Another in Ben Bova's series on Science Fiction Writing, here geologist and SF scribe Stephen Gillett helps you construct star systems and planets from the atoms up. While it may take you a little more than the proverbial seven days (well, six with rest), when you're done, your knowledge of gravity, weather patterns, cosmic mass and stellar patterns--in this universe--will be greatly enhanced.

Book Description
This book is designed to give science fiction writers the solid grounding they need in real science to make their fictions read like fact. World Building is a blueprint in words, calculations, tables and diagrams to help writers transport readers from one world to another.

FROM OUR EDITORS

You've always wanted to write science fiction, but your knowledge of space and science keeps holding you back. Now there's a nifty guide to help you out: World-Building by Stephen Gillett, who explains the science you need to know to make your fiction believable. Explore nearby planets, delve into the forces of the universe, learn about light, heat, atmosphere, and life. Then use your newfound wisdom to create exciting, believable worlds of your own.

ANNOTATION

A blueprint in words, calculations, tables and diagrams, designed to help writers transport readers from this world to another. Using what they learn in Word-Building, writers will land readers on believable planets, real or invented.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

With Stephen Gillett's help, you'll be on solid ground, no matter what kinds of worlds you create for your science fiction. World-Building explains science to help you make your fiction plausible. You'll give your worlds the pull of gravity, aware of the effects on inhabitants and the planets themselves. Mix elements and build planets with chemically credible, geologically accurate characteristics - and anomalies - that affect those who live there. Create planetary "engines," convincing atmospheres and fact-based weather patterns. Colonize a truly weird world: ancient Earth. Explore our neighboring planets and their satellites for SF possibilities. Light and heat your landscapes with the right types of stars. See how things might be on a "chloroxygen" world and other hypothetical places. In this book, you'll follow calculations, read tables, view diagrams, learn what forces are at work in the universe, and see how you can harness them to give realism to the fantasy in your storytelling.

SYNOPSIS