This story follows a gambler’s chain of thoughts through a game which will sound like a mix of chess and poker. There is some inspiration drawn from Iain Banks, which is despite my criticism of his works. There is some overlap in what he has written and what I link to think about. My complaint of his work would be the execution rather than a complaint of his underlying ideas.

For those that have read my collection of sci-fi short stories may also be pleased to know that this one is set in the same Universe.

Convexity

The Light was quiet this evening, despite the fact that it was hosting the big game. Space junkers still punted their wares; guards still patrolled; drinkers still drank; and those of us who gambled vast fortunes still lost. No one cared about the big game. No one, except the gamblers and even we gamblers were a rare species on the Light these days. Where was the crowd? Tonight saw half of the galaxy’s top players, all of whom staked big on great and terrible hands alike, congregate at Armon’s bar for what ought to be the most exciting game in years.

Despite losing three crates of steel no one said “oooh” or “ahhh”. Popularity had dwindled to the point where “King” Darsam lost his planet, and three billion inhabitants in a single hand, it had only been witnessed by the players and the four drunks who propped up the bar. Who knows if the drunks were paying attention or just grunting at random intervals?

A view-screen behind the bar showed the other big game of the evening. Perhaps the drunks were watching Magball? But what was the appeal in watching 40 adults running around a maze throwing a metallic ball at each other? Sure there was skill involved but the outcomes were too predictable – the same teams always won the league.

Kerval could count five teams that had won the league in the last twenty series. The amateur leagues were more exciting, greater randomness, but their appeal was far more niche and only a few people talked about them. Joining an amatuer Magball appreciation club was beyond Kerval’s interest. He admired them, the amateurs, they played with heart and local rivalries were always fierce. Another problem with the big leagues was the player churn — Blitzer Zal had played for ten teams in the last eight series. Where was the loyalty, the dedication and passion to and for one team and one set of fans?

Three hammers, two daggers and five coin cards. Shit. Kerval had let his mind wander again. His brow unconsciously furrowed, but he caught himself. Give no signals. He wanted to scratch the itch at the end of his nose but feared this would signal that his hands were empty. This was only the beginning and already it felt like a rout.

He looked at his cards again and hoped they had changed. A card of four coins, the best he held, but the other two coin cards weren’t charged. They were blank; no coins. He guessed that a single card of four wouldn’t be enough to overturn the five separate coin cards of his nearest opponent. The first player was strong; Kerval was second in line to play but he was empty. Four sets of eyes to his left waited for him to make his move. If he could play the three plus the two empty coins then he might be able to bluff a defence.

The first player had a good hand and knew it. This gentleman had played his cards face up and was notably smug about it. Kerval cringed. No signals. Unfurrow that brow. Keep those lips straight. It was a mantra for Kerval. The face-up placement of cards was bold but not wholly arrogant. He saw it as a confident move with much merit. Such moves often ward off bluff attacks that can bleed a player before a large assault later in the game. Kerval had been, and had often partaken in, double teaming a number of opponents. Everyone at this level knew it would happen several times in a series.

There was a chance that if Kerval placed his hand face down he could pretend to have untold power. It wasn’t common for players to place very powerful cards face down in order to lure opponents into a trap. It can work wonders: an opponent’s ten card power play can be demolished in a single hand. Kerval smiled, almost laughing. What was he going to do with a backwards planet with a population of three billion primitives? Darsam had practically handed him the keys to the palace. Although Kerval knew that he might be forced to wager all of that in this game. He’d lose the planet but stay in the game. You win some, you lose some.

[More to come! Watch this space]

I cannot find a link to an article I read that stated (roughly) that Krugman (?) said that sci-fi was all about economics and was the reason he became interested in economics. Unfortunately, without a link to the source I can’t verify the exact wording. I’m not wishing to put words into his mouth as it would seem underhanded. I have to admit that I am not fond of Professor Krugman (not worth discussing here), but I will at least agree that many great works of sci-fi can be seen as economic parables. That said, I do not believe that any consideration of economics is the prime impetus for writing sci-fi. I believe that economics adds flavour to sci-fi, and in many cases it is a core theme, but that isn’t what makes it sci-fi.

Classic sci-fi is based upon what-if scenarios. Spaceships, laser guns and little green men were the props necessary to illustrate the author’s chosen scenario. Sci-fi grants a freedom to go beyond the confines of physics, and everyday life, but consequently the logic within a sci-fi story is contradictory. This is also true of fantasy. Sci-fi has evolved from simple what-if scenarios to become a large meta-genre that covers a multitude of (sins) plot styles.

An interesting question would be: do all sci-fi writers sit down with a what-if scenario and then try to construct a plot around? No, I don’t believe this is the case. I think many have an idea for a plot or a character than try to create a story from their seed idea. Whether it is by intended or unconsciously decided a what-if scenario is likely to emerge.

• What if Victorian Britain actually had powerful steam-powered devices?
• What if we could go back in time?
• What if we could journey to Mars or live in the stars? (unintentionally poetic )

First and foremost, any story should have interest characters. Readers can identify with characters they like and / or enjoy reading about. The fact that a love story is set on Mars as opposed to Earth is mostly irrelevant. Readers who appreciate a love story will enjoy that aspect; they want to read about interesting characters. That’s what keeps them reading, but it doesn’t make it sci-fi. Not even setting the love story on Mars would really do that (some debate there, sure). The defining aspect of a sci-fi love story would be: what if the love between two characters can’t work because of a technological or scientific difficulty?

The man is from Mars yet the woman is from Venus, and due to different physiologies they can’t reproduce. The what-if aspect here is how can these characters life together, and should they want to try living together if they can’t reproduce? The meta-scenario of difficult love isn’t new, nor restricted to sci-fi, but the use of different planets and species gives it that sci-fi flavour. The interplay between science, the characters, and the core scenario is what defines a story as sci-fi.

On top of this simple plot there could also be economic concerns. An extension could be that the couple in the story could eventually find out that there is a way to reproduce but in order to do it would cost vast quantities of money (or resources) which are beyond their means. To re-iterate a previous statement: sci-fi can grant the freedom to take this scenario to extremes without being contradictory.

A difficult love story is familiar to us Earthling writers and readers. We can understand and empathize with the characters. Using a sci-fi setting allows the writer to appeal to extremes in order to create a grand illustration of “how can this relationship work if there are extreme difficulties?”

The appeal to extremes is also in fantasy, so naturally, there is shared ground there. I find that fantasy is less interested in the what-if scenarios but more on the themes of what makes life worth living. Sci-fi questions wants us to question existence and “why should we bother? Why do we exist?”

While fantasy doesn’t necessarily ask us “why bother?”, I think that the genre accepts that we do exist and then ponders “how could we live better?”

Caveats:

Yes, I’m simplifying but the overall direction is something I believe to be correct. The criteria I suggested in this article are not the only considerations but I believe they are common across many work of science fiction, particularly the great ones.

I’ve been writing for years and wandered aimlessly through the self-publishing (killing?) fields without actually pulling the trigger. In 2013 I created a new Twitter account for my creative writing and have engaged in some writing chatter. After year of wandering I decide that I should get something published. Anything. I enjoy writing and I think that the universes I’ve created are interesting and intriguing. Eventually, I came across Smashwords and decided that was the best way to go. And now I can present my first finished published work (excluding my PhD thesis of course, does that even count?):

Smashwords link: Terosan Tales

Four short stories set in the same universe which are the beginnings of a larger tapestry of interwoven stories.

For a brief summary of each story click on “Continue reading”:

General background

Terosan Prime is a planet-spanning city that sits at the heart of the Terosan Galactic Republic. A democratic power that spans numerous star systems with majority control of their galaxy. Their power is only rivaled by the large consortium of corporate planest who are collectively known as Kyopix. The latter were once wealthy Terosan merchants but broke away to form their own “civilization” with a set of rules that’s less restrictive. Trade between the two is prosperous and the hostility is mostly confined to heated negotiations.

The gaps between these two powers is full of independent star systems; they are the unconquered, the resistive, the destroyed, or the unknown. Living free but sandwiched between two super-powers does not make for easy living.

This is a universe of empires, computer hackers, gamblers, merchants, nomads, killers and faster-than-light travel.

Further background reading in a previous blog post: Terosan background details.

Stories in this volume: “Deck 20″, “Fallen Gods of Cheam”, “The Pirate Queen”, “Gnir’s Raid”.

Deck 20

Terosan is a sprawling planet-wide city. It is the centre of the Terosan Galactive Republic and therefore the major seat of power in the galaxy. The military of the TGR is arguable the strongest in the galaxy and Terosan Prime, the capital planet, is clearly the most populated with the largest economy. It dominates all.

In this modern metropolis everything is monitored. Security begets stability. Crime is low and the citizens can live in peace. As can be expected in such conditions, crime isn’t absolutely zero. The areas with the highest crime rares are at the bottom of the sky-scraping towers where the power people live. Deck 20 is a story of a boy who ventures outside to play in the streets, against his father’s wishes and ends up on the wrong side of the law.

Fallen Gods of Cheam

Cheam is a backwards planet by Terosan standards. Sentiment life exists but the civilizations are primitive. Although on a world covered in ice it shouldn’t be a surprise. Survival is the highest priority and nothing else even comes close. Despite such harsh conditions life is able to exist but not exactly flourish.

The Cheamans are primitive and superstitious but not stupid. This story concerns a hunting expedition of a tribal leader and his closest companions who eventually confront the twilight of their gods.

The Pirate Queen

Being born poor doesn’t mean that you have to die poor. This pirate queen lives in the gaps between Terosan and Kyopix. She plays against the both of them and raids who she pleases to make a comfortable but risky living for herself. She doesn’t work alone, of course, but rather she commands a small fleet of ships filled with a loyal crew.

If anything, life seems too easy. Luck faltered when this queen was eventually captured but she was given an opportunity of a lifetime, one that would allow her to walk free and make more wealth than she ever had before. With great rewards comes great risk.

Gnir’s Raid

Hacking. It ain’t easy. Few people can do it, even fewer can do it without getting caught. In a world where everything is tagged and closely monitored then escaping the surveillance isn’t easy. One of the most prolific hackers thinks he’s found a secret but disused government owned information stash. Is he right and what can he do about it?

(note: Long read. Actually ended up longer than intended.)

Technical – work

On the creative side of things I haven’t to write anything fresh since Nanowrimo (Nov 2013), although I managed to type up some short stories earlier this year that I’ve had on paper for the last year or two. Nanowrimo was unfortunate but life got in the way and I had to abandon much of my free time. It all worked out in the end so no complaints.

Since January I’ve been engaged in mostly technical writing for work, this is only part of my job but it is a necessary part of the role. The documents should be concise and easy to read, include pictures / tables / diagrams as necessary, such that someone can pick it up read it (mostly) independent of other documents. Obviously there is always some minimum level of required knowledge but I need to be clear where I’ve assumed something and be sure that I’ve defined everything.

I’m reluctant to share the details of those documents so the above is slightly contextless. However, one thing that I can do which I’m not sure that others in my workplace can is to compare the technical writing process with that of the creative writing process.

I’m not saying that technical writing is completely devoid of creativity but rather it is much more constrained and often well defined that the outcome (the final document) in advance of starting the document. In some ways this makes writing such a document easier, and can be a case of just sitting down and writing it.

The process benefits from the fact that I’m writing about something I know a lot about, and in all cases this year the details have not been complicated. Naturally, I didn’t write any document without flaw in the first attempt but rather each document underwent numerous revisions. Feedback (from coworkers) is a necessary part of the process and part of the “formal” procedure which makes it easier to revise something when it has been agreed what needs to change: no need to second guess your own decisions.

All of the above points are why I find technical writing easier, admittedly it hasn’t been the hardest technical writing, but it also helps to get paid. The document gets finished because it’s part of my job hence I’m paid to do it.

Technical – PhD

An example of hard(er) technical writing was my PhD. While I was an (or became) expert in the area of research my thesis didn’t have a known structure before I started it. Nor was the outcome of my research known at the point I started.

As such a document takes a long time to write I figured it was best to start it well in advance. I actually started my thesis before some older people (who were due to graduate a couple of years before me) actually started theirs. What can I say? I was keen to get writing it and put my ideas on to paper.

While the research was tricky and vacillated between fun / interesting and “damn it this doesn’t work”, writing the thesis was mostly fun. Removed from the research I actually enjoyed talking and writing about my subject. The main motivation was graduating with an advanced degree as well as getting it done so I could move on with life.

Discursive – blogging

Despite creating my website back in 2009 and that most of the content is “blogging”, I still loathe the word. For me, the word has connotations of (melo)drama: people open up on their blog and provide a stream of consciousness about their daily routines. My desire to text-dump my daily routine isn’t anywhere on my priority list. Sure I’ve made the odd rant status on Facebook but I’ve mostly weaned myself off of that. My modestly contrarian views on life and the universe are often met with hostility. ^_^

While I try to avoid outright contention I can’t help but write with an overly cynical or critical tone when it comes to discursive writing. That is my perspective of my own writing, I’m not sure how it sounds to readers. That said, I’ve tried to be less contentious or confrontational. I’ve found that avoiding forums and not participating in the comments section of newspapers (etc) helps to stay calm (and sleep well at night ).

On discursive writing itself, as a process, I do find it easier. The reasons for this are corroborative with my comments above on technical writing. I’m not paid but generally the outcome is well known before I start; I already have an idea of what I want to say and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel before I start. All of my discursive writing pieces are sub-5000 words (iirc) which also helps for staying focused.

Creative

… and finally on to creative writing, and for clarity: writing fiction. Of all the types of writing mentioned here this is the most fun but also the hardest. Creating a universe isn’t the hard part, but writing believable characters that exist in that universe is. Keeping the momentum going to write a full length story in a universe that you create with little or no structure has been tough.

The motivation for creative writing isn’t there in the same way either: if I complete my work and get it published then I might make make some money. A huge if with much uncertainty. Unlike writing technical documents at work where the writing is a part of my job, the structure is clear and I’m paid to do it.

Creative writing was something I did at school in English classes, I always avoided discursive but I didn’t know how to tackle that. Most (all?) of what I wrote at school was either sci-fi or fantasy (no surprise!) but all of the pieces were short (a couple of pages of A4 at most).

Outside of school I eventually started to create various SF&F universes as games. In some cases I created games around well-known universes such as StarTrek and StarWars. I created ships, planets and species and wrote a brief backstory of how they would fit together and also consistently with a universe that already existed. This part of writing is always the most fun but in many ways also the most distracting. As I’ve got older I always promised myself that I would eventually get something published. In order to focus on writing I had to work with a universe that I had already created and try to cut down the distractions.

As I probably discussed in a previous blogpost it wasn’t until I left high school that I actually tried to write a full length SF&F novel. In those days I disdained short stories as an “improper” use of time; how could something be exciting and also grand in scale if it was sub-10,000 words? That was roughly my line of thinking but the counter-side to that is that writing a full length novel is a lot of work.

The fantasy novel that I started circa 2002 (can’t quite recall) was first written and basically complete (structurally) and circa 50k words. Quite far short of what I thought a real novel should have. Not long after I started to write my sci-fi novel which eventually stalled at 30-40k words with about half of the plot written. That sci-fi novel is based upon notes that I created at high school and is the same universe in my newly completed collection of short stories.

The fantasy book was eventually re-written in 2009 / 2010 and is now at 100k words with approximately 95% of the structure complete. It has dangled there at the end point since. I’ve lack the motivation to finish it. Partly because I couldn’t figure out how to make it end and partly because I couldn’t figure out what I’d do with it was it was finished. My initial goal was to write and then publish it to lulu (I’ve also considered going the traditional route, that can be another post). I didn’t quite get there.

Motivation is tough, pay is currently non-existent, the structure is chaotic and inevitably the writing stalled. However, I did eventually get something published. Next post coming up!

Main thread
The centre stage for the Universe is actually a particular galaxy and even more particular is the main federation that I have tentatively named Terosan (I created the name years ago but it seems other have used a similar name — try Googling). This federation is the majority power in its galaxy who dominate at least half of the map. Their capital world bears the same name and is a Corsucant (see StarWars) inspired planet that is almost entirely covered by buildings. The system of government is democratic with something similar to the US senate house. There are obvious parallels with the real world that I hope will be familiar and hence help to ease the reader into immersion better. As you may be already expecting this government also has a large military with several hundred starships, if we include the small ships then probably tens of thousands would be a more accurate number. Influence / power is derived some such a large active military, one which is well organized and cohesive too. Naturally, this ought to conjure up the idea of a “democratic imperium”.

The major relationships in this galaxy are between Terosan and the large consortium of corporate planet who are collectively known as Kyopix. The latter were once wealthy Terosan merchants but broke away to form their own “civilization”. Their rules are less restrictive, as they see it. There is still a lot of trade between the two and hostility is mostly confined to heated arguments diplomacy. Kyopix has a less powerful military but they do maintain influence through their wealth and resources. Within the ‘borders’ of these two ’empires’ control is near 100%, outside the borders are a slew of independent planets that haven’t been conquered. They survive by being far enough away from Terosan Prime (the capital world) that their capture would be expensive or difficult to manage the taxes etc. Kyopix are less about conquering and more about trading, so they are keen to trade with the independent planets rather than attack. This covers the main dynamic of the galaxy.

There is one more civilization to consider and that is the mysterious Hayf Empire who I alluded to in my previously posted short story “Pirate Queen”. Not much information has been given about them, and little is given away in the novel either. They are mostly reclusive and defensive, but have a military power beyond any other. In the novel, the Terosans have managed to strike a deal with the Hayf for the purchase of an inter-galactic propulsion system. This allows a starship to travel not from star to star but galaxy to galaxy. This technology is rare, complex to build and expensive to buy / maintain. Intra-galactic is mainly via jump-gates, which are big metal rings that bend space and propel craft to their destination (another jump-gate). Most ships are not powerful enough to carry their own faster-than-light drive, only the biggest ships can do that. This creates a dynamic where the ability to travel grants power. The novel already assumes that the trade between Terosan and Hayf has happened, it also assumes that Terosan has visited the nearest galaxy and that things a new tension has arisen.

The short stories I’ve presented on my blog are prequels. They create the back-story and so provide a flavour or what is to come.

Sub-threads
The sub-threads all relate back to the main thread in one way or another. The link isn’t always obvious at first but it is definitely there. Some of the links may not be apparent in the novel, and so will only be revealed in a later book. I’m still figuring that all out.

Hackers: this sub-thread occurs on the capital world: Terosan Prime. Given that most of the planet is urbanized, and that this is sci-fi, then clearly there is going to be a vast network like the internet. It needs to be more advanced than our current internet too, but I’ve struggled to capture the correct balance of realistic and fantastical. Basically, the planet’s inhabitants can put on visors and tap away at futuristic keyboards that take them into an online world. One which is a replica of the one they live in, but one which is also enhanced by rich meta-data. Oddly, the offline is also enriched by excessive electronics and connectivity. This story follows a small group of societal rejects who have begun notorious online trouble makers, they hack for fun and attempt to discover how their world is works. They explore the connections and relationships in order to gain a new insight on life. However, such a life is not without peril and people are easily lead astray when they believe themselves too powerful. On top of this, I suggest to my readers that hyper-connectivity may have consequences: how does a brain cope under the stress of excessive excitement?

“Pirate Queen”: See my untitled short story posted here. The “Queen” is someone who grew up in independent space and after a rough and tumble childhood she grew to be a captain on a starship and command her own fleet. She’s often rude and obnoxious but commands a crew who is fiercely loyal, partly because they are well rewarded.

Note: “Short” is relating to the concept of running a short position where a financial instrument is borrowed and sold. It is mostly a metaphor here.

Apocalypse Short

The deal was in the bag, they hung on his every word. Money would flow from the decision maker and from not the pen pushing, policy making, aides that sat at either side. James had a good feeling about this one. He was feeling smug that he had ignored their local customs and sense of fashion but still managed to sign the deal. Almost sign the deal, he corrected himself. Their fashion of shirt and tie which is considered old school on James’s planet, it hadn’t been used for at least a hundred years. Sure, ties were popular once, James didn’t deny that and admitted that they carried an air of old wealth in his part of the galaxy but they are less practical and less functional than today’s one piece bodysuits.

  The hover lanes were packed with cars, as they were every day at lunch time, the hustle and bustle distracted James from listening to his clients. The coffee hadn’t been strong enough either. Who made it? They needed a lesson in preparing the good stuff. Was weak coffee another tradition of this backwater planet?

  How old is that tie style anyway? James had completely zoned out from what the female aide was saying. Something about policy documentation for transfer of public funds. Yawn. His mind fondly wandered back to the holo-image on his desk, it was taken his grandfather’s house when he was a young boy wearing a suit to his own great grandfather’s funeral. A sombre image, no doubt, yet a peaceful one that kindled a warm feeling of familiarity and comfort. That was a long time ago when his planet still wore ties.

  “…and yes the returns are impressive.” James’s attention came back into the conversation. Returns, someone said returns. Money, investment, profit, returns, oh yes lovely returns. Steak for lunch? He bit his knuckle to prevent from yawning again, he thought he got away with it the first time. Why didn’t they wear name badges? How was he supposed to remember their names?

 “Mr Swannick?” her voice was soft, mesmerizing.

 “Yes? Sorry, what? Oh, and please, call me James.”

 “We were just saying that while your evidence is compelling, and your arguments are convincing, we still need more time before we can reach a decision.”

 “I see, but otherwise you are ready to sign the documents?” James asked.

 “I think we are ready but the decision has to go to the cabinet,” the decision maker spoke up. This is the one James needed to work on.

 “Well, as I’ve shown in my presentation, our company has demonstrated considerably returns on all investments with steady profits every year… and of course when I say steady I mean steady growth. Chart 31, as you probably remember, showed the increase of profit per year on the last planet where we sold our proprietary investment solutions. We were aiming to replicate the same strategy on this planet, we’ve contacted your government first, but we’d be willing to work with any government. Given the size of your nation versus the others, it makes sense to pitch our products to the largest first. Charts 36 and 37 showed the projections of revenues and profits that we expect for your pension pot based upon our models. We’ve never failed.”

  “Yet.” Her voice was smooth yet feisty, James wished that she had forgone wearing a business suit.

 “What was this on page 53 about fee structure, I didn’t quite understand the statement ‘typical fee structure of five-fifty’. What does that mean?” the third delegate spoke up, this one was the smart quiet type, he might be harder to convince. His voice was quieter than the others and yet his gaze was more penetrating. James felt intimidated. Did this one even blink?

 “Oh that,” James almost laughed,”it is off-world talk for how we apply fees to your investment. Unfortunately our services are not free, we are not but humble yet gifted off-worlders who have come in search of opportunities. Fortunately, the profit will easily cover the fees as you saw in the projection graphs. It does not matter if the markets are up, down or sideways; we will make money whatever the conditions and, therefore, so will you.” James smiled.

 “Yes, you said,” the female interjected again, “but we’ve never seen such strategies before so we are hesitant about investing our nation’s pension pot into an untested scheme.”

 James looked back to the man sat in the middle, the decision maker, “let’s talk investment sizes, what do you think would be a fair amount?”

 “Well we don’t have an exact figure-”

 “But something? What is it roughly going to be?”

 “I-I coul- couldn’t give… an exact amount, no, it would be something around… well, I don’t know-”

 “Around?” James pushed.

 “Perhaps a trillion notes or so.”

 “So about one percent of the total pension pot?” James asked.

 “Closer to two percent,” the female aide said, “which is a lot more than I am comfortable with.”

 “I think two percent sounds like a perfectly reasonable start,” James countered.

 “Mr Swann… uh, James, sorry, you didn’t clarify the fee structure well enough,” the quiet aide spoke this time.

 “Five percent up front then fifty percent of the profit each year. It might seem steep but it keeps our programmers incentivized to do well… you know how they are, they speak to each other in computer riddles and don’t always shower…” James drifted off and then realised he probably shouldn’t have said that,”but they do a fantastic job and you won’t find a better product in the galaxy, probably not even in the next galaxy over either,”

 “Fifty percent? That’s far too high,” the female responded.

 “I’d say we deliver good value for money, no company will provide the returns we do. Our company has the best off-world technology combined with our proprietary trading software, it will literally blow your socks off.” James smiled although feared the conversation was slipping into dangerous territory again. It was safe, it was secured, all he needed was a signature. “Perhaps you’d like to see our server room? Ok, not really, only joking, no one wants to see a grey room full of boxes but I would like a signature on this document I prepared.” James brought out a computer pad and showed it to the man in the middle.

 “Can we meet your team?” the quieter male asked.

 James felt stuck for words. The programmers weren’t the most polished group of people, there was no telling if they had even groomed themselves this morning.

 “Oh, not a problem, let’s send around some messages later this week after I’ve had time to check our calendar. I’m sure we can schedule something…” after the documents have been signed, James wanted to say the last part but shut his mouth in time. He remembered to smile again. He knew his lips looked like plastic but it was better to smile than frown. Make sure they never doubt. Keep smiling. Don’t let them see doubt. Make them believe. He continued to recite sales aphorisms to himself.

 “How about now? We have spare time, the cabinet won’t meet until late afternoon,” the quiet one spoke up. James looked at him and then the female on the other side. The pair of them, the two aides, were the bane of the conversation. Adding only the most unnecessary prattle; questions upon questions upon questions, and that was before and after the complaints.

 “Uh… well… I, y’know… I wouldn’t recommend that.” James nodded to agree with himself, “they stare at graphs all day, not really the most extroverted group of people. I mean these guys look at graphs just for fun, can you believe it? They bring me graphs all day long but I tell them ‘guys, this has to stop, you can’t just come into my office every time the green line crosses the blue line, after crossing the red line and the black line,’ you catch my drift? They once brought me a graph of computer power consumption, they tried to tell me that the power usage of our servers had a significant pattern to it. Look, their conversation is dry, but you might get lucky and they might talk about opportunities in the new commodity markets that we are bringing to your world but don’t hold your breath for much else. Did I mention the new market that we would bring here? The Ferro-plasti compounds from Vost?”

 “You did, perhaps an hour ago,” the female informed him.

 “Yes, of course, how silly of me to forget. I mentioned the new electronic currencies too? Proof-of-work, it is all the rage off-world.”

 “The legislation came in the same bill.”

 “Meeting the investment team sounds exciting,” the deal maker said.

 “More of a programming team than an investment team,” James corrected,”I shall inform them to tidy up be we arrive.” James sighed and lead the three politicians out of his office and towards the elevators.

  “In this office we have our product designers and analysts, they also do lots of programming but less so than our strategy team.”

 “Let’s meet the programmers shall we?” the decision maker asked.

 “Yes, let’s,” James feigned happiness, the elevator ride was paradoxically too short to prevent the politicians meeting the team yet far too long to listen to their annoying voices. “As a reminder we cover every market; all the old ones that your world already had, plus some new alternatives based upon the existing infrastructure, such as high frequency permit option trading and collateralized future-policy structured insurance products. Then there are the wide range of cryptocurrencies, cyptobonds plus a whole set of options, futures and forwards priced in the new myriad currencies.”

 “What is it that options provide?”

 “Optionality,” James replied, “and this is our programming team. We had best not stay long, their work is invaluable and they don’t need the distraction.” James lead the politicians into the programmers’ office.

 “Is that a graph of power consumption?” the decision maker asked, he looked at the nearest computer screen and directed his question to the seated user.

James could tell that a little knowledge could be dangerous here. The question sounded naive, but just naive enough that he would sign the documents.

 “No, that’s the distribution of arrival times of all the mag-trains that run on local tracks.”

 “Does that affect price?”

 “Not really, I just wanted to see what the probability was of making it home for prime-time tv,” the programmer said.

 “Well… the power distribution on the grid can affect prices,”  a voice piped up from across the room, “the power distribution across the national grid is far more erratic than predicted and the trains have quite a large effect locally. At peak times it can affect our power availability. We run a lot of computers so a steady power supply is necessary. In the end, that can affect price.”

 “I’m not sure I understand what that means,” the decision maker chuckled.

 “It means that our team of experts have considered all the angles and that you shouldn’t worry. In fact, the let me in on a little secret earlier. They are going to create new products based upon the energy distribution network and monetize it in the financial markets. Don’t worry, it will be priced to sell. Whenever energy is used it will move around the grid at different but predictable rates. This is where our learning algorithms come into play, we will be able to take advantage of the price patterns.”

 This was going better than expected, the office was tidy and so far nothing had caused the politicians to leave. Perhaps meeting the programming team would build confidence in their decision to invest with the company.

 “Of the 21 major nations with developed markets we aim to provide 12 products for every nation,” one of the programmers instructed the decision maker. This is going to be the deal signed. The graphs looked convincing, James thought.

 “How do you like our programming team? Ready to sign yet?”

 “Yes we can sign your document but with the proviso that it is ratified by the government cabinet,” the deal maker replied.

 “Great, so sometime later this afternoon?”

200 days in.

  “The fund is running well, we discover new correlations all the time. It matters not so much the direction but rather we let the computers follow what’s happening in the market,” James discussed the fund’s activities with a prospective client. They, too, had insisted on meeting the programming team. The suggestion that energy consumption was important lead to many questions. The team had designed and created a new product that was based on energy consumption.

 The conversation was more complicated than the previous time. The product had been created and had evolved with the energy market. It seemed that there was a self-correcting relationship between the prices and the creation of energy. Sometimes self-reinforcing and at other times self-correcting. The programmer had explained it to James before but it wasn’t the easiest concept to grasp nor was it explained in a manner that anyone could understand. Programmers did that, they spoke in riddles.

 Absolute numbers can disagree but we should be looking at percentages rather than absolute numbers when dealing with populations of different sizes. Ok, that was simple statistics as far as James understood it. A larger population used more energy but the energy per person could be the same. Then came the harder part, the energy per person may decrease with population size, and therefore lower than expected due to systematic efficiencies as populations increased. However, what if the population was aware of a fluctuating energy price and that their own actions could affect the price?

 That’s where James’s understanding started to fade. The arguments made sense up to that point but he struggled to fully imagine the causal relation between the two.

355 days in.

  “What’s the instrument code you’re looking at?”

  “20121221,” came the reply.

An entire planet gone in an instant. Nothing. Nada. Gone. The unforeseen death of billions from a glitch in the electrical supplies had a knock-on chaotic effect causing a melt-down all the planet with a single miscalculation.

Stephen Hawking’s Universe – David Filkin

This book is the easiest one to dive into and finish without any headaches. Better yet, this is actually a simpler version of Hawking’s book “A brief history of time”. So if you have fancied reading that book but were too afraid then try this one first. The great thing about the book is that it covers the history of the key people in the scientific revolutions that lead to our modern day understanding of the cosmos and it covers the history of the Universe as we know it. The book is also a companion to the TV series although I never saw that. Finally, it is full of colourful pictures and well worth every penny you pay for it.

Also posted to Amazon:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R2IMNGXCC5AL31/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

Once you have read it the I thoroughly recommend that you go on to read A Brief History of Time.

A brief history of time – Stephen Hawking

I read this book more than 10 years ago now, I actually borrowed a copy of the original version of the book and read it within a week (I’m not a fast reader but I was a teenager then). I thoroughly enjoyed it and soon after I purchased my own copy which is the 10th anniversary edition. Before I read this book I actually read Stephen Hawking’s Universe (Stephen Hawking’s Universe: The Cosmos Explained), which I found to be good preparation. At the time my knowledge of physics was that of high school level physics, which is enough to get you through both books. Both cover a bit of history of the key figures in the development of astronomy / cosmology but this book eventually goes into greater detail of the more difficult concepts.

Read the rest of my review on the Amazon page for the book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R3SSQH9N4RPN78/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

Black Holes & Time Warps – Kip S Thorne

One of my favourite books and also one of the most influential. I read this in my teens, about 12 years ago, in the same summer that I read Hawking’s Brief History of Time. Although I skimmed through the book again before writing this review. This book is perhaps easier to read and like Hawking’s book is full of diagrams to aid understanding. Some relativity is covered, including the idea of lightcones and how they relate to causality. This was actually one of the trickier concepts, in that I tried to fully understand what the lightcone diagram meant and what the consequences are of the information displayed upon one. They are key to understanding black holes and how they distort space-time.

Read the rest of my review on the Amazon page for the book:  http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R2FFQSXTQSWES2/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

Untitled (“Pirate Queen”)

Zsilana awoke with the taste of blood on her lips and a pounding headache. She felt around to see if her clothes were still intact. ‘I wasn’t raped, at least,’ she concluded in silence while surveying the cubic room in which she lay. Only a single door and no window.

“How’s the cell?” At first she thought she dreamt the voice but there was a shimmer of light and shadow through the gap in the door.

“Go die in a hole scumbag.”

“That’s no way to get released.” said a muffled masculine voice with no obvious accent. Moments passed where nothing was said. “That ship you knocked off, bet you think that was funny.” The voice did not echo once but vanished into silence. “You won’t be laughing if you knew who I was. You better wipe that smile off your face, that was my ship you tried to knock off.”

“Yeah… that’s nice.”

“Don’t expect me to take this lightly.”

 “Sure buddy, I jack ships like that all the time. Now throw me the key and I’ll be on my way.”

 “Oh, but you haven’t jacked my ships before… and that’s why you were lucky, until now.”

 “Sounds like you were the lucky one.”

 “When captains lose ships, they lose reputation. When I lose ships I lose billions of credits. I have zero tolerance for piracy, and zero tolerance for scum like you.”

 “What’s a few billion gallons of Jumu cola between friends?”

 “Funny. I’ve seen your work before, I know fellow business owners that have been damaged by your exploits. Those vac-missile drones rip holes in the side of the hulls and if the ships aren’t destroyed then they are forced to limp home with an injured crew. The size of the holes are larger than this security cabin. Do you think about the crews when you perform your heinous acts?”

 “Casualties are part of the job. Flying through space is a dangerous way to live. If it isn’t an asteroid that gets you then its the damn pirates.” Zsilana laughed.

 “Do you know who you stole from?” he barked, “do you know who I am?”

 “Everyone, anyone. I do my research, I know what’s on each vessel before I take it but I’m not so picky; Jumu Cola today, Azorn Minerals yesterday and who knows what tomorrow brings?”

 “Both companies have legal rights to safe passage in Terosan space, as documented in the Kyopix agreement.” His monotonous voice was beginning to irritate Zsilana. Where was he from anyway? “Safe and unhindered passage, I should add.”

 “We’re not in Terosan space, and since when did Kyopix care so much about their workers? I’ve met hundreds of former Kyopix workers in Indie sectors before.” Zsilana replied.

 “The ships are owned by Kyopix. They are my ships. I don’t like it when people damage my vessels. The cola is less of a concern but I do own 30% of the company’s stock.” That had to be the smuggest voice in the whole galaxy, perhaps he wasn’t always so monotonous.

 “So I can keep 70% of it and you can let me out?”

 “Zsilana…” the wall began to vibrate accompanied by an awful whirring sound. A viewport appeared on the blank wall that gave Zsilana a view of the space outside. “Take a look outside. I’m not playing games.” An explosion roared in front of her. An intense shock of shrapnel bounced against the hull of the security cabin.

 “Am I supposed to be impressed by the bright lights?”

 “That was one of your ships, CAL 34. Designation, light freighter, if I’m not mistaken.”

 “And my crew?”

 “They’re safe. I’m not a murderer but you need to learn your lesson.”

 “I have more ships, one isn’t a big loss,” Zsilana said.

 “Is it not? I don’t enjoy losing a ship and I would gauge that you don’t either. You hide your feelings well. Keep watching.” Another explosion occurs outside.

 “I don’t think that’s legal, not this close to the station.”

 “Legal? Don’t make me laugh my pretty. You know nothing of legal.”

 “So why are you talking to me if I am to be punished?”

 “It amuses me to see you in there. I’ve heard much about you, Zsilana, but never had the good fortune to meet you, and now favourable circumstances have presented you here with little effort from myself. It was like I just had to think it and you put yourself in front me. Just when I need you. Perhaps it is serendipity?”

 “You? Need me?”

 “I have a proposition… one that will let you out here, without punishment… but I’ll be taking back the Jumu cola. All of it.”

 “What will I have to do?”

 “What you normally do: steal. There is something that I would like to have. Something that Kyopix feels it could benefit from but it isn’t something that we can acquire so easily ourselves. You see, Terosan recently purchased an intergalactic propulsion system. Not star to star, but galaxy to galaxy. Can you imagine the wealth we could reap with such a device? Why fight over congested starlanes and limited resources when you could jump to a whole other galaxy with a whole load of other resources. We’d be rich beyond belief.”

 “Isn’t the Kyopix Consortium already rich beyond belief? Don’t answer that. I know the answer already. I have to say I’m curious, I didn’t know such technology existed… or could exist. How exactly did Terosan ‘purchase’ this device?”

“Ah, with great cost I assume… from the Hayf Imperium. Unfortunately, Terosan has no intention of sharing this technological wonder… and, well, we want it…” She had a feeling he was smirking but the next thing he was going to say was inevitable. “And you will get it for us.”

 “Hayf? As in the Hayf Imperium?” She expelled her breath in disbelief, “Nah, now you are just making fun of me. I don’t believe it. Not for a second. First, it was an intergalactic drive, then you make it worse by suggesting the Hayf traded it to Terosan. Perhaps you want me to walk over space there, naked, and simply pick it up with my bare hands? Well, of course I’ll knock their door first. I best be polite about it, right?”

 “Hayf, as in the Hayf Imperium. Yes, the same people. We were astonished by it too but that’s what our intel tells us and we know the intel is reliable. I can show you the archive of our doc-streams. Terosan did an impressive job of keeping this one quiet, very quiet. We only learnt about the deal after the delivery was concluded… and I can’t think of a single other times that’s happened… at least not for a long time. What terms Hayf accepted are unknown, but we both know technology like that can’t be cheap. Such a device would lead to untold fortunes and power. I assume that you want to be there along for the ride, don’t you?”

 “Why me?” Zsilana asked.

 “Are you not the best person for the job?” Zsilana smirked at this coy reply, but kept her lips sealed. She waited; baiting him to say more. He muttered, “are you looking for me to give you some praise little girl?” He laughed.

 “Nah…” She paused, “I’m not interested, I’d rather just pay a fine and get out,” Zsilana replied.

 “I can hold you there indefinitely. We’re not in Terosan space as you so rightly pointed out; we’re in wild space, the independent paradise for criminals. Who will come to ensure that you have your rights? Money talks and I’ve bought everyone. You’re in here and you’re staying in here… unless I decide to change my mind.”

 He had a point, “let’s say I do this… how exactly do I get around the Terosan fleet?”

 “Come.” The voice beckoned. The cell door slid open. “Just steal the device and bring it back to me. Simple.”

 Zsilana stood up and strolled out of the door. She exited into the inspection room and saw her would-be employer flanked by two armed guards. A man of similar height and a face of smoothed out wrinkles. An impossible monochrome block of slick backed hair sat atop his head.

 “Their defenses will be down, we’ve got that covered. All you have to do is get inside and take it.”

 Her eyes were caught his and fixed upon him a moment too long, “men definitely get better with age.” She whistled then stepped close to smell his odour. If he’s that way inclined his eyes would follow the cleavage. Zsilana hoped to turn his excitement into favour. Manipulation was always the key to getting ahead. He looked. His eyes dipped. She smiled. The Kyopix boss reached out a hand towards her breasts and grabbed at the ID tags that hung around her neck.

 “Fake tags.” He pulled the tags free and slipped out the hidden data-chip. “Hidden credit chip. Counterfeit too? This is too cliched. I have to laugh.”

 Zsilana snatched at the credit chip. She leaned closer to peck a kiss upon his lips. “No touching. Touching is extra. I’ll get the device but you’ll need to replace those two ships you just destroyed.” Zsilana smirked.

 “You’ll get them.”

 “You set the location and time, and I’ll create the extraction plan. This should be a routine operation, although it is one with considerable risk. The device stays with me until payment is settled. If you fail to pay then I destroy the device,” Zsilana said.

 “It won’t come to that. Payment will be generous, I can assure you. A hundred thousand credits per head should cover it.”

 “That won’t even cover the damage they’ll do to my ships. Five hundred!”

 “I’ll advance you two hundred and that ought to see your ships ready for action. The final repair costs will be covered when you return. Plus an additional hundred per head on delivery.”

 “I want two hundred before I agree to this. Send me the details and I’ll review them. Right now, I need to get back to my ship. The crew will be missing me.” She blew a kiss and walked out of the inspection room.  (edited to here)

Kyopix released control of Zsilana’s fleet and returned her crew. Her return to the ship was short lived, a quick reconciliation with the crew before coming back to the station. They allowed her lead ship to wait at one of the company’s own airlocks⎼a premium spot near the market deck. The walk from ship to market was less than two minutes. Zsilana’s heart beated quicker when the airlock opened on to the main thoroughfare of the market deck. She beamed with excitement. This was a small perk but definitely a worthy sweetener. Her usual docking section was several floors away and required a series of lifts that ensured double-backing on yourself just to get to market. It sounded like madness to anyone that hadn’t visited before, but the station wasn’t designed and built as a single entity⎼it had grown organically, module by module.

 Luryae grinned, she held her captain’s hand as they walked into the market. The open air structure showcased a hive of merchant coves intermingled with bars and portable stalls. This module of the station was a half-sphere several stories in height; all the coves appeared to be dug into the exterior frame and faced inwardly looking at each other across the open plaza.

 Ups and acrosses⎼walkways joined one level to another⎼a web of traffic enhancers. Walk on the left, stand or loiter on the right. Never block a walkway. Alcohol must only be consumed in the designated areas. All chemical inhalers must be smokeless (unless inside privileged premises). Walk don’t run. Talk don’t shout. Mobile communicators must be no more powerful than a hundred squats.

 For all that the station was free from Terosan Zsilana felt it ironic that the station had so many rules. She remembered her first visit here with her parents. Evacuees, dirty, smelly, poor, impolite and homeless but that made them cleaner than half the spacejunkers that called Ardent Light their home. Zsilana fondly remembered the creaky welds that joined two mismatched and decaying ship hulls at their seams. Nothing ever fit right, nothing was painted or sealed either. If mice lived in space they could race from top to bottom in a day.

 Those days were an appendage to the modern station. Ardent Light had evolved a long way from its chaotic patchwork beginning. The Kyopix Consortium had done much to modernize the station in an effort to commercialize it, boost local trade, and then extract as much profit from it as possible. They can’t claim to have put the station on the galactic charts but they definitely made it the most popular independent destination bar none. The station had ballooned in population and size since Kyopix bought it. Zsilana reluctantly admitted to herself that it was probably for the best. Tripped out spacejunkers threatening families with extortion wasn’t the best upbringing for a child, and that was something that Zsilana longed to forget.

 Ardent Light was so large that smaller stations orbited it. These new stations catered for specialist needs: refueling, repairs, storage and any needs of the space traveller. The main station had become premium real estate, her mother had predicted. She told Zsilana to watch how big cities can grow by being popular. It was a natural law of the universe as far as her mother was concerned.

If the smaller stations around The Light wasn’t impressive enough then any first timer would be amazed by the the fleets of ships that floated just out of touching distance. The fleets, like the stations, conducted trade and exchanged services with one another. The Light was almost superfluous because it was dwarfed in size compared to the far spread fleets of ships, yet it was the focal point that held everything together. Kyopix reminded everyone that it was the locus of independent commerce.

 “So when will you tell me about this job we got? Is it safe? It sounds too good to be true. Think about it. We all got strung up and now we’re out because the guy doesn’t want to press charges. There is something you’re not telling me,” Luryae probed.

 “Kee, my darling, you gotta trust me on this one. There’s a lot of risk but we can pull it off… I just can’t talk about it in the open.”

 After a quick stroll across the market plaza Zsilana lead them into a shadowy corridor thatshe guessed would lead to further airlocks. In a nearby alcove hid a bank of vending machines.

 “Freebie?” Zsilana smirked and inserted her fake credit chip into a machine.

 “Gimme a Jumu,” Luryae laughed. “Did you give it all back?”

 “The Jumu shipment? He took it while we were incarcerated but we’ll make more on this job than we would have made selling cola.”

 “So, about this job… what is it?”

 “We have been asked to steal something… something big. Kyopix only released us without charges since I agreed to the job. They have agreed to pay us well for the delivery of a certain item.”

 “You said it will be risky, how risky? This item has to be important to simply let us go. It can’t be something so easy to get or they would have bought it already. Kyopix are a powerful player in the galaxy, why would they want our help?”

 “It’s a high level job and this will secure our reputation as a powerful player in the galaxy. We can do it. We can steal anything, isn’t that what we always tell ourselves? No job too big and leave no path unwalked. That’s why they asked us: we can steal anything but Kyopix can’t. They can’t risk their reputation but you’re right it is something they can’t buy, so they want to steal it. That’s where we come in.”

 Luryae grumbled, she didn’t like the risky jobs. She’d agree to go but her expression always betrayed her feelings. “The last high level job we tried almost got us killed. Can you promise me that won’t happen?”

 “This job is risky and I can’t promise we won’t die. If things go awry we can run. We’ve done that all our lives. We’ll make it out. Trust me on this one, the stakes are worth it. When we’re done you can visit Vinri, as you always wanted.”

 “I’m thinking… that I don’t have a choice, you’re going and I can’t let you down. I don’t like the smell of this, we should be rotting in a jail cell, and we would be if it wasn’t for our mysterious benefactor. One who works for Kyopix? So who is our employer exactly?”

 “Oh… only the CEO of Kyopix. The guy at the top of the food chain.”

 “The one and only?” Luryae asked, she hid her surprise.

 “Yep. Him. Did I mention I’m meeting him tonight for dinner?” Zsilana smiled.

 “Is he cute? Will you-”

 “Is that your first concern? Yes, we might ‘you know’ do that ‘thing’ but I’ll be coming back baby Kee.”

 “How old is he anyway?”

 “Could be 60, he doesn’t hide his age and I know he is older than my dad. But less talk on that, you need to push the crew into prep mode. We shouldn’t linger too long. Too many prying eyes and we have a reputation for trouble.”

 “You don’t say,” Luryae shot a look of incredulity, she smiled, “I had three blasters pointed at my head this morning and that was before security arrived.”

 “Hey, they broke three of my ribs before even asking my name. That’s just rude.”

 “Broke three ribs? You don’t even look hurt.”

 “Ok, slight exaggeration. They kicked me while I was on the floor. It felt like I had my ribs broken, who’s counting?”

“Well you just did…” Luryae laughed. “And yes, our reputation is not that of law abiding citizens of the galaxy but I fear we are messing with people and powers beyond our control. What is it we are stealing for them?”  (edited to here)

 “I can’t say, not yet… the bottom line is that we will be infiltrating Terosan, but don’t worry about it. We’ll have the support we need. Look, I need to go, I wish I could tell you more but it isn’t that easy. Chin up and get our crew in order.” Zsilana placed her hand on Luryae’s cheek. “We can back out if it goes wrong. Come, let’s have another box of Jumu.” Zsilana smiled and finally Luryae smiled back.

 “Hey!” A voice shouted behind them, “you can’t do that.”

 “Do what?” Zsilana turned around to confront the stranger. A young male approached the two of them. Zsilana sighed. Cute but a poor opening gambit.

“I just saw you steal two boxes of cola.” The voice was wavering. Zsilana noted the lack of confidence.

“Relax, you didn’t see anything,” She replied.

 “My father will have your head for this, he owns that company.”

 “Your father? And who is he to be so great?” Zsilana said.

 “My father is Vohosecy Gihriwu, Chief Executive of the Kyopix Consortium.”

 “Hmmm, never heard of him,” Zsilana said flatly. Luryae barely repressed her laughter, she choked then let out a light cough that was clearly a laugh.

 “You better give them back. Right now.” The petulant voice was gnawing at Zsilana’s patience, she straightened her back and noticed the young male’s eyes drop to watch her chest raise. The tightly fitting dress was the hook. He was right where she wanted him.

 “Tell you what… I’ll pay for them.” Zsilana pulled out a real credit chip and placed it into his hand. She grabbed his wrist and then placed a kiss upon his lips. He stood still in frozen silence.

 “D-D-Do you have dinner plans?” the young man smiled, visibly nervous.

 “I do… but I’ll make you a better offer.” She winked. “Come to my ship and we can have supper. Luryae can sort dinner for you if you promise to wait for me when I get back.”

 Luryae grabbed him by the shoulders and lead him back to Zsilana’s ship. Her grip was far stronger than his. Had he even tried to resist? Zsilana smirked.

 “Dinner has to be cancelled.”

 “Hmmm?” Zsilana tried to hide her disappointment. She was barely inside his luxurious apartment which sat atop the pinnacle of Ardent Light. Expensive looking art adorned every wall.  The decorations were otherwise plain and minimalist but gave an air of solid craftsmanship. Zsilana half expected to see his portrait on one of the walls but couldn’t see it. Above the bed hung an abstract piece that she wasn’t able to decipher: it was a chaotic mess of colours that might have well have been a computer file dump and then framed. Her eyes wandered the room to the extent that her mind drifted from why she was here.

 “My sixth wife called to say that she has to visit her company’s operations on the station… or so she says but I accidentally left my diary out. Ergo, that’s how she tracked me down. Best if you left, this could get messy. She’s likes shouting, if nothing else,” he said.

 “Can’t be that bad can it? Let’s have a drink? Just one.” Zsilana smiled.

 “I can’t.” He tried to resist the temptation. Zsilana had turned her back and walked to the whisky decanter. She sniffed the aroma then poured two drinks. She looked deep into his eyes and walked over with both glasses half-full. Zsilana smiled then stumbled with a well practised fake trip. The whisky glass slipped from her hands and covered Vohosecy’s shirt.

 “Oh! I’m very sorry.” Zsilana produced a napkin from thin air and started to dab at the wet patch, “let me help you.”

Vohosecy muttered something that sounded like a curse, he pushed Zsilana’s hand back then unbuttoned his shirt. “This will need to go in the washing chute.” He pointed to a hatch on the wall.

 Zsilana stared at his lightly defined abs. Not bad shape for his age. “Do we have time?”

 “Time? Time for what?”

 Zsilana, “Y’know… before your wife comes.”

 “No. We don’t have time for that.” He stared at her, it genuinely looked like anger but she didn’t care. Another barrier to overcome and she liked a challenge, despite how short lived this one would be. Then, again, there was another waiting for her back on the ship. This could be the plot for maintaining control: neither knows about the other. Bargaining chips were always needed when business went sour.

 Zsilana stepped forward to take his shirt, she stepped too close and pressed her lips against his. Gently sliding her tongue into his mouth she grabbed for his belt as he feigned resistance. He pushed her back then undid the belt himself, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer.

 “Clothes. Off. Now!” Was all he managed to say.

 “Captain.” Luryae stumbled to her feet and saluted Zsilana as she entered the bridge. Zsilana had caught Luryae with her feet upon the captain’s computer panel.

 “Luryae!” Zsilana snapped but then relaxed with a smile, “no feet on my computer. Ready the ships for departure.”

 “Things didn’t go well?” Luryae Kee asked.

 “I need to go shower,” Zsilana beamed.

 “Oh! I see,” Luryae smirked, “well then Captain. It seems I better make this ship ready.”

 “We need to leave sharp. A transmission just came in as I was leaving. Our target ship is heading into the sector so we’ll have less time to prepare than usual but let’s make every second count.”

 “Yes, Captain,” Luryae replied to Zsilana, “You hear her.” She shouted to the rest of the crew on the bridge, “release the docking clamps and take us out from station. Let the other ships know our route.”

 Zsilana leaned close to Luryae, “where’s the young one?”

 “In your quarters.”

 “Good. I hope he has been treated well.” Luryae nodded in response.

 “Captain?” Luryae asked.

 “Yes?”

 “May we speak… in private?” Zsilana pointed to the forward lounge.

 The pair stepped inside and sat opposite each other at the oblong conference table. Luryae spoke, “Captain, what are we doing here? The crew is spooked, they-”

 “They can’t know just yet.”

 “But-”

 “Just tell them it’s a routine extraction.”

 “And the truth of it?” Luryae pressed for answers.

 “The Terosan government has purchased a powerful piece of equipment from the Hayf Imperium. The system is being tested nearby and this is our best chance to take it. Kyopix have people on the inside that will deactivate the shields upon our arrival. We will extract the device along with the Kyopix engineers. They will have everything prepped for us. We just need to show up and do our part. It’s a routine extraction.”

 “But, won’t it⎼”

 “It’s a routine extraction,” Zsilana repeated more forcefully.

 “Hayf? That doesn’t sound routine to me. I have a bad feeling about this, we’ve never been near Hayf space before and with good reason. The stories never end in a pleasant way.”

 “But they are just stories. Have you ever met anyone that has survived? Besides we won’t be in Hayf space, far from it.”

 “No one survives that’s why we haven’t met anyone,” Luryae complained.

 “And if no one survives then how do the stories get out?”

 “Well… you know what I mean. They don’t deal with any other species in the galaxy except to destroy them. No one has ever seen them and no one will go near them. That’s good enough for me to know this is crazy. What’s a bucket of bolts like this ship going to do against their destroyers?”

 “Look, the risks are high but we’ll make it through. Tell the crew to prepare for extraction and then stay focussed. We’ll make it, believe me on this one. We’ve got some of the best engineers out there to help us make this go smoothly. Let’s talk more later, I really need to shower.”

 “Yes, captain.”

The ship was loaded and ready to leave Ardent Light. Zsilana slouched in her chair, she watched on the viewscreens as her crew went about their tasks. Silently she beamed with pride, being Captain had its merits. You picked the destiny.

 She leant over with one hand casually stretched out towards the assistant’s chair. Zsilana lunged then clasped Feyu’s hand. The displays of affection were too casual, Luryae had said. It was simple jealousy. This wasn’t a military ship, and discipline had never been a problem anyway.

 “After this job we’ll visit the pleasure domes of Kriin,” Zsilana smiled, she kissed Feyu’s hand. He writhed uncomfortably, Feyu didn’t seem to enjoy the attention. The two chairs sat on a raised podium above the rest of the bridge crew. “Soon it will be time for you to see what makes us successful.”

 “Closing in on the position, captain,” Lieutenant Byrol shouted.

 “Shield up, weapons ready,” Ensign Teran added.

 “There aren’t many ships where half the of officers are female,” Zsilana spoke softy so only Feyu would hear. His eyes were scanning the room, he was watching, anticipating, judging. He must be trying to figure out how much danger we are entering into.

 “In 3… 2… 1… we’re there.” Byrol announced.

 “Visual,” Zsilana demanded, “I want their status.”

 “Their shields are up and are maneuvering into a defensive pattern.”

 “Ensign Sarsen, punch in code 359 then transmit on band M.”

 “Yes, Captain,” Sarsen acknowledged.

  “Captain, their engines are out,” Byrol shouted, “they just turned off for no reason.”

  “Personal transmission for the captain on band M,” Sarsen announced and punched in the commands to relay the message to Zsilana’s datapad.

 “Sarsen, patch a copy to Luryae.”

 “Teran, what’s their shield and weapon status?”

 “Completely nullified. At least for now, Captain, but I can’t say how long they will be down for, might be days but could be minutes. I can’t tell. Their systems are more complex than I’m used to. Yet somehow their defences came down without any effort. Do we have someone helping us on the inside?” Teran said.

 “Another incoming message Captain,” Sarsen said, “patching… “

 “Bring us about and review the on-screen annotations⎼we’ll spearhead the fleet by going here.” Zsilana proded her datapad. The oval viewscreen at the front bridge shone with pulsing lights where the captain outlined her strategy. “Supporting ships will skirt the edges; here, here and along here.” She scribbled more lines with her finger. “Teran, inform the boarding party of docking time, they need to be ready.”

 “Yes, captain.”

 “There are engineers to extract. Tell the boarding party that they will be at these coordinates: patching them now. Make sure they read my instructions fully for extracting the device, I’ve been given clear orders to safely remove the device without even a scratch.”

 Hush fell upon the bridge while the crew members carried out their tasks. Zsilana noted that Feyu’s eyes followed her every movement; whether she sat back or on the edge of her seat, his eyes followed. He didn’t speak and bore no expression.

 “…and docking in 3… 2… 1… engaged,” Teran’s voice broke the silence.

 “Get the boarding party on screen, let’s see their helmet feeds,” Zsilana said.

 “Doors opening. Feeds on,” Sarsen announced.

 “Boarding team, follow the engineers to the extraction point. Crew member 7 direct engineer Rayot to board our ship, he has a copy of the blueprints for the device.”

 “All going smoothly so far.” Feyu’s voice was crisp yet quiet.

 “So far, but we can’t become complacent.” Luryae stood behind Zsilana.

The boarding team had passed through the ship undetected. The internal sensors were still down although it was anyone’s guess when they would be functioning again. Fortunately, the Kyopix spies already on board the ship had helped to disable door locking mechanisms where needed. It also helped that all the other doors were locked shut and allowed the boarding party to progress unhindered.

 “They’re by the device, see cams 3 through 6,” Sarsen announced.

Zsilana edged forward on her seat “Team, make sure device is unhinged for removal. I’m counting on the engineers here, you guys told me you knew how to get this device out. Now prove it.”

 “Yes Captain, device is almost unhinged” came the reply, “but how do we get it out? This thing is huge. There ain’t no way this small team is carrying that thing out on our shoulders. No ma’am.”

 “Don’t worry about that crewman, you’re doing exactly what I asked, just make sure it is completely unhinged from the supports and ready to pop out when I say,” Zsilana replied. She turned and spoke into her ship’s intercom, she had another team to work from this ship, “Are the torches ready?”

 “Cutting torches ready, Captain.”

 “Start etching the hull, we’ll blow it through from this side,” Zsilana instructed then turned back to the open comm-channel to the other crew members, “Boarding team, stand back. This hull’s coming loose.”

 “Yes, Captain,” a crew member replied.

 “Any further resistance?”  Zsilana asked.

 “The Terosan crew are readying a combat team to take back the engineering section. So far they’ve had no luck but we better get moving.”

 “What’s the ETA?” Zsilana looked towards Ensign Teran.

 “Only a few minutes,” Teran said.

 The hardest part about being captain was the limited feedback you experienced while stuck in the Captain’s chair. You had to hope that everyone was doing their job to the best of their ability. It wasn’t always obvious to tell that when all you can see if a small section of flooring or wall from a crewmembers viewscreen. The device was unhinged from the supports, so the reports had said but it wasn’t obvious from the viewscreen feeds. It should however have at least a few more pieces that attached it to the rest of the rest, Zsilana guessed, it had to be tied to the ships engine’s somehow. That’s how it propelled, surely. The overview she read from the Kyopix spies made it sound simple, yet neither she nor them were engineers.

 “Make sure the device is ready to pop. We need to move fast,”  Zsilana barked to the away team. “Torches, report in, how is the etching?”

 “The etching process is almost done captain, but the hull was thicker than expected. We managed to use the pneumatic thumpers to punch through the inner hull, should be easy to lift the skin from this one captain.”

 Zsilana looked to Teran, “EM-shields and weapons still down?”

 “Still down,” Ensign Teran replied.

 Almost there. This is going to work, it’s actually going to work. Zsilana steadied herself in the chair, but excitement was building, her stomach churned, her legs stiffened and her brow became moist from perspiration. It was hard to watch. So close now. There’s a lot of credits waiting for us when we get back. A private yacht would be in order ⎼ something to cruise around in without the crew, a little something packed full of luxuries.

 “Cam 4, I need a visual to your left. Possible breach in adjoining corridor,” Sarsen interrupted.

 “Looking. Nothing,” came the reply, “I’ll scout the area and report back.”

   “Captain,” Teran shouted, “the engineers reported that the hull is ready to be pushed through. Suction team has secured the perimeter and are ready for the extraction.”

 “Then let’s make the lift,” Zsilana said, “engineers, move back from the extraction point. Crewman 2, lead them back to the ship.”

 Across an open com channel the entire bridge heard the dirty sound of a discharging bolt rifle. An archaic projectile weapon that made the bloodiest mess. Another shot thundered, it filled the bridge with electronic feedback and reverb. Cam 5 lay smashed and bloodied; dirt, blood smeared the partially working visual feed.

 “Breach! We need back up in engineering. Now!” Member 2 shouted across their com.

 “Member 5 is down,” Sarsen announced.

 “Hold tight, I’m on my way,” Luryae called out. Zsilana stood up. That was nothing she could say but watch and let Kee exit the bridge. She gulped a loud intake of air that made the bridge crew momentarily turn to watch her. For that moment when the air was held it seemed like hours. When the out-breath came the bridge crew returned to work. She couldn’t stop Luryae going, personal feelings only served to make the decision cloudy. The away team needed more leadership. It was the natural choice. ‘Be safe’, her words came out as a whisper.

 Further shots reverberated over the bridge’s com system.

 “Back up needed. I repeat, back up needed,” Crew member 3 pleaded.

 “It’s coming. Sit tight!” Zsilana shouted. “Has the lifting started? I wanted that device out of there. Now!”

 “The hull is breached and but the engineers can’t strap harnesses to the device until the fighting has stopped.”

 “Captain, we have incoming,” Sarsen said.

 “Well? Send more troops then.”

 “No, not in there. Out here. Two frigate sized ships appeared from nowhere. Visual in 3. Scanners show they are on top of the our fleet.”

 “Send out periphery ships. Fleet lead has to stick tight to target vessel.” Zsilana.

 “Ships dispatched.” Teran said.

 “Visual on,” Sarsen said, “those… they aren’t Terosan Captain. That’s Hayf frigates, it has to be.”

 “They’re only frigates,” Zsilana said.

 “Hayf frigates, Captain,” Sarsen said.

 “Look, just make sure those Hayf whatevers don’t get close to our position.”

 “Captain, this is suicide. We won’t survive Hayf frigrates. We should abort,” Sarsen said.

 “Never. No device, no payment,” Zsilanan retaliated, “We need to crush those vessels. How hard can it be?”

 “One of our ships is already damaged; retreating. A second ship now disabled. Captain, this is getting out of hand fast. We need a full reteat.”

 “Not yet, we’re too close.” Zsilana

 “Another ship disabled. And another. Our fleet is going down, Captain.” Sarsen said.

 “Terosan is immobilized, we can hold out long enough.” Teran added support to the Captain.

 “Focus!” Zsilana shouted, “Hayf must have a weakness, there must be a way.”

 “Luryae is now on board, patching her through” Sarsen announced.

 “It’s a stalemate down here, Captain.” Luryae said.

 “Figure it out and be quick, we have company out here. Hayf frigates” Zsilana replied.

 “Hayf? Captain-” Luryae spoke up but was cut short.

 “Do your job Luryae, let me worry about the Hayf.”

 “Another ship gone,” Sarsen said, “frigates closing in to our position.”

 “Bring ships to cover,” Zsilana.

 “Our boarding team has been repelled,” Teran said.

 “Can we still get the device?” Zsilana’s voice quivered.

 “Soon,” Teran replied

 “Captain, bad news,” Sarsen said, “a Hayf cruiser just appeared. No warning and no visual yet.”

 “Luryae? Get out. They’ve brought the heavies.” Zsilana called out over the com.

 Sarsen read out further casualties,“Another ship gone, they’re taking us down too fast, but the frigates have been deflected from our position. This is our gap to leave. That cru-”

 “Forget the device, let’s go. Now! Lieutenant Byrol, ready the engines.”

  A low rumbling engulfed the ship’s hull, the floor vibrated which caused the screens to flicker in and out of life.

 “Pull us free, we need to leave,” Zsilana shouted.

 “We need time to release the clamps and close the airlocks.” Taren replied.

 “We don’t have time.”

 “Cruiser circling to our position,” Sarsen warned.

 “Go! Go! Go!” Zsilana paced back and forth in front of Feyu, she cracked her knuckles and slapped the sweat from her brow.

 “Luryae? Are you on board? Respond, please,” Teran spoke over the com.

 A dim sound came back on the com chanel, “here, lieutenant.”

 Zsilana’s lead ship pulled free from the Terosan vessel, as it undocked the boarding jetty sliced a gash along the hull. Shrapnel and dirt fanned out from the Terosani hull. Bodies, tools burst, pipes all came free into the darkness of space.

 A narrow escape from death itself, this was a story all too familiar for Zsilana. Somehow this was different. She’d never come face to face with any Hayf ship. There was never any need to venture near their territory, and this time was no different. How did they get here so quickly? They’re Hayf her conscience told her. They can do anything.

 She had stared down the barrel of a gun more times than she could count. Sometimes she held the trigger, other times she was on the floor with the barrel in her mouth. Yet none of those times ever lead to death. Zsilana still lived despite the dangers of her style. She was afraid when death knocked, she never learnt to overcome the fear but perhaps that’s what kept her alive. Fear can be suppressed but never killed.

 Despite all of that, all the past experiences, this time felt different. Her fleet had never been so methodically disabled or destroyed by anyone. Not the Terosan, not Kyopix, not her rivals, and the petty kings of factions faceless and unknown that inhabited the non-Terosani freeworlds. Zsilana had tried to explain this to Vohosecy, but he didn’t seem to care. He seemed heartless.

 “I have the plans.” Zsilana smiled, she played coyly with her hair.

 “The device? You don’t have it? I can’t pay you without it, I asked for the device,” Vohosecy replied in a cool tone.

 Zsilana looked at him sternly, “you didn’t say there would be any Hayf presence there.”

 “I couldn’t know”

 “You should have, you knew there was a fair chance I’d be slaughtered which is why you gave me this mission. You knew the capabilities of the Hayf ships but needed someone else to test that theory.”

 “No device, no payment.”

 “Your intelligence agents should have known, you sent us out there to be killed.”

 “I want the device, not your head. Why would I let you go? You could have ran and never come back, I took that risk and I still need the device.”

 “The plans will be sufficient, if you don’t buy them then someone else will. I’ll find a market for them somewhere.”

 “You’ll get a tenth of what they’re worth.”

 “I thought you only wanted the device.”

 “I want the device, yes. Besides, there is no way to prove that you haven’t already copied and sold the plans.”

 “Well, that’s a chance you’ll just have to take. I’m right here, right now. Convenient point of sale my friend.” Zsilana smiled.

 “A known thief with plans of a secret device, sounds like like grounds for making you an outlaw, and all outlaws have bounties on their head. Will you be accepted both dead or alive? We may have to see, and perhaps I should claim the reward myself.” Vohosecy smiled and eyed Zsilana, but she didn’t flinch at the threat. “Guards!” Vohosecy called out, he rubbed his hands together, “give me the datachip.”

 “I have it,” Zsilana flashed the chip, “but you don’t think I came without some assurance? Do you know where your son, Feyu, is?”

 “He was dealing with some local corporations, I left him to deal with them,” Vohosecy paused, “but, now that you say… have you… I see, you’ve met my son, haven’t you? What did you do with him?”

 “Nothing yet, he’s a sweet boy. Kind hearted, warm.”

 “He let himself get captured? He means nothing to me.”

 “I didn’t say I captured him, I just asked if you knew where he was. Feyu is safe, along with the plans for the device. This datachip on the other hand contains nothing useful, it is simply a recording of Feyu asleep on my ship.” Zsilana smiled then threw the chip on to his desk, “If you harm me then you won’t find either the plans or your son.”

 “What makes you think you can get out of her alive?” He baited.

 “If you are thinking of forcing me to go against my will then be assured that I have people on the station waiting for me. If I die they will know and my ship will leave with the plans and your son aboard. I don’t want to die but I think you’d rather have your son back, or you want the plans at the very least.” Zsilana held her head high.

 Vohosecy said nothing. He stared out a viewport into space, he reclined with a glass of whisky.

 “If you won’t buy then I shall be leaving,” Zsilana spoke clearly.

 “Go!” Vohosecy shouted.

 Zsilana straightened her tunic then turned to leave the room. She grabbed for the panel by the door. A low toned whoosh noise preceded the opening of the apartment door. She left.

 “Ok, I yield. I yield. Come back,” Vohosecy called after her.

 Zsilana stood in the doorway. She was silent but smiled.

 “Give me the plans, and my son, and you can have a third of your payment.”

 “Half,” Zsilana complained.

 “You’ve copied the plans already. I can tell. You’re not stupid, so don’t treat me as an idiot either. Your losses are your losses, and you can no longer guarantee exclusivity of the plans,” Vohosecy said.

 Zsilana nodded but hid her smile. A third would be more than enough to replace what she had lost. The Hayf had only disabled the ships, not destroyed them. The Terosans boarded and captured the crew but they ought to still be alive. There was hope.

On morality in fantasy and science fiction

This a repost of an article I did that evaluates morality /ethics in science fiction and fantasy. The same lines of argument can be applied to any genre but my knowledge is in SFF.  This is the moderately less contentious and shorter version.

Ultimately, you want readers to buy your book (really just a consumer product although I secretly pretend it is a work of art) and it doesn’t matter what their views are as long as they buy your book. Not everyone like it, but hopefully some will love it. Under no circumstances would I ever recommend talking down to the reader, any reader. Soap boxing your political (e.g. moral) beliefs is really a no-no. Make the readers emote but do not irritate them.

In this essay I review the judgement of morality as given by the author from the evidence of their texts. I will state my own preferences and understanding of the texts used, and come to a conclusion that is consistent with my appreciation of said texts.

The opening scene of A Game of Thrones

The opening scene of the game of thrones series tells of humans who venture into an unforgiving winter landscape, if nature killed them we would reconcile that as “expected” and even “normal”.

Man fought against nature and lost: this does not require a moral judgement from the reader. As a brief aside, I will acknowledge that some people may assign value judgements of good or evil to nature that requires nature to have a thinking will (more on that later). In this scene one of the characters witnesses the bloody remains of a massacre, of which children and adults have been gore-rotted  and given that it is the opening scene there cannot be a complete understanding of what happened and so we cannot assign blame or make a moral judgement.

Shortly after, we read that some of the characters are killed by an unknown terror that could be an animal, a person or something else unworldly. We don’t learn enough about it from the opening scene to a judgement. When people cannot assign blame to any particular thing then is no judgement of anything to be wrong. There was no wilful killing. This is akin to the statements that psychologist Sam Harris makes with regards to morality;  confer: would we judge a bear to be morally wrong if it mauls a child? I think very few people would assign blame to the animal as it did what we expected and that it did not make a rational decision in the same way that a human does. Similarly, dying of hypothermia does require us to place a value judgement upon nature and to call it evil or wrong.

In the next scene we learn that one of the people who escaped from the opening scene is to be executed as a traitor. I did not fully understand the reason why or how this person escaped, it seemed like a bit of a plot device at the request of a publisher to have action in the opening scenes (IMHO ); however, not to digress we learn that one of the main characters, a protagonist, has to execute this supposed traitor. It is an act which I also couldn’t quite fathom as to why it was necessary so was reluctant to accept why this should happen. It seemed like a plot device rather than an actual virtue / principle of character.

For now, let’s accept that it was a principle of this society: a human must kill another human as it is required by law. Depending on your ideology, this will either be seen as morally right or morally wrong. We can draw obvious parallels to modern capital punishment but in this essay I wish to state no preference to either, and I wish to state that I have no desire to tell you what to think. The beauty of GRRM is that neither did he; GRRM’s view of morality isn’t necessary, he is writing a story not a diatribe. Not once does GRRM pull you aside and say “Hey reader, Ned Stark had to kill this guy because that’s just how the story works but I really don’t support this viewpoint, just so y’all know: killing is bad m’kay.”

It would be totally redundant.

Evangelism

I abhor idealistic evangelism in story telling. It makes for poor story telling and is thoroughly inane, it is also frowned upon as a valid form of fiction writing yet many authors and story tellers continue to do it. Gods, why? Please stop doing this if you write fiction or ever plan to. Just like the GRRM mock quotation above, it really isn’t a good idea to have anything that reads like the following: “Dear reader, you are too stupid/ unwise to make up your own mind so I will feed you with my ideology and tell you what to think”.

(I realise the irony of that last paragraph… but forgive me please. )

This is one of the things I appreciate about GRRM’s work, that and I think he has great skill as a wordsmith. In his books people meet unjust ends yet at no point does the author tell you who to side with, nor who you should judge, he leaves that to you as the reader. I’ve had many conversations about the characters in his works and had a lot of fun disagreeing with friends about who is a fun character to follow or who is better than another.

The folly of dualism

You may then wonder where I stand with Tolkien whom is one of the greatest writers yet a central construction is the dualistic,  i.e. binary, nature of good and evil in his works. I cut Tolkien much slack because a simple casting of (say) LOTR’s morality as binary would be a  naive interpretation. Tolkien does use words like “good“and “evil” but rarely does he assign the value of absolute good or absolute evil to any of his characters. Sauron is perhaps the closest when he refers in an absolute way to either value judgement, yet he does not do this with Melkor  (Sauron’s former boss) in the Children of Hurin (or the Silmarilion). Neither is Ungoliant (who appears in the Silmarillion) denigrated in a cheap way as just being a character who is simply evil. All three are described as treacherous or dark but neither appear to be handled in a childlike manner where the author commands you to dislike either character. Admittedly Tolkien treads close to the edge with the dark characters but on the flip side to that argument is that I feel his good characters are shades of grey.

Who is the most good in the lord of the rings? The elves? Perhaps, yet they are reluctant to help the humans, yet they might be ‘more good’ than the humans but given that they have participated in war then are they are pure as the Hobbits?

The Hobbit have no taste for war or conflict yet Bilbo considers killing Gollum (heeds Gandalf’s words and for goes it), Frodo had wished that Bilbo had killed Gollum yet Gandalf points out that not even the wisest can see all ends. Is the explanation there that those particular Hobbits were under the influence of the ring? Perhaps, however, the ring is a plot device in this case, and the underlying fact is that a moral choice is presented as a shade of grey. The good guys are willing to consider killing as a solution but are persuaded otherwise by Gandalf. I will therefore admit that Gandalf is a likely voice of the author and (ergo) his opinion on morality and the inevitability of war (and the deaths that come with it). Recall: Gandalf, Pippin and Merry are present in the battle at Minas Tirith.

What or Science Fiction?

Some of the classics are written in such a way that challenges our knowledge of what is and isn’t acceptable. StarWars rehashes the classic good versus evil style plot, although you aren’t forced to side with the good guys the story portrays them in a much better light. This is where the originals shine and the newer ones are dulled down; older is more varied, while the newer are too simple.

The original SW films at least provided some shades of grey: the rogue is a rogue. Han Solo shot first. We may never behave like Han Solo but that doesn’t mean his charm doesn’t appeal to us.

Contrast to the unforgivable error in episode 3 where Obiwan Kenobi decries that the Sith are evil because they are absolutists. Yet this is at odds with how the Jedi and Sith are depicted, both are depicted in a fairly absolutist light yet it seems that the Sith are more likely to be pragmatic to get the job done rather than depend upon the rigours of scripture as the Jedi would.

Dune is one of my favourite novels. Herbert writes a lot about tyranny and the folly of following powerful and charismatic leaders. That isn’t to say that all leaders are bad, or that all charismatic leaders are bad, but rather we don’t always tend to see the flaws of the president we love the most ( ). I don’t think Herbert has succumb to dualism either, despite the myriad references to the Abrahamic religions, the author has the foresight to write the book in a fairly neutral light. He does not say which religion is better, or whether religion is good or bad. He points out the problems of blind faith and the power struggles that have surrounded religion: in many cases I do not detect an overly critical personal tone. It is my opinion that he lets you make your own decisions and that he merely presents an interesting set of stories.

… and that is how I think it should be handled by all authors of fictional works.