My “Zaneverse” stories are set about 500 years down the line. The main characters are just regular folk living in a space opera world where mankind is out among the stars, flitting about in ships with hyperdrive and artificial gravity, interacting with a limited range of aliens species. Perhaps not so innovative, I suppose. But humanity in these stories is not and overwhelming wave of colonists sweeping the galaxy aside in our trillions… because humanity out in space is derived form a relatively tiny few who survived the collapse of terrestrial civilization. At the beginning of the 22nd century, humanity is nearly wiped out and has to rebuild and expand off-world. The 21st century turns out to be a long litany of horrible things.
In my stories, this back story is hardly ever mentioned. In a story set in t he current day, how much jibberjabber will there be about, say, the Renaissance or various wars and migrations four or five hundred years ago? Sure, *today* you could well have a story where characters Just Will Not Shut Up about how their ancestors were oppressed hundreds of years ago; but let’s be honest, these people are dreary and meaningless. Still, in order to set up my world of 500 years from now, I had to work up a basic framework of their past. And one of the more important series of events from the mid/late 21st century was to be the “Pan Asian Wars.” China vs Japan. India vs China. Pakistan vs India. Korea vs Korea. Korea vs Japan. Russians getting involved, the US trying Real Hard to stay uninvolved. The end result would be ecological destruction and mass death unlike anything in prior history.
It was *supposed* to happen a few generations from now…
Come on, people. Ya gotta wait until the US sets up a few self-sustaining off-world colonies before you blow the planet to hell and gone.
