-For example, the guys who left the monolith on the moon in 2001: A Space Odyssey or the Krell from Forbidden Planet. Ancient, extinct aliens. Very common in SF.
-Not always -- though usually, when the protagonists first learn about them, they're believed to be extinct! "Where did they go?" and "Could they still be around?" are often the mysteries that drive the story forward.
Pardon my ignorance on the terminology!
-You're not being ignorant, "Precursors" is just the word GURPS usually uses for them. In other stuff they sometimes get called the Progenitors, the Ancients, the Builders, the Creators, the Old Empire, etc.
I'm fascinated with scifi but spend most of my time reading nonfiction...
-Two of the better "Precursor-oriented" novels are Frederik Pohl's Gateway, which is fairly short, but has a 1970s sensibility that can be a bit off-putting, and Joan Vinge's The Snow Queen, which is a better book in my opinion, but long. Oh, and a lot of Larry Niven's early work was about Precursors. In movies, Forbidden Planet is brilliant (though 50 years old) and Stargate starts out as a Precursor story, until they find the aliens.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2003-10-16 06:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-16 07:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-16 08:35 am (UTC)In my mind are the overlords from Fantastic Planet, the race that will dominate humans down the road.
I'm fascinated with scifi but spend most of my time reading nonfiction, pardon my ignorance on the terminology!
no subject
Date: 2003-10-16 09:02 am (UTC)-Not always -- though usually, when the protagonists first learn about them, they're believed to be extinct! "Where did they go?" and "Could they still be around?" are often the mysteries that drive the story forward.
Pardon my ignorance on the terminology!
-You're not being ignorant, "Precursors" is just the word GURPS usually uses for them. In other stuff they sometimes get called the Progenitors, the Ancients, the Builders, the Creators, the Old Empire, etc.
I'm fascinated with scifi but spend most of my time reading nonfiction...
-Two of the better "Precursor-oriented" novels are Frederik Pohl's Gateway, which is fairly short, but has a 1970s sensibility that can be a bit off-putting, and Joan Vinge's The Snow Queen, which is a better book in my opinion, but long. Oh, and a lot of Larry Niven's early work was about Precursors. In movies, Forbidden Planet is brilliant (though 50 years old) and Stargate starts out as a Precursor story, until they find the aliens.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-16 06:59 am (UTC)(Hating you. Feeling dejected and rejected. Oh, woe!)
If nothing else, I hope this sells well so I can be asked to do one. :)
CU
no subject
Date: 2003-10-16 07:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-16 07:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-16 08:50 am (UTC)There's a strange band. Or maybe that's the point.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-16 09:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-06 08:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-16 09:03 am (UTC)