Cannon Fodder #1

 I thought I’d kick off a series of posts on what future technologies to include in future books. I tend to veer towards realism than fantasy when it comes to tech. My approach in Warner’s World was to limit the techs available to those I thought would be readily acquired by the 26th century. I suppose the only ‘unrealistic’ tech that is absolutely essential for any military space opera to work is a means to travel quickly between star systems. Of course you can write a good story from the perspective that we humans are still stuck within the solar system but generally when most people thinks of space opera they think of inter system travel.

In general, inter system travel is affected either by providing some form of faster than light (FTL) or warp drive or by using a means to instantly move between jump points or worm holes. With current science both are fanciful but I reckoned that the worm hole approach was more fanciful than warp drives. I thought of a compromise where you could have a worm hole but it would still take time to travel from point to point. But in the end I opted for warp drives because they provide the most flexibility for a future commander – ie you can warp in and out from anywhere within a system rather that at some predesignated jump point.

So what do you reckon is the more realistic approach  - warp or worm?