Futuristic Jobs as SFF Authors See It
by JL Nich
This article examines three areas of Science Fiction and Fantasy jobs authors write as possibilities in our futuristic world(s). Jobs, Big Business, and Food are examined. Will everyone own their own spaceship or work on a flight crew? Will the big business have conglomerates like Apple or Facebook owning all technology? What culinary expertise do you slice and dice (i.e. Pills, gruel, replicators)? Let’s find out how SFF authors think changes are going to take place.
Forget Nothing (Galaxy's Edge)
What are some of the Predicted Careers in the future of SFF?
Can you figure out what your career might be in the year 2140? Well, let’s look at predicted careers in the far future from the great minds of Science Fiction and Fantasy authors. Are you going to be a spaceship captain and swoop in to save lives in a galactic battle? Will you be a hard-core officer in the future marines, a protector, warrior, or a leader? Will you live in an assigned 3 x 6 barrack room with your troops fated to be blaster fodder or become heroes?
- Check out Forget Nothing (Audible.com Original) by Jason Anspach and Michelle C. Meyers. These authors take you into the Marine Corp with Major Andian Broxin, where war erupts on a mid-corp planet she is newly assigned to in this Galaxy’s Edge series book. She and her fellow “hullbusters” find themselves in a desperate fight for survival. Gunny quotes are my new T-shirts. “Apologize to the Major for spilling stupid and get onto your sled.” It’s raw, gritty, humor-filled and the narrator Khristine Hvam does her part to make me feel like I should get back into my gear, find my squad, and jump in my Humvee to scout out the baddies. Absolutely loved this.
- With this exciting series Trading in Danger (Vatta’s War #1) by Elizabeth Moon, the reader is plunged into a space cargo ship mission with captain Kylara Vatta, whose military background helps her find her way through the middle of the colonial wars deadly combat, some dangerous mercenaries, and avoid death in a violent mutiny. Very fast-paced and yet perfect rhythm.
- Or maybe we need to experience the true creative genius of David Webers work On Basilisk Station as he tells the saga development of a young captain, Honor Harrington, and her newly assigned crew of a single, over-age light cruiser with an armament that doesn’t work to police the entire star system. I’ve never been engrossed so quickly into the science of space and ships and a character’s world as David Weber has written. I’m a huge fan.
- Go read 336 pages of awesome in The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson where Cara, an information collector, can travel between the majority of the 382 multiverses because she fits the bill of having her parallel selves dead in 372 of them. She is highly valued as she gathers information from these other worlds. Until one of her eight remaining doppelgängers dies under mysterious circumstances, plunging her into a new world with an old secret that reveals a plot that endangers not just her world, but the entire multiverse.
- And last but not least, Andy Weirs Project Hail Mary is another outstanding scientific take on space travel that has you gasping at the sole survivor Ryland Grace on a smart sci-fi thriller, set in space. I think this makes him the captain. Regardless…. Andy Weir folks. The Martian author? It’s a new great ride.
- In Seveneves by Neal Stephenson, robotics engineer Dinah MacQuarie is one of seven women who survive Earth’s Moon shattering. This is a fresh take on dystopian and has a hard science edge with genetically modified and enhanced descendants. And the robotics engineer job got even harder.
The Scorpio Races
by Maggie Stiefvater
- The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater offers a YA Fantasy book of epic proportions with dual POV of two of the competing teens on the island of Thisby that must win the races by riding the wild Scorpio Horses to keep something important. This book is so engrossing. And the career they seem to be blessed in finding is riding the wild horse Scorpios that wash up on shore once a year.
- Is technology your go-to field? Read Ptolemy’s Child (The Ani Maxima Files #1) by Scott McElhaney is an explored space trip that ends when the rehabs (ex-cons) find Ani still alive on a ship after 300 years. It’s a great mix of sci-fi technology and character relationships. And surprise Ani has a superpower with technology.
- Perhaps you want to be a mech pilot? Iron Widow, (Iron Widow #1) by Xiran Jay Zhao offers us a look at the girl’s role in piloting the Chrysalises, giant transforming robots. A part revenge and part heroine story the character Zetian offers herself as a concubine-pilot to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. Intrigue, mystery, and action combine to fill out this fantasy book.
- Maybe a blacksmithing position is in your future? Fuse by E. L. Todd gives us Cora the village blacksmith with a mysterious beginning. From circumstances, she is on the run and meets a huge, fire-breathing, stubborn dragon. But as the title states, it’s not just any dragon. It’s a man fused with a dragon. And he changes her world.
- A little mystery of Who Dun IT? Check out Waking Magic (The Leira Chronicles Book 1) by Martha Carr and Michael Anderle. This series goes on for another 13 books. You can really get to know the bad-mouthed Troll and the detective as she hunts for the murderer of the Elf King’s son. High fantasy in some respects. Urban fantasy in others.
Deadly Litter
by James White
What is a big business like in the future?
Does sanitation take the winning role of the next best career? As space becomes the new frontier of our backyard dumpsites, we now have those that really do follow the mantra one man’s trash is another’s treasure. Or is it an environmental issue, is it just floating debris or an untapped resource?
- Check out space-age environmental books like Deadly Litter by James White for a story that foresaw the problems of too much junk left floating in orbit that we’re just now beginning to appreciate. This book written in 1964 is still seen as valid today with four novellas about how to deal with man in space.
- Or perhaps look at a different take on Trading in Danger (Vatta’s War Book 1) by Elizabeth Moon. Are there huge flotilla scrapyards in the future? What’s garbage when we follow Kylara Vatta in, as she captains a Vatta Transport Ship escorting one of the Vatta fleet’s oldest ships on its final voyage to the scrapyard.
Some of the business ideas cultivated behind the big science fiction blockbusters like Avatar and Ready Player One were virtual reality. Where Avatars were created for sleeping humans to utilize while “plugged I”, in RP1 the active world is virtual as the real world has become broken, consuming civilization one bleak day at a time. Both stories advent big business goals of making money. Because money has become a virtual reality. Think bitcoin to the nth degree.
- Look at Reincarnation of the Strongest Sword God co-written by Lucky Old Cat, McDonald, Hellscythe, and Gravity Tales, in collaboration. Where the virtual game is equivalent to real-world events, and the main character Shi Feng in his reincarnated form, remembers all the previous cheats to rise higher to seek out Sword God status. See novelfull.com
Another type of business that I expect will carry through well into the future is syndicate crime in sports, galactic football sports. This is a futuristic take on Any Given Sunday when you read The Rookie (Galactic Football League #1) by Scott Sigler. Perhaps a little older book but still fun and full of trash talk. Aliens and humans alike play positions based on physiology, creating receivers that jump 25 feet into the air and linemen that bench-press 1,200 pounds and 19-year-old prodigy quarterback Quentin Barnes has to lead them. Galactic organized crime runs every franchise.
Untouchable
by Sarah Champoin
How are the culinary arts looked at, in the future?
How are we looking for future foodstuff? Do we eat gruel like in the Matrix? Are there replicators like in Star Trek? We all know the gruel provided in the Matrix as Neo has his first meal in “reality”. The plop-plop of sludge falling back into the bowl is a rude awakening.
- In her book, Untouchable by Sarah Champion imagined food replacement protein pills in flavors like Strawberry. One pill would feed you 24 hours. This is my favorite food creation for the future. I’m tired of cooking and making decisions. Or maybe the replicator which the character also utilizes for repairing clothing is a possible food option. A 5-star sci-fi/fantasy book.
- While not exactly about food replacement or options, I found the enormous character-built novel and the crazy adventure The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. She introduces one of the Wayfarers crew as Dr. Chef – a Grum with his six limbs, all of which are identical and can function as arms or legs—who is both the doctor and chef (hence the name Dr. Chef). I can see the consolidation of the two professions.
The Long Way to a
Small Angry Planet
by Becky Chambers
Well, that’s it for this review of Science Fiction Fantasy. My heart says review more fantasy than science fiction but when it comes to jobs…fantasy is not as lucrative for positions. Probably because everyone has an Avatar or does magic. I hope you enjoyed this article. Please subscribe to my website if you want to be notified when I’ll be publishing or to get free samples of my work. Also, see my Patreon sign-up for exclusive access to additional articles and sneak peeks of my WIP chapter by chapter.
Enjoy this sample from my work Drayton’s Discoveries: Book 1 (working on publishing)
“Alright, Chippers.” Sam Wellington clapped his flesh and metal hands together. His dirty gloves puffed a small cloud of soot from the surrounding tunnel debris he’d help move from the site. The clap, however, muffled, sounded thunderous inside the large tunnel. The forty-three workers, or ‘Chippers’, nicknamed after the boulder flint chipped off of the stone, brought the level of their chatter down to silence within a few breaths. Sam looked around the dark-walled space, catching the eye of a few key players on his crew. Their focus on him was sober with experience. They looked ready to begin.
The rest, with bare hands or paws, or equipment, stood behind the five front men, edgy and alert. A few coughs were heard, and a Brutus, standing his full 2.7 meters, snorted through his wide, black nostrils. His horns caught a gleam from the headlamp of the dozer nearby, already set to guide the way.
Sam let the silence last a prolonged moment. The tone of his voice spoke volumes. “We are going to rope this bronc and wrestle him down and it is going to be lean and mean. You know me, and you know my style. I like results, and I like things done the right way. I didn’t travel all the way here across the galaxy to build a piece of shit. If that’s what I wanted to do, I could of damn well stayed back there in that retirement home and collected my own samples.” He looked at everyone, accepting their agreement.
“I want to build me a cavern that is so enormous my momma, God rest her soul, would be proud to call it her own. It’s going to take time and muscle, and it’s going to be one of many. The plan here is to dig, fellow drillers. You don’t dig until you want to stop, you dig until I say you stop. If anyone doesn’t understand that, please tell a foreman. They will be in the white hats.” He pointed to the five individuals in front. Three were human, two men and a woman, standing at various heights: the fourth, a fairly tall but trimmed up Tricolor, his normally bushy fox tail razor-thin; and the fifth was a Gekk, his dark scales almost blending with the rock face, his pecs blown up.
Sam walked over and picked up a large black rock, near the tunnel wall. Holding it up high with his metallic hand, he stood there like old Earth’s Liberty. “Take a good look. If in case you don’t know, we are now living on a planet made of a rock that is not drill-able, not damaged by explosives, is a bitch to wedge and hammer, and is not, in any way, friendly to diggers. We will toil for days and may only move a molehill instead of a mountain. I know it and I’m not holding it against you.” He dropped the rock letting its hard thump against the tunnel floor, those in front noticing it did not even break.
“What I am going to hold against you is your experience, your grit, and your time.” Sam reached out and took a tablet from one of the foremen. He looked at it with a quick scan and tapped the surface. He handed it back. “On this crew, I have over two hundred years of experience. We have diggers that have survived cave-ins, survived detonation, survived rock roll, smashed hands, feet, heads, and ultimately, every one of you has survived dealing with me on a dig somewhere. That grit that you use to stick it out, to find your way, to build the wondrous things you’ve helped build, make you the perfect one for this job. You will need every ounce of determination. I’ve already scheduled the first month and it’s posted on your personal boards. It’s going to be brutal. But you are going to love every rotten minute of it. As of right now, your normal work salary has been tripled.”
Voices rose instantly.
“Thats fooken ballsacks”
“Blessed Drangors Bitch.”
“You’ve got to be shoveling blubbery Trabid dick, Wellington.”
“Jackie must have finally blown him too hard, blokes.”
A woman standing next to the last razzing driller reached up and slapped the back of his head, knocking off his helmet.
The diggers around him laughed.
Sam listened to the uproar and finally raised his real hand. The group quieted.
“If you don’t think you’ll earn every credit, don’t delude yourself. This is a goal-oriented job. Our goal is to dig fast and long. I will repeat that. Our goal is to dig fast and dig long. We will work in two shifts. Fourteen hours each. Every eighth day off. Shift rotations mean a full day cycle.” Sam tilted his head to the side and narrowed his gaze. “This planet holds a 28 hour day and most of you will cycle to it if you haven’t already. Your body will suck it up and you will become citizens that earn that right.”
He rubbed touched his mustache for a second then crossed his arms. He looked at his crew and met each creature’s gaze.
“I don’t want you to forget this job has risk and it will bring death if the safety rules are not followed. He looked at a trio of Neltic rangers, their muscular forms identical with thick neck and arms. Looking he spoke their beliefs. “It will bring the death Goddess of Kas closer than you want. To avoid her touch, we must be smart.” He rested his hand on one of the rangers’ shoulders. Looking around he met other gazes. “Be effective and remember to measure twice. Sharpen your goddamn tools before you break the ground. If you find a visible seam, point it out. If you see a loose plate, mark it. If you get injured report it. And if your equipment is not calibrated right, comm it in. I’d rather stop a dig than have some weld brake down after three days of bonding, to learn the solution was not mixed properly. There is no excuse with this. Every one of you knows the right end of the bit to use. Fook’n use what know and save the sloppy moves for your girlfriends. I’m going to stop jawing and let you get to it. Today is just giving the drill site a review and the foremen will tour you around the grounds. Go over the plan. f I ask you to get to picket 24D, know which direction and know it fast. Right now it’s not much more than a dead-end but this level will eventually be first housing so let’s make it last a few thousand years.
Good luck and blessings.”
Sam walked away as his crew began to cheer. His five foremen split into different areas and started yelling out names. They grouped up the welders, the dozer, and waller drivers, and put the loading crew members with the pick and tamping group. Hand drillers and explosive experts were merged into tidy pairs as they form the different shifts. So few individuals for the task but he was used to working tight. He felt an urge for a cigarette and sighed knowing he quit years ago.
“It’s going to be one hell of a ride, Elsa. This planet is a suck-fest of misery and riches. You would have loved it.” He sighed again, missing his wife for the thousandth time this morning.
JL Nich, SFF Author
