Catch a Star—Be a Hero (or Heroine).

One of the reasons that I like to write science fiction stories is that I can make up things that are completely outrageous and fit them into a story.

This happens a lot in my stories.

The thing about it is that, because it is science fiction, there is always a possibility that it could become truth. At some point in the future, perhaps the very far future, the occurrences that sci-fi writers jot down could be normal, everyday things.

When they become true someone will look back and say, “Wow! Look at this! Some dude back in the early 21^st Century figured out that this would happen.” Then you become a soothsayer after the fashion of Nostradamus.

Of course, if it doesn’t come true then it is still a damn good story that is, after all, fiction!

None of us sci-fi authors, I should hope, should wish for a dystopian or (perish the word) kakatopian future and yet they are increasingly popular.

I am sure that we all enjoyed Denzel Washington in the ‘Book of Eli’ in more recent times and ‘Blade Runner’ from further back.

Of course, I was also tempted to write a few such stories. One of them, ‘Crater’, tells how that dire future for mankind developed. Another one called ‘Meevo’ plunges us straight into a world that is mostly destroyed and toxic.

Even the ‘Adepts’ novels starting with ‘Furato’ and continuing with ‘Empath’ slide along a grim path into earthly near-destruction.

These types of stories are widely used now. Why? Because the writer can easily imagine a scene where the world has run out of pretty well everything. In ‘Mad Max’ there were still vehicles but fuel was becoming a problem and so, quite rightly, the author described a future where the criminal classes were intent on controlling what was left of the fuel in the world.

In all these futures, no matter how bad they may seem to be, you need a hero.

Kevin Costner portrayed a couple of these heroes in ‘Waterworld’ (1995) and ‘The Postman’ (1997). ‘The Postman’ was based on a novel written in 1985 by David Brin.

Neither film was appreciated by the critics and yet the underlying stories were excellent and the films well made.

Will they become true? It would seem unlikely but that doesn’t detract from their value as good, entertaining stories.

They all have a hero. All of them. The reader, or filmgoer, needs to identify with someone in the story.

I like to have females in my stories because I like females and because the person reading the story may well be female and may wish to identify with someone in the story.

In several of my stories the women or girls are strong. They are, in one particular instance, killers and men are the weak ones that do most of the menial tasks.

‘Rhittach’ is a story that tells how a young girl brought up on the tundra, cared for by her father and brothers, is swept away by an Abbess to a ‘college’ where she learns the fine art of slaughter. An art in which she finds herself to have great proficiency and a fine taste.

Kua is also a killer. In ‘The Defection of Kua’ she becomes restless and ill at ease with what she is doing, her conscience takes over at last.

Heroes and heroines are necessary. ‘Marvel’ and ‘DC Comics’ proved that to be true. There has been a torrent of films based on these comic book people—most of them extremely entertaining.

Will these stories ever become the truth? Hardly. These are fantasy more than science fiction but are they entertaining? Absolutely. From ‘V for Vengeance’ to ‘Green Lantern’ and on to ‘Judge Dredd’ from a comic strip they are the sort of story that sweeps us away from the daily routine into a world of wonder that captivates us and lets us dream of being a hero or heroine ourselves.

That is the point.

We write stories that entertain. We write stories that might have some sort of philosophical angle or a streak of humour; occasionally there might be something more poignant or something that reflects on society—something that we find dissatisfying about the society that we live in.

More than that, we write stories that people can lose themselves in, that they can dream about and pretend that they are that person in the story.

We all want to be heroes but we all recognise that we are vulnerable, that we have weaknesses.

We want to be heroes with no risks.

That type of hero exists only in our imagination. That is what we must write down and pass on to the reader.