The shield

My novel owes a great debt to previous sci-fi works. Some readers may notice the small homages. For example, Alysdeon's son is called Kinnison, which is also the name to the hero of the Lensman series. 

It can be surprising where ideas come from. I remember 7 years ago, when I was playing around with storylines for this novel. One day, I woke up in the middle of the night, with the basis for it. I thought to myself: what if the enemy consumed planets with a giant shield? 

I've wondered where that idea exactly came from. And I can point to two things. 

- Star Control 2

This is another old school computer game, released in 1992, and it's a classic. 

The story: mankind and its allies have been defeated after a great interstellar war with the mighty Ur-Quan empire. Your goal as a human commander is to forge new alliances, and lead a fighting force that can defeat the enemy for good. To do this, you pilot an ancient, but powerful starship. 

Even as this game was released in 1992, it's surprising how much depth it has. There are over a dozen different alien races in it, and plenty of adventures you can go on. It truly is a space opera, but in game form, with great music, witty dialogues, and that epic feel. 

I think what influenced me the most was a story element in this game. From what I remember, following humanity's defeat, the Ur-Quan masters gave mankind a choice: either join them, or become "enslaved." 

Humanity picked the latter. As a result, the Ur-Quan decided to place an impenetrable "slave shield" around Earth. Essentially, mankind is allowed to live, but never again will it venture out in the stars. 

The "slave shield" was only a minor story point in the game, but it obviously impacted me. I highly recommend this game for those interested. http://sc2.sourceforge.net/ 

- Spin

This is a Hugo award winning sci-fi novel, and it's also quite good. One day, Earth is surrounded by a giant alien barrier that causes widespread panic. 

Although this barrier isn't an impenetrable shield, it does have a strange effect. For some reason, it is interfering with the time flow across the planet. 

This novel obviously isn't a space opera, but I enjoyed how it crafted a story about real people dealing with a world-changing event. It's definitely worth a read. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/910863.Spin