Bennett R. Coles's Blog, page 5
April 25, 2012
Science Fiction and Why It's Great: Part 1 - Rediscover the Wonder
Date: 2011-09-21
In our popular culture, there are some things that never seem to go out of fashion, and some things that never seem to come into fashion. No matter the excesses or bad behaviour of professional athletes, for example, pro sport is always going to be hot. Same for designer clothing. And so, apparently, reality TV. Science fiction, on the other hand, is marginalized and mocked, and in this series of blogs I’d like to set the record straight. I’m going to talk about science fiction, and why it’s great.
For starters, I humbly ask that you forget the stereotypes and occasional absurdities that are associated with the genre. Like most things, SF has its fringe of, shall we say, over-enthusiasts (kind of like what pro wrestling is to pro sport). What I’d like to do is explore the core of SF – what makes it what it is.
Paradoxically, one of the most important qualities of SF is going to make it a little hard to define: it’s all-inclusive. SF is a very big canvas, with a huge scope of subject matter, philosophy, themes and styles. There really doesn’t seem to be much in common between a gritty, hard science, present-day biology thriller like Greg Bear’s novel Darwin’s Radio, and a glossy, action-packed special effects-loaded space adventure like Paul Verhoeven’s film Starship Troopers. (Or, for that matter, between Starship Troopers the film, and the 1959 Robert Heinlein novel of the same name.) But though they may seem unrelated, they easily fall within the classification of science fiction. Why?
Perhaps the most fundamental quality which any SF creation must have is a sense of wonder – a sense that there is something else out to discover, even if we ultimately can’t understand it. This can be an overt theme, as in Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, or it can be an underlying menace, as in Ridley Scott’s Alien. This quest for knowledge and understanding has been a driving force in humans throughout history: its appeal, captured so well by SF, is nearly universal. And because this quality is so widespread, there is really no limit to what can be included within the SF genre.
The common sub-genres cover a huge range of topics: hard SF, where no laws of physics are broken and the story is often about the science itself; alien contact SF, where either the aliens come to us or we go to them; world disaster SF, where science must save humanity from impending doom; military SF, where some sort of advanced weaponry is involved and the story is usually about the soldiers; time travel; alternate worlds; mutants/clones/artificial life… The list goes on and on.
And finally there is space opera SF, which simply takes real life and puts it amongst the stars. Space opera is one of the most derided forms of SF, but there are brilliant examples of it, such as Joss Whedon’s Firefly, where real world, modern themes are explored in a fantastic setting. In many ways space opera captures the fundamental essence of SF the best, because it adds that essential sense of wonder by creating an imaginary place in which real, human drama can take place.
So that’s the first reason why science fiction is great: it has something for everyone. If you don’t like spaceships, try an alternate history novel like Harry Turtledove’s How Few Remain, where the Confederate States of America won the US Civil War. If you’re interested in exploring the long-term effects of disaster on individuals and society, pick up the TV series Battlestar Galactica (the 21st Century one, not the 1970s cheese-fest). If you want to be scared silly, watch the movie Event Horizon. And if you just want to switch your brain off for an evening, cosy up with Judge Dread.
I don’t know if being inclusive can make science fiction into a hot commodity, but it sure makes it something worthwhile.
BRC
First published at Life as a Human
Science Fiction and Why It's Great: Part 2 - The Deeper Meaning
Date: 2011-09-30
Sometimes writing is dangerous. Throughout history writers have sometimes had to hide their meaning behind symbolism and metaphor, for to say openly what they really meant could easily mean persecution or death. Thankfully this isn’t the case too often in modern Western culture, but even in our relatively open and tolerant society, writers sometimes choose, for a variety of good reasons, to mask their thoughts in allegory. Science fiction is tailor-made for this sort of hidden meaning, and this is the second reason why it’s great.
There are some well-known examples of sci-fi stories taking on social or political issues, and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is perhaps the most famous of all. His portrayal of a ruthlessly oppressive society resonated deeply with the anti-Communist hysteria of the Cold War, but even today the reader is chilled by the manipulation and control imposed upon virtually helpless members of society. A modern reader might even see in it a reflection of our media-dominated, superficial popular culture just as easily as a paranoid Red-hunter would have spotted Uncle Joe in the 50’s.
Science fiction, by its very nature, takes place in a world that is somehow different from ours. It could be set far in the future, or on a distant world, or in downtown Seattle where magic is real. This ability of the genre to exist as close to, or as far away from, our real world as the author wants gives it a unique ability to comment on the human condition. If an author wants to comment on the dangers of genetic engineering, he might have a modern-day lab bring prehistoric creatures to life, like Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park. If instead the author wants to explore human mortality he might do so with robots like Isaac Asimov in his I, Robot collection. Or an author could provide unique insight into the wisdom of the elderly by giving his aged characters powerful new bodies as John Scalzi did in Old Man’s War. In every case, the science fiction author has the freedom, if she so chooses, to explore complex and insightful aspects of our humanity without necessarily getting bogged down in real-world politics or potentially divisive issues.
In my novel, Virtues of War, one of the themes I wanted to explore was this: what is it really like to be a soldier? What happens psychologically to regular men and women when they see combat for the first time? And what are the very real consequences of the split-second decisions they make under extreme stress? As a military veteran it’s an idea dear to my heart, but the last thing I wanted to do was set the story in a modern day conflict like Afghanistan or Iraq. I have no interest in wading into the reasons behind why those real wars started, nor do I have any interest in taking sides. My story isn’t about the reasons for war, nor is it about either American or Arab grievances. My story is about the people: it’s about the soldiers. I certainly drew on my real-life experiences in Syria and Lebanon, but by setting Virtues of War nearly 500 years in the future and on another world, I freed myself from any real-life cultural baggage that could easily have accompanied my desired theme.
Being allegorical, a science fiction story can endure far beyond what the author originally intended. Just as Nineteen Eighty-Four has outlived the political movement that inspired it, perhaps James Cameron’s Avatar will still resonate long after the dangers of reckless environmental exploitation have faded to a happy irrelevance. Not only does this give science fiction a potential for longevity not necessarily enjoyed by other genres, it only adds to the broad appeal it already commands.
So that’s the second reason why science fiction is great: it provides the perfect vehicle for the pure exploration of real and relevant aspects of the human condition without causing offense. Or to put it in a less pompous way: science fiction is not only cool, it makes you think.
BRC
First published at Life as a Human
Science Fiction and Why It's Great: Part 3 - Art, Science and the Dreams They Make
Date: 2011-10-08
The ever-quickening pace of our society has resulted in many things, but one of the most lamentable is the superficial nature of what we mostly read. Supermarket tabloids have always been lambasted for their absurd headlines designed to catch the curious shopper’s eye, but now we can all surf dozens of online headlines at a glance, and they usually range from apocalyptic, to titillating to just plain dumb. It seems this is a growing trend in the way we read today, which increases the importance of the third reason why science fiction is great: it encourages – indeed demands us, to use our brains.
The early years of science fiction set the bar high, as authors with solid scientific understanding set out to tell tales that made science the centerpiece. Jules Verne and H.G. Wells may have created some “science” that is laughable in the light of today’s knowledge, but at the time nobody knew what the surface of the Moon was like, or what lay at the centre of the Earth. These authors not only asked the questions, but gave their readers imaginary answers that forced us to think beyond our everyday experience. Could people really live underwater in private yachts like the Nautilus in Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea? Could an enemy of overwhelming power really be defeated by the common cold like the Martians in Wells’ War of the Worlds?
As scientific discovery progressed, so did the focus of science fiction authors, but they never stopped challenging their readers to think beyond what was already known. As we learned more about the our solar system, for example, stories about space exploration like Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey made popular the idea of orbiting space stations and humankind visiting our neighbouring planets. As the fundamental nature of the Universe itself was uncovered, readers were invited to stretch their minds wide by Poul Anderson’s Tau Zero taking a spaceship and her crew to the very end of time and beyond. Isaac Asimov created the term “robot” to describe an artificial life form created by humans, and in so doing popularized the notion that life was not necessarily confined to biology.
The laws of physics certainly aren’t always adhered to in science fiction, but even when Einstein is flouted he is often done so in a very intelligent way. Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek had no time for such limitations as slower-than-light travel or the integrity of the strong nuclear force, but even so this space opera has managed for decades to explore thoughtful and sometimes controversial questions about our human existence. And Star Trek even sometimes tries to offer explanations as to why the laws of physics have changed, grabbing hold of modern theories when they suggest a hint of how warp drive or transporters might actually exist.
In my novel, Virtues of War, I wanted to stay as close to the current laws of physics as I could, and I found a great ally in the theory of Dr. Lisa Randall from Harvard, who has proposed a fourth spatial dimension beyond the three-dimensional “brane” in which we exist as a solution to why gravity is so different and so much weaker than the other three fundamental forces of nature. I don’t think that the concept of a fourth spatial dimension is going to be discussed on its own merits at coffee shops and soccer games too often, but with luck, having introduced “stealth ships” that can travel in this fourth dimension known as the Bulk and be battled by heroic young space pilots like Jack Mallory, I might have brought this esoteric concept of astro-physics slightly closer to the popular consciousness.
One of the most intriguing results of this thought-provoking genre called science fiction is that so many ideas that were imagined by authors have become reality. A modern nuclear-powered submarine really could travel around the world submerged for 20,000 leagues. Robots have become ubiquitous servants in our industrial society. Space stations orbit the Earth and probes have visited every planet in our solar system (sorry folks, Pluto doesn’t count anymore…). True, we haven’t invented transporters yet, but flip-phones sure look a lot like Captain Kirk’s old communicator. And while we haven’t travelled faster than light yet either, just a couple of weeks ago scientists think they discovered particles travelling faster than Einstein’s 100-year-old intergalactic speed limit. So who knows…?
Science fiction isn’t just about exploring the far reaches of our knowledge – it pushes past that and inspires us not only to think hard, but to think new. Science fiction writers are artists, inspired by scientific reality but driven by their imaginations, and it’s their dreaming that in turn inspires scientists to ask questions, to take risks, and to create wondrous new things. And even for those of us who aren’t scientists, science fiction forces us to keep our brains engaged, to stay curious and to think about things beyond the latest celebrity scandal or playoff game. Science fiction keeps us smart, and that’s why it’s great.
BRC
First published at Life as a Human
Science Fiction and Why It's Great: Part 4 - How Genius and Absurdity Make Something Truly Great
Date: 2011-11-02
So far we’ve talked about some big reasons why science fiction is great, and in every article I’ve made a point of asking readers to look past the absurdities of the science fiction fringe and focus on the strength of the core. But now I want to invite all that ridiculousness to the party – let’s talk about the Klingon university courses, the sleeping outside movie theatres for days, the pointy ears, the little green men, the freakish ability to quote movie lines and the whole range of absurdities that are a huge part of sci-fi. Although purists may shudder and closet-geeks may cringe, all that wacky weirdness is one of the things that makes science fiction great. So let’s get it out there.
Science fiction was always a bit quirky, even in what many consider to be its heyday in the 50’s and 60’s. There were no big conventions back then and no fictional languages being taught in community colleges, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t the guys on the high school football team who were picking up the latest copy of Analog or Amazing Stories. Right from the beginning, science fiction found its home away from the popular limelight, and as the size of the sci-fi subculture grew so diminished its likelihood of ever being cool.
In the late 60’s a revolutionary TV show started to change that. Star Trek, undermined by its own network and unceremoniously dumped after three seasons, did something remarkable. It actually grew in popularity even after it was cancelled. People loved it so much they started to meet in groups to talk about it. Authors started writing new stories to keep the adventure alive. And then, in 1972, there was an event called a “Star Trek convention” where cast and crew from the show actually turned up to meet with fans and talk about this fictional universe that was supposed to be dead but was very much alive. Although hardly the first science fiction convention (the very first can be dated back all the way to the 30’s), the sheer passion that fueled the Star Trek movement took the convention concept to a whole new level.
And then in 1977 another work of science fiction changed our culture forever. Star Wars exploded across our collective consciousness and, for a brief, glorious moment, made science fiction not only mainstream, but incredibly cool. I was 4 years old, and Star Wars was the first feature-length movie I ever saw. My parents say that my brother and I didn’t blink for two hours, and I can state with conviction that my entire childhood was dominated by that galaxy far, far away.
From these two cultural colossi comes pretty much all the weirdness that sci-fi is so well-known for. By the 80’s the idea of the sci-fi convention had grabbed hold, giving rise to vast venues where fans of everything from Voyage to the Centre of the Earth to V could meet, discuss, debate and buy collectibles, in total safety from muscle-bound bullies and beautiful women. (Okay, okay, perhaps an exaggeration: some very muscular guys are sci-fi fans too.) This sub-culture, for so long underground and in hiding, had been primed by Star Trek and liberated by Star Wars, and now it was free to go absolutely crazy. Costumes, action figures, comic-book adaptations, posters, china sets… A multi-billion dollar industry in collectibles was spawned, and sci-fi fanatics felt comfortable going loud and proud.
But …
But alongside all this fun and absurdity, despite science fiction moving in popular perception from being a mildly-nerdy but otherwise inoffensive genre to being a lunatic fringe of crazies who wanted to form a new society based on the United Federation of Planets, the core of what made science fiction great never changed. Science fiction continued to produce fascinating, intelligent and challenging works of literature that stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of human creativity. Science fiction is more diverse than any other genre. It is still grounded firmly in the real science that has created our modern world. It produces thought-provoking, allegorical commentary on fundamental issues of the human condition. Some of the finest novels, movies and TV shows of the past thirty years are within the realm of science fiction and no amount of silliness at the fringe has changed that. I challenge you to name me another genre of fiction that can simultaneously be so intelligent and so incredibly silly and pull off both with such conviction and panache.
And best of all, science fiction can even laugh at itself. One of the most-watched shows on TV today is The Big Bang Theory, which follows the hilarious misadventures of four uber-nerdy physicists. A half-dozen or more (often quite obscure) references to sci-fi culture are made in each episode and the main thrust of the show’s humour is making fun of sci-fi geeks. But I don’t know a single sci-fi fan who is offended – indeed most of us are huge fans of the show.
Science fiction is a diverse, established genre with a long pedigree of excellence coupled with a lighter side that allows for fun and even self-mockery. In other words, science fiction is well-travelled, mature, intelligent and has a great sense of humour – sounds to me like the very definition of cool. And that, my fellow X-wing pilots, students of Kolinahr, browncoats, dinosaur hunters and conspiracy theorists, is why science fiction is great.
BRC
First published at Life as a Human
Science Fiction and Why It's Great: The Finale - Imagination is an amazing gift
Date: 2011-12-14
Let’s face it. Science fiction is great. Oh sure, there are those who think it’s a fringe phenomenon that is best ignored until it goes away, but it’s already been going strong for a hundred and twenty-five years and shows no sign of fading. It covers a vast canvas of human thought, inspires some of our brightest minds to invent new technologies, and has the unique ability to laugh at itself. But who are the artists that shape this genre? Who are the folks that create these fantastic visions of other worlds for us? There are dozens of brilliant sci-fi authors and movie-makers – far too many to list here – but in this final instalment, and figuring some of you are looking for Christmas gift ideas, I wanted to introduce you to just a few of Canada’s science fiction best:
Margaret Atwood is a pillar of Canadian literature. She’s among the most-honoured authors of fiction in recent history, and while she might not be the first author who comes to mind when you’re thinking science fiction, and she herself has certainly distanced herself from the “talking squids in outer space” sort of sci-fi, some of her books, led by the brilliant but chilling Handmaid’s Tale, represent some of the finest works in the genre.
Robert J. Sawyer is a highly accomplished sci-fi author who has been heavily involved with supporting and developing Canadian science fiction. In addition to his 20 novels and a wide range of short fiction which have earned him more than 40 awards, he has contributed tremendously to Canada’s literary future through his work as a professor and writer-in-residence. I personally am a huge fan of his Quintaglio Ascension trilogy, which depicts a highly-evolved dinosaur culture.
William Shatner is perhaps THE icon of science fiction, portraying Star Trek’s Captain James T. Kirk for nearly forty years. In addition to his success as an author and his many film and TV roles, the Shat has created an entire industry around making fun of himself and the larger-than-life caricature we’ve all come to love and/or hate. I struggle to recommend one single item of his repertoire as the best, but I think my personal favourite would have to be the movie Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
James Cameron is one of the most successful movie-makers in history, and his recent film Avatar shattered box-office records and wowed audiences worldwide with his fantastic vision of another world. Although most of his movies would rate high on my recommendation list, since we’re talking sci-fi here, Avatar is the clear must-see. It’s a stunning portrayal of humans on another world, with some clear messages about life on Earth today.
Kenneth Tam is a home-grown Canadian success story and a prolific writer with no less than 20 novels published, including his Equation series and the Defence Command series. He is actively involved with small publishing and the science fiction convention scene. I recommend his series His Majesty’s New World for a fun escape.This is just a short list of science fiction notables, and just from my home country of Canada. No matter what your taste, no matter what your interests, I bet there is a sci-fi book, movie or TV show out there that you will love. So if you’ve never been interested in science fiction before, I challenge you to give it a try. Ask your friends, browse the bookstore or movie guide, and take a chance. I’ll wager you won’t be disappointed. Science fiction is great, and it’s waiting there for you to discover. Enjoy the ride.
BRC
First published at Life as a Human
Artistic Freedom Under Fire
Date: 2012-04-22
There is definitely something wrong with the publishing industry when a book that is unanimously regarded as excellent, including by those in the industry, has absolutely no chance of being considered for publication. Sound odd? I thought so too...
Read more at Life as a Human
March 30, 2012
War Child Canada needs You
Date: 2011-08-20
I had the opportunity, during my fifteen years in uniform, to see a lot of the world. Certainly the most moving experiences were when I was a UN Military Observer in Syria, and then in Lebanon. Our job was to stand between the Israelis and their Arab neighbours and say "Don't shoot... Or I'll tell!" We had mixed success.
I think what impacted me the most, however, was driving through the Golan Heights villages in Syria, seeing all the smiling children as they ran alongside our cars. These kids were truly happy, in that innocent way of the child. But as I looked past them and saw the adults in the villages who struggled to grow food, who burned their precious kerosene either to cook or to provide light (not both - there wasn't enough fuel), my heart ached because I could see the dismal future that was in store for these smiling kids. They didn't realize it yet, but their future was already set, and it was grim.
Being raised in poverty is bad enough. But to have no hope of every escaping that poverty is horrific. Places like Syria, which are under the thumb of a brutal dictatorship and bordered by enemies, are not kind places to children. Those kids I saw years ago, running with care-free abandon, are old enough now that they're working hard to support their families: childhood is over for them, stunted and short because of the terrible world they had the bad luck of being born into.
I support War Child Canada, www.warchild.ca, because their whole mission is to help the children in parts of the world like Syria. War Child has made it a cause to help the forgotten and the helpless in war. While others talk, the folks at War Child get out and do.
I support War Child. I humbly request that you do too.
Ten Years Later - I can still remember what it felt like
Date: 2011-09-11
Today is the 11th of September, 2011. We all know what happened 10 years ago. Seeing the images all over the news today, I was surprised at how vividly I remember the shock I felt that day. Followed by the anger. Followed by the sadness.
My life was affected directly by these events, as I was shipped out weeks later to be part of the Canadian military team tasked with setting up our mission to Afghanistan. The whole thing was surreal, and there was none of the bravado many ignorant people think is the only emotions soldiers feel as they prepare for battle. We knew that Canada was in for a tough mission: we knew that many of our colleagues wouldn't be coming home. We hoped that we would make it safely through our tour no matter where it might take us. I was lucky, staying well behind the lines, but that "lack of action" didn't make me feel disappointed or cheated in any way. Like most soldiers, I never sought combat. But in the post 9/11 world I was happy to be able to make a difference in a mission that mattered.
For the record, I have always opposed the US mission to Iraq that came a few years later. But I have always supported what eventually became the NATO mission to Afghanistan, where a brutal dictatorship was ousted and a terrorist haven was destroyed. Afghanistan certainly isn't perfect today, and I never had any illusions that we'd make it so, but it is a better place than how we found it.
And seeing those ten year old images again today, I remember why we went in the first place. It was an evil act committed that day, directed in the most cowardly fashion against innocent civilians, and it by itself did nothing to improve any lives anywhere in the world. We live in a different world because of it - better or worse is hard to say. I just hope and pray we'll never have to go through a decade like that again.
Part 1 - Rediscover the Wonder
Date: 2011-09-21
In our popular culture, there are some things that never seem to go out of fashion, and some things that never seem to come into fashion. No matter the excesses or bad behaviour of professional athletes, for example, pro sport is always going to be hot. Same for designer clothing. And so, apparently, reality TV. Science fiction, on the other hand, is marginalized and mocked, and in this series of blogs I'd like to set the record straight. I'm going to talk about science fiction, and why it's great.
For starters, I humbly ask that you forget the stereotypes and occasional absurdities that are associated with the genre. Like most things, SF has its fringe of, shall we say, over-enthusiasts (kind of like what pro wrestling is to pro sport). What I'd like to do is explore the core of SF – what makes it what it is.
Paradoxically, one of the most important qualities of SF is going to make it a little hard to define: it's all-inclusive. SF is a very big canvas, with a huge scope of subject matter, philosophy, themes and styles. There really doesn't seem to be much in common between a gritty, hard science, present-day biology thriller like Greg Bear's novel Darwin's Radio, and a glossy, action-packed special effects-loaded space adventure like Paul Verhoeven's film Starship Troopers. (Or, for that matter, between Starship Troopers the film, and the 1959 Robert Heinlein novel of the same name.) But though they may seem unrelated, they easily fall within the classification of science fiction. Why?
Perhaps the most fundamental quality which any SF creation must have is a sense of wonder – a sense that there is something else out to discover, even if we ultimately can't understand it. This can be an overt theme, as in Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey, or it can be an underlying menace, as in Ridley Scott's Alien. This quest for knowledge and understanding has been a driving force in humans throughout history: its appeal, captured so well by SF, is nearly universal. And because this quality is so widespread, there is really no limit to what can be included within the SF genre.
The common sub-genres cover a huge range of topics: hard SF, where no laws of physics are broken and the story is often about the science itself; alien contact SF, where either the aliens come to us or we go to them; world disaster SF, where science must save humanity from impending doom; military SF, where some sort of advanced weaponry is involved and the story is usually about the soldiers; time travel; alternate worlds; mutants/clones/artificial life… The list goes on and on.
And finally there is space opera SF, which simply takes real life and puts it amongst the stars. Space opera is one of the most derided forms of SF, but there are brilliant examples of it, such as Joss Whedon's Firefly, where real world, modern themes are explored in a fantastic setting. In many ways space opera captures the fundamental essence of SF the best, because it adds that essential sense of wonder by creating an imaginary place in which real, human drama can take place.
So that's the first reason why science fiction is great: it has something for everyone. If you don't like spaceships, try an alternate history novel like Harry Turtledove's How Few Remain, where the Confederate States of America won the US Civil War. If you're interested in exploring the long-term effects of disaster on individuals and society, pick up the TV series Battlestar Galactica (the 21st Century one, not the 1970s cheese-fest). If you want to be scared silly, watch the movie Event Horizon. And if you just want to switch your brain off for an evening, cosy up with Judge Dread.
I don't know if being inclusive can make science fiction into a hot commodity, but it sure makes it something worthwhile.
BRC
First published at Life as a Human
Part 2 - The Deeper Meaning
Date: 2011-09-30
Sometimes writing is dangerous. Throughout history writers have sometimes had to hide their meaning behind symbolism and metaphor, for to say openly what they really meant could easily mean persecution or death. Thankfully this isn't the case too often in modern Western culture, but even in our relatively open and tolerant society, writers sometimes choose, for a variety of good reasons, to mask their thoughts in allegory. Science fiction is tailor-made for this sort of hidden meaning, and this is the second reason why it's great.
There are some well-known examples of sci-fi stories taking on social or political issues, and George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is perhaps the most famous of all. His portrayal of a ruthlessly oppressive society resonated deeply with the anti-Communist hysteria of the Cold War, but even today the reader is chilled by the manipulation and control imposed upon virtually helpless members of society. A modern reader might even see in it a reflection of our media-dominated, superficial popular culture just as easily as a paranoid Red-hunter would have spotted Uncle Joe in the 50's.
Science fiction, by its very nature, takes place in a world that is somehow different from ours. It could be set far in the future, or on a distant world, or in downtown Seattle where magic is real. This ability of the genre to exist as close to, or as far away from, our real world as the author wants gives it a unique ability to comment on the human condition. If an author wants to comment on the dangers of genetic engineering, he might have a modern-day lab bring prehistoric creatures to life, like Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park. If instead the author wants to explore human mortality he might do so with robots like Isaac Asimov in his I, Robot collection. Or an author could provide unique insight into the wisdom of the elderly by giving his aged characters powerful new bodies as John Scalzi did in Old Man's War. In every case, the science fiction author has the freedom, if she so chooses, to explore complex and insightful aspects of our humanity without necessarily getting bogged down in real-world politics or potentially divisive issues.In my novel, Virtues of War, one of the themes I wanted to explore was this: what is it really like to be a soldier? What happens psychologically to regular men and women when they see combat for the first time? And what are the very real consequences of the split-second decisions they make under extreme stress? As a military veteran it's an idea dear to my heart, but the last thing I wanted to do was set the story in a modern day conflict like Afghanistan or Iraq. I have no interest in wading into the reasons behind why those real wars started, nor do I have any interest in taking sides. My story isn't about the reasons for war, nor is it about either American or Arab grievances. My story is about the people: it's about the soldiers. I certainly drew on my real-life experiences in Syria and Lebanon, but by setting Virtues of War nearly 500 years in the future and on another world, I freed myself from any real-life cultural baggage that could easily have accompanied my desired theme.
Being allegorical, a science fiction story can endure far beyond what the author originally intended. Just as Nineteen Eighty-Four has outlived the political movement that inspired it, perhaps James Cameron's Avatar will still resonate long after the dangers of reckless environmental exploitation have faded to a happy irrelevance. Not only does this give science fiction a potential for longevity not necessarily enjoyed by other genres, it only adds to the broad appeal it already commands.
So that's the second reason why science fiction is great: it provides the perfect vehicle for the pure exploration of real and relevant aspects of the human condition without causing offense. Or to put it in a less pompous way: science fiction is not only cool, it makes you think.
BRC
First published at Life as a Human
