Geek Alert: Why Sci-Fi Is Cool

Tomorrow, you'll get to read an author interview from Greta van der Rol, a fantastic, strong science fiction writer (among other things). Today, in celebration and in anticipation of both the interview and her upcoming new release, I thought we'd discuss what makes great science fiction.

Well, okay, this list is entirely subjective. But this whole blog is subjective.

Science fiction is basically defined as plausible, real-world based fiction. It's different from fantasy; fantasy is more about magic and the supernatural. Science fiction is rational and logical. Like a Vulcan!

The Iron Admiral certainly wasn't my first brush with sci-fi and it won't be my last. I love Star Wars and I've always been a closeted Star Trek fan. (Mostly the Original Series and The Next Generation, much to my father's exasperation; I just can't get into Deep Space Nine.) I spent my teen years reading Elizabeth Moon, David Weber, Orson Scott Card, and Douglas Adams. I still read the Star Wars expanded universe books. I'm actually reading Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber right now. (Zombies. In Star Wars. How much more could I ask for?) Mike Stackpole is the first author who really opened my eyes about the business of being a writer.

A lifetime spent reading the genre has given me some perspective on what makes a great science fiction story. I believe this to be true, anyway. So I'm going to share my list.

Rational science.
You have to make the reader (or viewer) believe that the science in your universe is sound. In the Star Wars movies, space travel is never really explained, but that doesn't matter, because everyone in the Galaxy Far, Far Away takes space flight for granted because they understand it.

Human interest.
When everything else in your new world is strange and unfamiliar, the audience needs to understand your characters. In Tanith Lee's Biting the Sun, virtually nothing about life or society is recognizable--but the protagonist's struggles with her humanity are all to familiar.

Sound politics and war strategy.
Whether your antagonists are human, alien, robot, or hybrid, if you're writing political maneuvering, you need to make it believable. In Star Wars, The Empire is based on the Roman Empire and the Nazis (something you didn't see much in the films was the Empire's utter disdain for non-humans and women). In Star Trek, you have the Borg (and the Klingons, and the Romulans). If you're writing a war, you need to make that strategy believable, too. How we fight wars has evolved from literal sticks and stones to tanks and sniper rifles that can take out an enemy from several kilometers away. Strategies, like chess strategies, have remained largely the same. In your future war-torn galaxy, your protagonists might have fancy new weapons and brilliant leaders, but their strategy won't change too much.

Alien life.
What good is science fiction without aliens? The ptorix are easily a new favorite of mine, but I'm also a fan of Wookiees, pretty much every alien mentioned in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and--despite the fact that they were the antagonists in one of the most heart-breaking book series' I've ever read--the Yuuzhan Vong. The thing about aliens is that you can come up with whatever you want and your audience will generally buy it.

Cool technology.
Hyperdrives. Faster-than-light travel. Flying cars. Underwater cities. Floating cities. Datapads. Portable communicators. All right, so we have those last two (tablet computers and cell phones), but my point remains valid. The best sci-fi has some seriously cool gadgets.

Bonus: Planet hopping.
Most of my favorite stories take place on more than one planet. I blame this on my fascination with anthropology. I absolutely love the idea of other inhabitable worlds that are sort of like Earth but not really at all.

Book Review: The Iron Admiral: Conspiracy by Greta van der Rol

Today, I finished reading Greta van der Rol's The Iron Admiral: Conspiracy and I have to admit that I am seriously displeased that I finished it because I wanted to jump straight from it into the next one (which comes out October 4th!). Yes, it is that good.

The quick version: If you're a Star Wars/Star Trek/Battlestar Gallactica/science-fiction fan in general, this book is for you. If you've ever read a sci-fi book and thought, "Man, I really wish the Hero and the Heroine would get it on," this book is for you. If you like really good stories with lots of danger, twists, action, and politics, this book is for you.

I. Loved. It. 

I loved Allysha, who is smart and strong and capable and has the very believable flaw of falling for shady men. I loved her mad computer skills and her humanity and her compassion and her stubbornness and her practicality. I loved her special skills (I'm not giving it away, but it is super cool) and I loved her morality. 

I loved Saahren. I loved him in his Brad Stone guise and I loved him as an Admiral. He's hot. He's smart. He's practical. He's thoughtful and he's good at thinking on his feet. He's a bit of a caveman--he has decided that Allysha will be his wife and he can get bossy at times--but it totally works for him. I may or may not have a huge just a wee bit of a crush on him and want to see him naked. 

I loved the plot. I loved all the supporting characters--Allysha's husband, his problems, the gangsters. I loved the ptorix. Okay, I really loved the ptorix. The anthropologist in me wants an entire book on ptorix culture, art, society, history, and myth. I am absolutely fascinated by them. I loved the politics and the political tension. In my opinion, good sci-fi requires good political tension. Ms. van der Rol delivers. 

The only thing about the book that I didn't like is that it cuts off right when things are picking up again! I understand that the author made that choice deliberately, but it still gave me the same feeling I had at the end of A Tale of Two Cities the first time I read it. (Namely, "Where is the rest?!"). But it's okay, because the next book comes out in just a few days. 

I guess I can survive until then. 

If you're looking for some good science fiction, go get this book. It's available at Amazon as an ebook and as a print book. It's at Smashwords. It's at OmniLit. And it's at B&N for the NOOK and paperback.