Post originally by RJ Grady at 2005-06-06 14:13:41
Converted from Phorums BB System

From the beginning, the observaton was made that Dawning Star could draw on a multitude of adventure romance sources. There are cowboys and Indians, but there are also relic hunters and natives. Its also a story of the struggle between good and evil, though who is who depends on your viewpoint. Clearly, Dawning Star owes a lot to the Lensmen, Babylon 5, Starship Troopers, and other galactic epics. There's also comparisons you could make to Heinlein's Farmer in the Sky and Citizen of the Galaxy.

I enjoyed consulting on this a lot. When offering my recommendations and critiques, I kept in mind not only the technology and speculation of today, but also the sociological view. OQL has a frontier feel because it is a wilderness frontier story.

More than once, I had to say something starting with "Well, keep in mind..." I tried not to just be a wet blanket, though, but to offer constructive advice for modifying a certain visual or story element with an eye to good science, good sense, and good story. In virtually every case, we were able to offer a fit, whether by modifying the element slightly, providing appropriate background information, or substituting something else. There are some fairly fantastical elements in the setting (especially as the setting involves some very advanced alien beings), but we never hand-waved where a good explanation was clearly lacking.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." - Arthur C. Clarke