Pure Speculation...

This project goes back to the days I was in high school, wishing I could be a shuttle astronaut – but with poor enough math skills to know the closest I'd get to space was my mindset in algebra class. Heck, I would've been pleased to be a writer for George Lucas or Gene Roddenberry, but being an average kid in an average Chicago suburb precluded any great expression for my imagination.

My response was to write a role playing science fiction game. I kept the project alive through college and developed it (and a few math skills) with plenty of input from my friends (who will not be named to spare them the taint to geekdom). At this point, the project is in development limbo, but seeing the progress on "Tech Latest" gives a little hope "Speculation SF" could eventually be resurrected, maybe as a tie-in or spin-off should any of the stories get market momentum.

Echoes of Netheril

World-building is de rigueur for genre writers, but this goes a step further: this is world re-building. The Echoes of Netheril is a new take on a shared world. Set around the rise of Netheril, a long-dead society in the Wizards of the Coast "Forgotten Realms" campaign setting, EoN strips the legend to its essence and recreates it with a new sense of realism and urgency.

EoN is an almanac of sorts, a revision of a well-known "Roll of Years" – with intention of exploring the fantastic through a very rational point of view. If you're interested in a new take on an old staple, then the Echoes of Netheril may be just what you're looking for.

The Research Paper

This is an academic project that will eventually be used as a background "universe" for a slew of science fiction stories. By having a pre-developed timeline, it boosts consistency and continuity within a given story. Additionally, by sharing history and sprinkling in cross-references, we hint at a greater depth, drawing the audience deeper (in marketing language, it's "cross-promoting"). Think of it as a kind of "future history," or what developers of the Star Trek or Star Wars franchises would call "the bible."

It originally started out as a study in the development of technology and it’s impact on society. As the research expanded into potential "disruptive technologies," the more background was necessary to trace the roots of both the tech itself and similar disruption in the past - so the document has a great deal of history in it as well. What is a "disruptive technology"? Think of the invention of cars... and all the saddle makers that were suddenly out of work. Disruptive technology is any development that profoundly alters the current socioeconomic paradigm.

Titled "Tech and Consequences," the working name was shortened to "Tech Latest." At the moment, there are five well-developed stories that share this background and about a dozen more in concept form... plus an an absolutely unlimited number of stories that can be generated from this future history.

LATEST UPDATE:
Work has been slow but steady on this monster. The major sections currently include:
* Fusion and energy issues.
* Aerospace.
* Materials and miniaturization.
* The Information Age.
* Genetics.
* Colonization and terraforming.
* Teleportation/transmat. Minimal development.
* Politics and diplomacy.
Most recently I've been working on the Information chapter, which includes such esoterics as computers, artificial intelligence, robotics and... neurocapacitance. Go ahead and chew on that one for a while, see if you can guess what semi-popular concept that explores.