How does this premise sound?

[Subcreator]

I don't know if this is the right forum for this, but I have a question. I have some ideas on story premises, but I'm not sure if they're simply too unbelievable or cheesy.

1) In one day, an alien attack from space infects the entire population of the world's twenty largest cities and turns them into mindless slaves of the aliens, who are remaining in orbit above the Earth. Every day, spores emanating from the infected population infect more at a rate that will eventually result in the entire world being infected in six months if it goes unchecked. The apocalyptic story starts here and follows a small population as they try to either stop the infections or make peace with the aliens.

variation on 1) The same as premise 1, except that it is not aliens, but rather a quasi-scientific cult, and the nature of the infections is slightly less severe. (I am not talking about flesh-eating zombies, but rather people who lose all sense of identity and free-will.)​

2) An English businessman gathers an A-Team/Mission Impossible style team in the mid-1800s with science fiction elements. (Yes, it's basically a steampunk Mission Impossible.)

 

[Saigonnus]

1) I would think there would have to be more background, since it is unlikely that THAT many people would be affected unless these aliens engineered it to do it that way. Also you must consider the fact that even an engineered virus would probably have a small percentage of the population inside those cities be resistant to it; could work for a subplot. Over all, I think the concept sounds like movie "Puppet Masters" crossed perhaps with sector 9 or falling skies. Basically these aliens infect humans and they take control over their hosts to serve their own purposes too. Don't be discouraged since that sort of stuff seems to be popular at the moment and you could just take advantage.

2) I like this idea better, though of course would require alot more research to make it believable if you plan on incorporating the gadgets and the like that A-Team etc are known for. You'll have to pick a time period and KNOW what sorts of technologies they had access to during that time frame.

 

[Endymion]

1)
Don't get offended, but I really dislike the alien invade our earth stuff. It has been done like a million times before and it's generally what sci-fi has become (at least movies). Honestly, I need an Inception book!
2)
I like A-Team, I like mission impossible, I like gadgets, but an A-team in 1800s with gadgets doing an impossible mission? Don't know, care to tell a little about the plot?

 

[Guru Coyote]

Why not do a mix of 1) and 2)? Set it in 1800 and let the A-team be drafted from those few who are immune...

 

[Steerpike]

Either one sounds just fine, subcreator. The only thing that is going to matter is the execution of it. You can take a fairly standard, generic sounding idea and make a great story of it. You can also take an idea that sounds brilliant and make a mess of the whole thing. What you should do is go with the one that interests you the most, because either could be done quite well.

 

[Subcreator]

I had thought that the first premise sounded overdone as well. It was more of a way of of bringing about an apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic scenario without nukes or zombies. As for the second, it's a secret society that was brought together by the London factory owner and philanthropist Ulysses Foster in order to defend the Empire (Great Britain in the 1870s) from foreign and domestic threats, particularly those of a paranormal or arcane origins. I don't have the characters fleshed out right now, but it would be a series in an alternate history that includes inventions in the vein of Verne and Wells, but also Lovecraftian villains.

 

[Saigonnus]

I had thought that the first premise sounded overdone as well. It was more of a way of of bringing about an apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic scenario without nukes or zombies.

There are many ways to bring about an apocalyptic setting without aliens or nukes; those are simply the most common ways to explain it since most normal people don't know much about radiation works, the area of effect or what have you. There was a discussion awhile back over how to end a civilization and basically how something like that could come about in a fantasy setting.

http://mythicscribes.com/forums/chit-chat/5148-civilizations-end.html

That was the link in which we laid out possible civilization killing scenarios. Most of them could easily be used to bring about a post-apocalyptic setting without using the old stand by of alien invasion or nukes.

 

[Subcreator]

Ah, thank you so much for that. I think that I'm going to focus on premise 2, since I'm more interested in the steampunk genre than actual futuristic stories.

 

[Subcreator]

Thanks for the help in ironing out my premise. Here's the basic blurb I have for my idea:

When London constable Ezekiel Jones nearly murders man he mistakenly believes to have murdered his wife, he is publically disgraced and dismissed from the police force. Out of work and unable to pay his rent, Zeke is recruited to help investigate unexplainable occurrences and defend the British Empire from enemies that have not been imagined as possible since ancient times.
Thinking that he is simply going to be humoring a rich factory owner’s eccentricities, Zeke moves to Ulysses Foster’s country estate to work with private investigator Lucian Griffiths and a specially organized team, he soon realizes that the danger is all too real…and even more dangerous the thieves and killers of London’s streets.