Story Concepts

Sci-Fi: Post Planetary Frontier Life

Firefly, The Expanse, Star Trek, The Martian

The Expanse talks a bit about why the crew members went to the belt initially. Firefly had it as a central part of the theme.

One of the questions that always comes up about Firefly is why they were Old-Westy instead of more futuristic. Obviously a significant portion of the answer is artistic. But it makes an interesting question to explore.

Star Trek presents interesting examples of different hypothetical societies, some of which have an old west feel to them. How would you tell a compelling / credible story in which the society had elements of the old west? How would early post-planetary life on the Next Frontier resemble life on the The United States' New Frontier?

The Martian presents a story about a guy who acts a lot like a frontier farmer. Part agriculturist, part mechanic, part hacker, part scientist, part medic.

The Expanse has some people who have left society behind for a freer, higher risk, more rugged existence.

Dressing like settlers of the old west seems like an artistic affectation, but there is little to say it is particularly unrealistic.

Walking around armed and taking life-or-death risks as a matter of course align with what a frontier existence could be like.

Having planet-side town centers that look like old-fashioned western towns; moving building materials is expensive, so building with indigenous materials makes sense, but what about the tools used to do so? Would they have rough-hewn lumber floors made using hammer-forged tools? Or would they bear the transportation cost of more advanced tools to kick-start the planetside build-out?

What would the first village be like on a planet where a large group of settlers crashed and lost most of their technology? What if the next ship was not due for years, or decades, and communication would take nearly as long?

In short, what constraints get you to where you can tell the Wild West stories in space, in a credible fashion?