What about a plague in a SF/F world?

[Wiglaf]

On one of the history threads, there is a discussion about the causes of Black Death. This started me thinking about how a plague or epidemic can be used in a SF/F story. With all the British stories that begin with children being sent to the country to avoid nazi bombs, how about children being sent away to avoid a plague? Or perhaps a sci-fi world where a group is persecuted because they are believed to have brought on the plague?

 

[The Ace]

Interesting point. The only instance of this I've ever encountered was in the 2000AD story, "The Ballad of Halo Jones."
The concept was called 'Ratwar.' Using a genetically-engineered king rat as a liaison, rats would follow a computer-guided course across the major landmasses of a planet, spreading plague as they went. A terrifying prospect occupying little more than a footnote in the story.

 

[Wiglaf]

I have been stuck trying to find ways to start the action in my stories which haven't been over done. I figured an out break of disease might be one way to shake things up. A story of someone sitting on their sofa would be hard to pull off (unless the character had an active imagination perhaps).

 

[Wiglaf]

I was multi-tasking when I started this thread. I'm not so sure this is the place for it.
If you have any suggestions for a better location and how to move it, let me know.

 

[Dave]

There is 'I am Legend' by by Richard Matheson. Twice filmed already; once as 'The Last Man on Earth' with Vincent Price, once as 'The Omega Man' with Charlton Heston, and now a new version is due for release in Dec 2007 with Wil Smith (who else!)

There was a 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine' episode in Season 4 called 'The Quickening' about a plague called the Blight.

 

[Epona]

I haven't seen that done before, as far as I can remember. I think a plague, especially in a SF/F world, could be great inspiration for many different plots.

The first idea that struck me for a story about a plague was a parallel of the children in WW1 & 2 being sent away to the country for safety, but in a fantasy world maybe the only safe place for them to go might be to live with a magical race, perhaps in another realm. What would it be like for the children discovering this new realm? What sort of dangers and problems would the have to overcome? How would they have changed when it was safe to return to their world, would they want to return? What kind of world would they return to? Hmm, actually I think I might have stumbled on quite a fun short story to write! I might have a go at it tonight (after working on my WIP of course ).

 

[Tillane]

A recent example would be the melding plague in Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space trilogy, in which a post-nanotech world is devastated by a disease which affects the various neural implants of many in society. In a nice twist, it's actually the upper echelons of society that are hit worst, while those who couldn't afford the implants remain unaffected (at least directly).

 

[Dragonlady]

You mentionned the idea of a race being ostracised because they were thought to have caused the plague- i think this is what happened to the jews in the middle ages. They had better public health so didn't suffer so much. Could a magical race become a victim of this?

 

[Aleksei]

S L Viehl's Stardock series has atleast one plague, it's a pretty decent series.

 

[danedane]

What about a plauge that would disfigure you down to a molecur level?

 

[scalem X]

Lol 'Il decamerone' By Boccaccio was a novel of people running from the plague. Maybe you could make a sf/f addaptation.

 

[Erin99]

Anne Mccaffrey wrote a good novel about an illness wiping out many people. I wish I could remember its name now...

Perhaps that's like your idea.


Oh, I've done a quick Google search - it could be Dragon Harper or Dragonsdawn or Moreta. I'm actually confident it's Moreta, but the other two books also feature a "plague" in them, and thus might be useful to you.

 

[Kissmequick]

Or perhaps a sci-fi world where a group is persecuted because they are believed to have brought on the plague?

Kind of like a sci fi version of Plague Dogs? Sounds interesting, you could really make something of that.

 

[Laerten]

Raymond E. Feist, The King's Bucaneer, is I think a story that would fall into this category. A town at the edge of the Kingdom is raided and dozens of people, including two noble daughters, are kidnapped and transported halfway round the world where the evil Serpent Priests make 'clones' of them with a plague inside. The plan was to try and send them back to spread the plague.

 

[Ursa major]

I find it hard to believe that in a large cosmopolitan city (like London), where people are arriving and departing all the time, the authorities would evacuate children across the country in the face of a plague (which could already be in the city). They'd have enough problems trying to stop everyone spreading the disease about, I'd have thought.

 

[Ishar]

I read this a little while ago, but forget where it was. I had input, but silly me didnt write it.

Eddings once did a plague.

I think it was in Mallorean, but I may be wrong and it could have been Belgariad.

But what happened, if my memory isnt hurting me, is that one of the gods diseased a single man. That man went into a town and then a few days later just died. Everyone he had met was infected, some of them travelled to other towns. Soon the epidemic was spreading throughout the whole continent. There were no clear symptoms of it until they just up and died.

Any help?

 

[Wiglaf]

I find it hard to believe that in a large cosmopolitan city (like London), where people are arriving and departing all the time, the authorities would evacuate children across the country in the face of a plague (which could already be in the city). They'd have enough problems trying to stop everyone spreading the disease about, I'd have thought.

When I started this thread, I was thinking fantasy not sci-fi. Whether people think the cause is airborne germs, physical contact, or miasmas would probably affect their reactions.

 

[Urlik]

I find it hard to believe that in a large cosmopolitan city (like London), where people are arriving and departing all the time, the authorities would evacuate children across the country in the face of a plague (which could already be in the city). They'd have enough problems trying to stop everyone spreading the disease about, I'd have thought.

I was actually thinking that the evacuation could be the reason for the spread.

have the plague reach the capital (or other strategic city) either by design or fate while the country stands on the brink of war.
the plague has a long and highly contagious incubation period, so when the war breaks out, no-one is sick and the children (maybe even the entire population of the city) are evacuated or become refugees, travelling across the land, spreading the plague among their contrymen.

as reports of the plague reach cities that haven't been infected, it could become knowledge which city is responsible for the plague's spread, and they become pariahs, hated and pitied, but never welcome.

 

[richrock]

I read a short story about a plague that caused hypersensitivity - it was an excellent exploration of fear of the unknown, and was called Dark Benediction by Walter M Miller. A good example of descibing plague-like effects, the alteration and attitudes of society without info-dumping in large chunks. Worth a read for research, IMO

 

[Nik]

I used a 'Hot Flu' to end 'civilisation as we know it'. D'uh, I wrote 100k words on the wrack and emergent 'Convention', then recognised it as self-indulgent adolescent wittering and trashed the lot.

Kept the time-line, though, and my HardSF Convention arc is still following one of the 'Founding Families' into space...