Q&A · 4:51:42-4:53:37

The fastest and most efficient fictional FTL

Fictional travel systems complicate the comparison by moving the universe, altering arrival time, or using a wormhole.

Question

Which science-fiction setting has the fastest or most efficient faster-than-light travel?

Short answer

Atlantis's wormhole drive is the preferred combined answer; other suggestions exploit the different fictional rules of Futurama and The Hitchhiker's Guide.

Notes

Futurama's method of moving the universe around a stationary ship is offered as one answer. The Hitchhiker's Guide's improbability drive raises the different question of arriving at the appropriate time, even before departure. Time travel further complicates a simple comparison of transit speed. Clarke favors Stargate Atlantis's wormhole drive when combining speed and efficiency. These choices depend on different fictional rules, so the exchange does not establish one common measure under which all the candidates can be ranked.