Ice Opera
Just as “spaghetti western” and “space opera” each conjure a certain atmosphere, and “space western” folds them together, “ice opera” is meant to capture that same 𝘫𝘦 𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘴 and put it on ice — literally. Whether space opera or spaghetti western (or their often humorous combination), ice opera sets these same themes and tales onto a different background: The Ice of “Icewall”. Events here focus not on worlds somewhere out there, but on the backdrop itself or events therein. Other than that, it's just “Firefly” or “Star Trek” with a change of scenery and a few quirks of local alternative physics.
Here's a local map of Icewall for reference.
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Random works
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Summary
Social conventions differ over time and place, each culture giving rise to its own permutations and innovations. Here, we meet an attaché to a world where the sexes present with swapped cues, making for some “interesting” misunderstandings. It wasn't a romance / philosophy / social commentary, but my characters had other plans (self-examination, cultural contrasts / comparisons, nodding to Le Guin); initially a one-shot, it's now 6 chapters. Things develop past the flirtation of chapter 1, with a much larger issue uncovered toward the end (what the characters might be able to do about it is uncertain, begging a much larger story).
Trek-inspired (a universe of worlds within walking distance, though to attempt such might be a little impractical), but not Trek-based. More lurks than I can write (like Dune [Herbert] or Foundation [Asimov]).
N.B.: 11 months before writing this, I had a prequel (“The long way home ”) in the same world; you might want to hit that one first for the background material.
Comments are always welcome!
𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆, 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒖𝒃𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒆! ❤️
Series
- Part 2 of Like grains of sand
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Summary
In a universe of contradictions where anything's possible, that doesn't always mean that discovering a given solution is very probable — or even considered, rather than snake-oiled.
“Space may be
the final frontier,
but it's made
in a Hollywood
basement.”
— Californication, Red Hot Chili Peppers, 1999I read and appreciate (and try to reply to) all of your comments (they are always welcome)!
𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆, 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒖𝒃𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒆! ❤️
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Summary
A young girl's father explores other worlds, but she must remain in their home world where it's safe. She misses him dearly, but is undaunted, instead writing a report of just what's out there and what he faces.
N.B.: 11 months after writing this, I set another, more serious-toned story (A jug of wine) in the same civilization (that story's more standard sci-fi in its nature, dealing with the adult characters' respective worlds' different social norms and the logic of empire and the understated deceptive allure of cool shiny sci-fi gadgets). That started as a series with this one, but became inextricably linked such that this story serves as a prologue to that one, rather than a stand-alone.
I read and appreciate (and try to reply to) all of your comments (they are always welcome)!
𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆, 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒖𝒃𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒆! ❤️
Series
- Part 1 of Like grains of sand
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Captain's Log, Blake Williams, Yellow Submarine, Orion Earth, c2308 CE by Charles_Rockafellor
Fandoms: Original Work
26 May 2020
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Summary
This is the log of someone who set out from Earth 1 (Orion Earth) in search of whatever's out there on The Ice. That world went through a pretty rough period of awakening, once the news broke. Conspiracies everywhere, a wall of ice surrounding every nation on the plane...
I read and appreciate (and try to reply to) all of your comments (they are always welcome)!
𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆, 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒖𝒃𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒆! ❤️
Series
- Part 8 of Earth One (Orion Earth)
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Summary
If you could slide between alternative worlds, but only by swapping places with some sort of “twin” (psychologically or spiritually), then world-hopping would introduce a whole new batch of conundra. If the worlds that you could visit weren't restricted to those of standard physics, then the dilemmas faced would be further complicated by the panoply of unbalancing differences. All of this combined would mean that leaving a place in the middle of an emergency wouldn't be an ethical solution, since it would then simply put your quantum twin into the problem that you sought to leave behind.
Chapter 4 (“Chasing waterfalls”) is illustrated (as of 30 May 2021);
still debating illustratingfinally (03 Jun 2022) illustrated ch. 8 (“Amber”) — and ch. 1's footnote while I was at it. 🙂I read, appreciate, and reply to all of your comments — they're always welcome!
𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆, 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒖𝒃𝒔𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒆! ❤️