An interstellar war is a hypothetical space war between combatants from different

planetary system A planetary system is a set of gravity, gravitationally bound non-stellar Astronomical object, bodies in or out of orbit around a star or star system. Generally speaking, systems with one or more planets constitute a planetary system, although ...

s. The concept provides a common

plot device A plot device or plot mechanism is any technique in a narrative used to move the plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing a loss of the suspension of disbelief ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

, especially in the

space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes Space warfare in science fiction, space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, i ...

subgenre. In contrast, the term ''intergalactic war'' refers to war between combatants from different

galaxies A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar Sys ...

, and ''interplanetary war'' refers to war between combatants from different

planet A planet is a large, Hydrostatic equilibrium, rounded Astronomical object, astronomical body that is generally required to be in orbit around a star, stellar remnant, or brown dwarf, and is not one itself. The Solar System has eight planets b ...

s of the same planetary system.

Likelihood

Michael H. Hart argued that if humans ever spread to other planetary systems, the actual likelihood of interstellar war would be low due to the immense distances (and hence travel times involved)—interstellar war would require a vastly greater investment of time and resources than present-day intraplanetary wars involve. By contrast,

Robert Freitas Robert A. Freitas Jr. (born 1952) is an American nanotechnologist. Early life and education Freitas was born in Camden, Maine. His father worked in agriculture, and his mother was a homemaker. Freitas married Nancy, his childhood sweetheart, in ...

argued that the energy expenditure required for interstellar war would be trivial from the viewpoint of a Type II or Type III civilisation on the

Kardashev scale The Kardashev scale () is a method of measuring a civilization's level of technology, technological advancement based on the amount of energy it is capable of harnessing and using. The measure was proposed by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev i ...

Interstellar war in fiction

The earliest fictional references appear to deal with interplanetary, not interstellar war (e.g.

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

' 1898 novel ''

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells. It was written between 1895 and 1897, and serialised in '' Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US in 1897. The full novel was ...

''). Writers such as

Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His 1970 novel ''Ringworld'' won the Hugo Award for Best Novel, Hugo, Locus Award, Locus, Ditmar Award, Ditmar, and Nebula Award for Best Novel, Nebula award ...

have developed plausible interplanetary conflict based on human colonization of the

asteroid belt The asteroid belt is a torus-shaped region in the Solar System, centered on the Sun and roughly spanning the space between the orbits of the planets Jupiter and Mars. It contains a great many solid, irregularly shaped bodies called asteroids ...

and

outer planets The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sol ...

by means of technologies utilising the laws of physics as currently understood. However, now that the other planets of the

Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...

are believed to be devoid of intelligent life, sci-fi writers generally posit some form of faster-than-light drive in order to facilitate interstellar war. In the 1980's

Ace Books Ace Books is a publisher of science fiction (SF) and fantasy books founded in New York City in 1952 by A. A. Wyn, Aaron A. Wyn. It began as a genre publisher of mystery fiction, mysteries and western (genre), westerns, and soon branched out int ...

published a 3-volume science fiction anthology called ''The Future at War'', edited by Reginald Bretnor. The first volume, ''Thor's Hammer'', contained stories about wars on Earth and in near-Earth space. The second volume, ''The Spear of Mars'', had stories depicting interplanetary war. And the third volume, ''Orion's Sword'', treated interstellar war.

References

* {{Cite journal , last=Korhonen , first=Janne M. , date=2013 , title=MAD with aliens? Interstellar deterrence and its implications , journal= Acta Astronautica , volume=86 , pages=201–210 , doi=10.1016/j.actaastro.2013.01.016 , arxiv=1302.0606 , bibcode=2013AcAau..86..201K , s2cid=110156790 Science fiction genres Science fiction themes Fiction about space warfare

Likelihood

Interstellar war in fiction

See also

References