The Two Laws of Writing Firm SF

Alistair Young

Nov 2, 2015

…is today’s meta-post. These are the rules I live by, or at least the rules I write by.

One: If it violates the laws of physics or other natural laws in the setting, you can’t have it. On the other hand, you’re entitled to buy all the awesomeness you can squeeze inside them¹.

Two: Any sufficiently advanced science and technology is functionally indistinguishable from space magic. It just has to work harder, and so do you.

1. Spartan-analogs riding armored bears inside boarding torpedoes in space included, obviously.

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