How much science with your fiction?

Discuss the June 2017 Book of the Month, Superhighway by Alex Fayman. Superhighway is the first book in the Superhighway Trilogy, so feel free to use this forum to discuss not only the first book but also the other books in the series.

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ReadersCode
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Re: How much science with your fiction?

Post by ReadersCode »

For me, adding a touch of science in a fictional story is wonderful because sometimes it explain how it happened in the story even it is imaginary.
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Post by Elaine5 »

I agree with khusnick ... just enough science for the fiction to make sense. I want to believe in the possibility of the fictional events.
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Post by greenstripedgiraffe »

khusnick wrote:I like when the science is included to an extent. I don't like extensive explanations with terminology that I can't understand. I just want the fiction to make a little bit of sense. A brief but helpful answer as to how things work in the book is all I need.
I'm with you. I want the science to at least sound plausible (to my unscientific mind), but i don't want huge amounts of explanation that I can't understand anyway.
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Post by Scerakor »

I am a scientist by background and education. For that reason (or maybe at least enhanced by it) I am extremely happy when my sci-fi has a healthy dose of real, properly researched, science that is readily apparent in the books themselves. For me, it adds a level of realism that the book wouldn't have otherwise. What I love even more is where the science is so real (or the research is so real in another genre) that even I have a hard time seeing where reality ends and the fiction begins.
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Post by e-tasana-williams »

I love to have science included in the sci-fi story. The most entertaining reads for me are the ones that pose how current science *may* lead to the discovery of future scientific possibilities, and a story that can be developed from this possible situation. I love to read how "quaint" or "misunderstood" current science is, because it reminds us that we don't have all the answers, and never will. Progress continues. It may not be linear, but it continues nonetheless. Thank you for the thought-provoking question!
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Post by Lest92 »

I don't often read sci-fi, but when I do, I appreciate a scientific explanation for whatever happens - I can bear with biology, physics will escape me at some point, but it doesn't matter as long as there is an explanation for me to wrap my head around. Anthony Skelton's Asymptote had an explanation for the main character's time travelling machine which made sense to me, and if I remember correctly, Jurassic Park also explained the resurrected dinosaurs in a way that seemed plausible.
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Post by joshmanzano »

I'd appreciate it if the science was explained in any way, but it won't affect my view on the sci-fi if they keep it mysterious.
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Post by Kinnera »

As a science student, I prefer the author not go overboard with explanations because mostly science fiction has more than a splash of fiction and I'd rather not spend my time picking out errors I can find. I enjoy my fix as much but do like it more fiction than science.
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Post by ritah »

I love science so the more science incorporated into the book the better.
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Post by Pm7lucas »

It doesn't really bother me if the science isn't fully explained when I am reading a sci-fi story, but I do enjoy it when there is an explanation even if it is highly technical.

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Post by ValEtt »

It's funny I should run across this question, because I was just looking at some of the forum topics for Superhighway and thinking, "Man, even this discussion has too much science for me." I definitely like light or 'soft' scifi. Like somebody else mentioned, the -fi part of scifi implies that the science is advanced enough to necessitate fiction. In my mind, that means that it can't be explained in a way that would be clear to me, or else it would just be fiction. I prefer to know as much or as little as the author wants to share, and then just buckle in for the ride.
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Post by Afuglsan »

Science helps me understand foreign concepts. If I know what science should be included, however, and it isn't, I get irritated.
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Post by Rachel1019 »

I think that it makes the fiction much more believable when the author uses logical explanations to explain it. I think there is a point though that makes it too technical. But I thought Superhighway did a good job of making it believable, but not boring.
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Post by geoffrey ngoima »

I like it 50/50, I think science explains and is an integral part of life, in fact, it is life, and the spirits, let's bump it up to 100% then
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Post by Ashley Simon »

I tend to prefer more science than fiction. I have to be convinced in order to step into the world of the story. Otherwise, I can't settle in and enjoy it. I know lots of sci-fi buffs who would disagree, though - it's all personal preference!
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