Why are so many authors struggling to write compelling, accurate science fiction stories pertaining to nanotechnology?
I’m not sure how much effort Crichton spent on being accurate. He wanted to get a message across, and I think he was more concerned about being compelling. I hope no one tries to learn about nanotechnology from his book! I haven’t had much time to follow nanotech in science fiction, so I don’t know what other authors have been producing or how accurate it is. Obviously some of it is just for entertainment, and is more like futuristic fantasy than like real science fiction. It’s just plain hard to write a plausible, accurate story about really advanced technology. You have to imagine the effects it will have on society, and also how society will use the technology. Of course if an author does not take the time to get educated, and probably to get the book reviewed by other technical people, they will make some pretty dumb mistakes. Some authors don’t seem to care. Others spend a whole lot of effort getting it right, because they do care. I don’t think there’s any other way to write good
