Technology

A note about technology – Joshua Fuld

As you explore the Brandon Sparks Universe you will find a diverse mixture of technologies. You will find tech that you use today, tech you will definitely be using in ten years, and tech your grandchildren will most likely be using. You will also find fantastical tech that might just be physically impossible! For those who dream of one day flying through the universe on a giant starship, I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

I point to the technologies used in the books as a way to differentiate the BSU from other fantasy worlds. A lot of people have it stuck in their minds that fiction set in the future has to be way over the top; everyone wears tight lycra body suits, food can just be replicated out of thin air, cars can fly, etc. It’s like if the author doesn’t hit you over the head with a flying car, how are you going to know it’s the future? Good fantasy fiction creates a balance between what is real and what the audience is willing to embrace as real.

One of the ways I achieve this balance is to include current technologies that will still be in use a hundred years from now. I’m not talking about fire. We all know that fire will be the same forever. I’m talking about things like the refrigerator. This is an amazing invention that is used to keep food at a specific chilly temperature, and is commonplace around the developed world. Can you name something that exists that is better at performing the same functions as a refrigerator? Can you name something that doesn’t exist, but that is grounded in the laws of physics, and works better than a refrigerator? I can’t. Yes, I believe refrigerators will become more efficient in both temperature exactitude and in their energy saving ability, but do I see it being replaced? No. So in the Brandon Sparks Universe there are refrigerators, and several other objects we currently use today.

I know this sounds silly, but readers can identify with a refrigerator (or another common technology), and by identifying with it, it makes accepting starships and aliens an easier thing to do.

When writing about Brandon Sparks, I try to keep things as realistic as possible. So please explore the technologies of the BSU, and while doing so, keep in mind that while there are many spectacular objects and events in the series, many of the technologies within the BSU are all around you!