today's pop culture.
If you liked the film, try the short book. For added immersion, read it while the songs the protagonist plays are on. That will take you to paranoid places good buddy.
Added to my reading list!
The movie entirely missed everything that made the original book amazing.
It's like the script writers went through the book page by page and intentionally changed everything to the point where giving the movie the same name as the book is basically a lie.
...Welcome to Hollywood cinema! It's much more enjoyable when you stop expecting film adaptations to be the same as the source fiction.
My absolute favourite time travel story is The Anubis Gates, maybe you should try that too.Good story, believable characters, an interesting conflict, good language, a bit of mystery, some emotional punch, appropriate length, unexpected plot twists, decent dialogue... oh, and one or more ideas, well executed.
SF books are still books.
Yes, this!
I will add that while I can enjoy stories that involve time travel -- Lost, Star Trek, etc. -- I've never read or seen anything that I didn't enjoy despite the time travel. My favorites all have a conspicuous lack of time-space continuum shenanigans, even when the story flirts with time manipulation, as with Frank Herbert's Dune.
Added to my list!
Also, Tim Powers seems to have written a novel that inspired the fourth Pirates movie...
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I think I'd enjoy Star Trek a hell of a lot more if they didn't jump from system to system, but instead settled in one place and fleshed out a whole planet.
Dude. Deep Space 9. You should watch Deep Space 9.