Tell me if this sounds like anything

Your idea is very general. Don't worry about whether it's like anyone else's. By the time you write the book, the specifics of your story will be so different from theirs that no one will care about the similarities.

The originality of your idea is much, much less important than the execution of the idea. If you can turn this into a gripping yarn, no one will care whether it's kinda sorta like someone else's book.

jjdebenedictis said:

Your idea is very general. Don't worry about whether it's like anyone else's. By the time you write the book, the specifics of your story will be so different from theirs that no one will care about the similarities.

The originality of your idea is much, much less important than the execution of the idea. If you can turn this into a gripping yarn, no one will care whether it's kinda sorta like someone else's book.

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This.

And even though it's a very general idea, you could go LOTS of unique and interesting ways with it.

Hypatia said:

I have an idea, but I want to be certain it isn't too close to anything I haven't read.

Aliens come to Earth, peacefully offering humanity much advanced technology - but it comes at a price. Space travel requires more than technology. It requires the powers of the mind. The aliens request human volunteers for dangerous experiments that may give them psi powers. Those who survive and gain powers have the ability to teleport ships through space, allowing humans to join galactic civilization.

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Okay.

Now go write it.

I'd worry about the motivation of the aliens... what's their interest in jump-starting us into the space age?

Hypatia said:

The aliens request human volunteers for dangerous experiments that may give them psi powers. Those who survive and gain powers have the ability to teleport ships through space, allowing humans to join galactic civilization.

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Are the consequences of these experiments physical or mental? I would imagine that the sorts of experiments that give a person psi powers would be mostly targeted to the brain. So then you might end up with mentally or psychologically unstable people controlling these ships--which I think is an awesome concept.

Psi powers are used for space travel in Anne McCaffrey's Pegasus/Rowan books. But they develop psi powers on their own and meet the aliens later.

You could look at how other writers did it. Arthur C. Clarke, David Brin, C.S. Friedman, and Doris Egan all had similar tropes within novels, and each expanded it in different ways.

I agree with the previous posters: this is so general an idea that its 'originality' is not worth worrying about. It is a good springboard for plot, so run with it and see what happens.

Not to mention nothing is really original anymore. Come up with any idea and there's somebody out there who can point you to something just like it.

There's nothing new under the sun. Just write it, and make it yours.

I agree with the above. Ideas are next to worthless. What matters the most is the product.

The only striking similarity I see is with Dune and that's only in the most general of turns considering the teleporation of spaceships and the method. Otherwise its completely new to me.

Go for it.

There are a couple psychics-as-spaceship-drivers novels I can think of, but I wouldn't worry about it. Write! Worry later.

Sounds kind of fresh to me, actually. Looking forward to taking a look at it if you post it here.

"It's a cook book!"

*grin*

Octavia Butler has a book that is similar to this (not exactly the same). Humans are saved from a cataclysm, but the price is that they must merge genetically with the aliens that saved them. This gives them psi powers, long life, and other things, but they can only reproduce with the aliens help and genetic influence. Its a great read.

Lillith's Brood

actually i've not read or seen anything like your idea, though what i have seen is ships that read mind wave lengths of basically anyone as long as they sit in the right chair or stand at the right podium. This insight really comes mostly from the Stargate television show.

I'll admit, i'm not exactly an avid reader so i can't reference authors like the rest of the members of this site, most of my experience comes from pratice, on the spot research when it's needed, and imagination. I'm not really inspired from things that I've read, seeing as the only series i've read is the harry potter series and the only other book i've ever read is a romance novel called "Nerd in Shining Armor" by Vicki Lewis Thompson. It was actually an interesting read for something outside of my interests.

I do read and watch quite a bit of manga and anime but theres so much useless trivia from them inside of my head that i can't really remember anything clearly to reference it.

Anyway, your idea sounds pretty interesting to me, it makes a certain minority vital to survival, even if they are ostricized by their fellow humans(should that be a part of your story.) I echo the thoughts of the others, go ahead and write the story and flesh out your own way of writing it.