[NOTE: This piece was written in response to a prompt for OWS CyCon, in which authors were asked to describe what makes our fictional worlds unique, and originally appeared over here at Stephen Pearl’s blog.]
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” -Arthur C. Clarke
Do me a favor – imagine a future Earth. Hunger is unimaginable. Energy is limitless. Climate – stable. Humanity has enhanced itself through means biological and technological. Even Death has been banished, for those rich enough to afford it. This is not a perfect world, nor could it be. It has simply moved on from the problems that plague our own. Can you see it? Really make an effort. Hold it in your mind. Place yourself on those streets. Trace the skylines. Got it?
Now watch it crumble.
This isn’t a slow decline, the sort of demise that leaves time for planning and adaptation. No, this is a cataclysm, a single unforeseen event that eliminates nearly all of humanity, leaving those few who are left to scrabble up from the ashes and start over again.
Generations pass. Not even legends remain of the world that was. Much of the Earth is uninhabitable. Those lands fit for life have been conquered by the Dominion, an Imperial force that seeks to bring all peoples under its banner, cementing its power through belief in the immortal gods that bestow their miraculous blessings upon a select few. This is the world of SHADOW & FLAME, a Science Fiction novel masquerading as Epic Fantasy.
The concept for this world was born from a few different points of inspiration, one of which is the work of George R. R. Martin in his masterpiece A Game of Thrones. There’s a scene in the book (and show) where it’s discovered that Prince Joffrey is illegitimate due to simple rules of genetic inheritance. All true Baratheons have black hair, and Joffrey doesn’t. Jon Arryn, the character who makes this discovery, scrawls in his notes the cryptic phrase “The seed is strong”, a play on our modern understanding of genetic traits as “dominant” or “recessive”. In this way Martin uses the reader’s knowledge of science to enhance a tale that is otherwise full of magic and mystery.
A scientist by training, I began to wonder if it was possible to write a Fantasy novel that was fully scientifically accurate, yet still contained fantastical elements such as magic swords, immortal gods, and outlandish creatures. My solution was to create a world where the characters experienced the fantastic but are ignorant of the realities of their world. There are über powerful swords, but they’re simply made of futuristic materials rather than magically enchanted. The immortal gods are bio-enhanced humans who’ve survived long enough to watch humanity rebuild and have guided their path. The bizarre creatures encountered in the book are based completely on traits that exist in our world, put together in novel combinations.
Of course, none of this is known to my characters. In fact, as much as I like the concept, it should be the least interesting thing about SHADOW & FLAME, serving only as a stage upon which the real story plays out. Presented as Epic Fantasy, the novel tells the tale of a realm descending into the chaos of a civil war, driven by hidden dissidents intent on the Dominion’s destruction. The book’s multiple POV characters struggle against the political and martial forces arrayed against them, while at the same time grappling with issues of identity and family relationships. Though hints about the world’s true age and prior inhabitants are sprinkled throughout, it’s not until quite late in the novel that the true nature of the world is explicitly revealed to readers. Whether the truth will be revealed to the characters is still an open question, as this is the first installment of a planned trilogy.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this peek into the fantastical Science Fiction world I’ve created. It was an incredibly challenging piece of genre-bending, but rewarding to finally complete, and I can’t wait until the day when readers get the chance to explore all the little nooks and crannies I’ve built in. When that will happen is anybody’s guess, as I’m still actively seeking representation. Until then, I’ll be busy plugging away on the next installment and finding new ways to make magic from the natural wonders of reality.
The Glass Frog 