Line #1 Literature/FutureHistory


1	[[quoteright:155:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/future_history_thumbnail_6099.jpg]]
2	''[[http://www.amazon.com/Future-History-Aaron-Wall-ebook/dp/B00IHUPJY2/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1402381281&sr=1-2&keywords=future+history Future History]]'' is a {{space opera}} {{novella}} by Aaron Wall, published in February of 2014. It follows the adventures of Amelia Hanson, a starship [[TheEngineer engineer]] who begins [[MentalTimeTravel experiencing]] [[RippleEffectProofMemory memories]] from her own future, starting with her [[TheHeroDies death]]. Together with her friends, she must find out what is happening and how to respond in order to save her future self, and the human race, from war with an inscrutable [[AliensAreBastards alien foe]].
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4	''Future History'' is the first published work of its author, who wrote it in more or less its current form while still in high school. It is available only on the Kindle ebook store right now, but can be read on a PC using a free emulator program from Amazon.
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6	!! ''Future History'' contains examples of:
7	%%* AliensAreBastards: The BigBad are a race of aliens called the Algolans.
8	* ArtificialGravity: Played straight. While the technology is never directly mentioned or discussed, many points of the story rely on it ''always'' working.
9	** [[spoiler: At one point Amelia is trapped on a damaged elevator and remarks that it's a good thing the emergency breaks will work even if the power and life support fail, preventing it from entering freefall: which implies the artificial gravity would still work even then.]]
10	** [[spoiler: When it is critically damaged by enemy fire, deck 12 of the ''Capella'' collapses ''inward'' rather than breaking apart, possibly implying that the ship's artifical gravity caused the upper decks to fall through it.]]
11	%%* TheCaptain: Take your pick: Captain Robert Johnson, Captain Doyle, Captain Ashton.
12	%%* CoolStarship: Pretty much every ship in the setting.
13	%%* DeflectorShields: Standard issue for every [[CoolStarship Cool Starship]], but Amelia gets to play with them up close and personal twice.
14	%%* TheEngineer: Amelia is one.
15	* ExplosiveInstrumentation: In practically every battle in this setting. [[spoiler: Of particular note is ambush of the ''Capella'' where a chain reaction of exploding control panels kills two of Amelia's friends and nearly kills her as well.]]
16	* TheHeroDies: At the very beginning. This doesn't hamper her much though, as she only ''remembers'' her death, which occurs five years in the future from the narrative's perspective. She does spend a fair bit of time trying to get around it though.
17	* HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace: Mildly so. It seems to be perfectly safe most of the time, but Amelia informs one [[GenreBlind ignorant]] crewman that the FTL drive cannot safely be used to escape a firefight, since enemy weapon fire would collapse a ship's [[OurWormholesAreDifferent wormhole]], squishing them "like bugs."
18	* InvisibilityCloak: Amelia invents an improvised cloaking device to save the ''Mizar'' from alien attack. [[spoiler: This becomes a [[ChekhovSGun major plot point]] later when it is revealed that the reason behind her [[MentalTimeTravel future memories]] is the survivors of ''Mizar'' and Admiral Petty trying to figure out how to duplicate her cloaking device.]]
19	* MacGyvering: Most of Amelia's tricks involve this to some level. For example, using a polishing rag to interrupt a circuit or feeding the [[FasterThanLightTravel Aritificial Singularity Generator]] into the [[DeflectorShields deflector shields]] to make a working [[InvisibilityCloak cloaking device]] on the fly.
20	* MentalTimeTravel: Amelia experiences regular bouts of this throughout the story, though instead of traveling into the past with future memories, the future memories are coming to her.
21	* OurWormholesAreDifferent: The ASG (Artificial Singularity Generator) array, which can make various sized wormholes: small ones for FTL sensors, and big ones for [[FasterThanLightTravel FTL travel]].
22	* PlanetTerra: The [[TheFederation Standard-Goodguy-SciFi-Government]] is called the Terran Confederation.
23	* ReversePolarity: Amelia inverts the frequency of ''Mizar'''s [[DeflectorShields deflectors]]during a firefight. It throws the enemy cruisers' weapon fire right back at them, but only because they knew the exact frequency the enemy was using.
24	* RippleEffectProofMemory: Even though ''having'' memories from her own future should necessarily ''change'' her future, it doesn't.
25	** [[spoiler:Justified in that her receipt of said memories is erased from the timeline in the end.]]
26	* ScrewTheRulesItsTheApocalypse: Amelia's attitude toward safety regulations.
27	** ''“Safety protocols were written for passenger liners,” Amelia said. They were very fine things if one had all the time in the world to get a job done. Real engineers did not have that luxury.''
28	** [[spoiler: Later develops into [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight screw the rules, I'm doing what's right]] when she has to [[TheMutiny defy Captain Doyal]] in order to [[BigDamnHeroes save the future]].]]
29	* SpaceIsNoisy: Played with, in that [[SpaceClouds nebulas]] are said to be the only places where it's possible to hear sound in space.
30	* SpaceClouds: One chapter has the ship visiting a supernova remnant, where a friendly cruiser is hidden. [[spoiler: They are ambushed by several enemy cruisers hiding in the clouds.]]
31	* SpaceFriction: Implied by the way starships are seen to maneuver, and also by the fact that ships stop dead when their engines are taken out.
32	* SpaceNavy: All personnel use psuedo-standard naval ranks.
33	* StandardSciFiFleet: The setting offers two warring examples, one owned by the humans and one by the aliens. Doyle even explains the various roles of cruisers vs battleships at length.
34	* TheSparkOfGenius: Other characters frequently refer to this to explain Amelia's success.
35	%%* SupportingLeader: Captain Robert Johnson, in the future.
36	%%* TechnoBabble: Given who Amelia [[TheEngineer is]], readers should expect plenty of this.
37	* TimTaylorTechnology: "More power!" is a frequent order, but it seems to have its limits. Even the one time it does work, [[spoiler: allowing the ''Capella'' to temporarily outrun enemy cruisers]], it's attributed to superior design, not raw voltage.
38	* WrenchWench: Amelia Hanson. Even as a chief engineer, she still crawls around the bowels of the ship fixing things in the heat of battle.
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Context Literature / FutureHistory