# What science fiction works have been set in the closest future? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 24, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924 "2017-03-24T16:45:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/21 "2017-03-24T18:33:57Z")
**Timecop** _very_ optimistically predicted the advancement from then-current 1994 technology to full-on time travel, including infrastructure and a regulatory and enforcement agency fully in place in just 10 years (it’s set in 2004). ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/22 "2017-03-24T18:56:03Z")
Does the movie “The Day After Tomorrow” take place two days in the future? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/23 "2017-03-24T21:43:09Z")
The disaster movie **2012** was released in 2009. TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/24 "2017-03-24T21:46:37Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > How do you tell a Science Fiction novel set today from one set only a decade, or a year, or only a day in the future? How about a Science Fiction work set in the past? For an obvious example **Star Wars** was set in a galaxy a long time ago… TCMF-2L ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/25 "2017-03-24T23:15:48Z")
The first X-Men movie was released in 2000. It takes place in the “not too distant future.” Typed this on my phone. Please excuse any typos. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2017, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/26 "2017-03-24T23:32:54Z")
Snow Crash (1992) doesn’t give a date, except early 21st century. It won’t win this thread, but while I enjoyed it, the predictions were a bit implausible, especially the social changes. IIRC one character was around (adult?) during the Vietnam war. He appears digitally as ~50. Nineteen Eighty-Four is all about blatant lies becoming truth. There is no reason to believe that it is _actually_ 1984. > [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Also the Flight of the Conchords song “Robots” which takes place in “The distant future, the year 2000.” (Song released in 2008) Boo, I came to say this. 2007 though, live version on the EP. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/27 "2017-03-25T00:20:54Z")
_Lost in Space_ premiered in 1965, was supposedly set in 1997. Not as close as _Back to the Future_, but still near future. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/28 "2017-03-25T00:56:02Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > _Terminator 2_ was released in 1991 but set in 1995, mainly (I gather) so a character who was conceived in the original 1984 movie could be a plausible 10 year-old, though that was offset by them casting a 14 year-old actor. There wasn’t anything particularly futuristic about the setting itself, indeed the video games shown at the mall arcade scene would have seemed borderline-outdated in 1995. That’s nothing; **Terminator 3** was #1 at the box office over Fourth of July weekend in 2003, and was set . . . _later that very month!_ ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/29 "2017-03-25T01:18:53Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > This entire thread is a little odd. Sweet! > [@CalMeacham](#): > > There are plenty of novels that start “today”, or even in the recent past, but are definitely science fiction, whether they extend to a Far Future or stay in the Near Future. How do you tell a Science Fiction novel set today from one set only a decade, or a year, or only a day in the future? How about a Science Fiction work set in the past? Well, I did explicitly state in the OP that “SF set in the past or alternate present doesn’t count.” So yes, I know such works exist, and they’re not what I’m asking about. I’m asking about one particular … trope? theme? seems a little to narrow to be a genre … of SF, wherein someone is concocting a future that could arise after their actual present. And I’m mostly just interested in figuring out what SF is set in a very near future —_Strange Days_ is a great example that I hadn’t thought of at all. It’s not intended to be a competition or an argument or anything other than a point of discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/30 "2017-03-25T01:45:35Z")
> [@Interrobang](#): > > I’m asking about one particular … trope? theme? seems a little to narrow to be a genre … of SF, wherein someone is concocting a future that could arise after their actual present. Well, we’re all interested in the future. That is where we will spend _the rest of our lives!_ ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/31 "2017-03-25T01:59:23Z")
Well there’s 2001 a Space Odyssey, obviously. That was released in 1968, and postulated a vastly more advanced space program than we ever achieved. I’ll always remember how Pan Am owned the space plane that took the annoying first half lead character to the spaceport/space station. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/32 "2017-03-25T04:08:08Z")
Interesting how many of these examples seem to be in the 20-30–year range. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/33 "2017-03-25T05:35:42Z")
metrophage was set in an unspecified future but oddly enough 80- 90 percent of the book is happening today … ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/34 "2017-03-25T08:43:47Z")
Of stuff I’ve seen recently Arrival seems to be set in a pretty well current time. I cant recall if the film sets a date, but the technology looks just modern. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/35 "2017-03-25T11:19:48Z")
The Irwin Allen “Time Tunnel” tv show was broadcast in 1966-67 and was set in 1968. His “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea” was generally set a decade ahead, various years in the early 1970s are shown at the beginning of some episodes. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/36 "2017-03-25T11:56:30Z")
[Next](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_(2007_film)) is a film about a protagonist who can see the future. Well, he see’s _two minutes_ into the future. 🙂 (Yes, this preposterous premise _does_ feature Nicholas Cage! How’d you guess? 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/37 "2017-03-25T13:13:54Z")
> [@Interrobang](#): > > I’m asking about one particular … trope? theme? seems a little to narrow to be a genre … of SF, wherein someone is concocting a future that could arise after their actual present. A good example of that is the TV show[Century City](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_City_(TV_series)), which was made in 2004. > [@](#): > > Century City is an American science fiction-legal drama television series set in Los Angeles in the year 2030. Picture a science fiction version of LA Law, and you’ve got it. The cases dealt with the legal and social implications of technologies that were then expected to be reasonably close to becoming real-world issues. Like, self-driving cars, genetic engineering, tracking devices for kids, things like that. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/38 "2017-03-25T16:37:39Z")
How about Flashforward, a novel they made a TV show out of (I didn’t finish the show because it got kinda boring, but I did read the book and there seems to have been significant changes in adaptation.) Written in 1999, set in 2009 at the activation of the Large Hadron Collider. People flash forward about two decades into the future. (The only reason for the novel to be set any time other than that of its publication was that the collider had to be completed.) ---
**Author:** ![Evin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@Evin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evin)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/39 "2017-03-25T17:47:31Z")
I don’t know how this fits exactly, but there was the late 90s TV show \*Early Edition \*(Kyle Chandler) that featured a guy who get’s tomorrow’s Chicago Sun-Times today and so he could deal with the future, in a limited way, as he wished. So it was set today with an arriving tomorrow? or his tomorrow changed his today? He had a cat that was on to it and a sidekick that wanted to make bets. I certainly would’ve checked out the sports section. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2017, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924/40 "2017-03-25T17:55:09Z")
> [@Evin](#): > > He had a cat that was on to it and a sidekick that wanted to make bets. > I certainly would’ve checked out the sports section. And in a later episode, he runs across a guy from New York in the same situation, except that he does take advantage of the information to make money, and has a whole team of gophers doing rescues for him with no negative consequences, implying that it wasn’t outside the rules and Gary was being a stick in the mud. (The series ended before 9/11, else they would have had some ‘splainin’ to do.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-science-fiction-works-have-been-set-in-the-closest-future/782924.md?page=3)