How Stories are Born

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This is a question that probably gets answered a hundred different ways, so let me start out by saying that I’m talking mostly about my own stories. I’d wager a lot of other authors are similar, maybe most even, but I’d also bet many are different, too, and that’s great. But I tend to have a pretty specific flow of ideas, one that is more or less the same every time.

Not surprisingly, I start with an idea.  

Now, I write quickly, usually at least, but that doesn’t mean I put my story thoughts together in short order. Quite the opposite, in fact. I have lots of narrative elements floating around in my head all the time, and while I can usually write pretty quickly, I can’t produce that much. So, what makes a story idea develop into something more…and ultimately an actual novel, or more likely, a series of novels?

Well, first, there is time.  

As I mentioned, I can put out 5 or 6 books a year, usually, but the actual storylines, or at least the general outlines, have probably been floating around in my head for years.

Yes, that’s right…years.  I haven’t sat down and written anything I haven’t been thinking about for at least 12 months, and often for much, much longer. That doesn’t mean I’ve figured everything out, but it does give me at least a basic starting point, and quite possibly one that’s changed an awful lot over that year (or two or three or more) that it’s existed. The truth is, a finished novel is usually quite different from the original idea I’d jotted down.

Second, I have to consider how something works once I start trying to take it from a basic starting point to a finished novel. The dirty truth is, sometimes I’ll start something new, and I’ll find it very difficult to proceed at a given time, while other books will go far more easily. It’s a hard thing to understand, at least from time to time, as some things I thought would be easy prove to be difficult…or the reverse. It’s hard to determine what will go easily, and what will give me a hard time until I’m actually trying to work through them…which is why I have three or four started series that have ten thousand or twenty thousand written words, but ended up being abandoned, at least for a while. 

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Third, fan reactions are always crucial.  

I’m fortunate that I don’t need everything to be at the peak sales level all the time, but I’d be lying if I said that reader reactions weren’t important. If I’ve got two things going on, and one has twice the fanbase of the other, I’ll definitely show some preference to the stronger series. That doesn’t mean I won’t write the lesser work, I absolutely will, but it does mean I will probably write a number of the more popular ones first…almost certainly to the disclaim of at least a few old stalwarts who want to see the lesser book sooner.

Most recently, this has become the case with my  Blood on the Stars series which has exploded to a 16 book strong saga, with 18 total planned. With such a voracious readership of this particular universe, it makes sense for me to keep writing the story while fans keep asking for more installments.

Lastly, and strangely both good and bad, there’s my own reaction to each story.  

I’d like to say these are always good, but the truth is, sometimes one storyline is just better than another at pulling itself out of me and coming together, while a different one seems to get hung up on this and that. It’s not always that one is demonstrably better than another in some definitive way, but often one is just easier to work my way through at a given time. With luck, maybe the other one will open up over time, and be “ready” to actually launch in a year…or a couple years. The truth is, I’ve still got story ideas that date back to before I published my first book, and some of these have just proven to be more difficult to write.

Am I going to run out of story ideas? Nope, not in my lifetime at least. It’s one of the questions I get asked the most, and one at least, to which I can give a satisfying answer. I can’t say for sure my stories will remain interesting, or I will retain the same audience size (or even increase it), but I can say for certain that I’ve already got more ideas than I can write, especially since most of them are for series and not individual books.  That’s the first step…and assuming they’re mostly decent ideas, probably the most difficult one as well.

I’ve done okay so far, and with any luck, I’ll continue to pick and write good books. Maybe my sales will even go up, and not just stay the same!

Jay Allan

Jay Allan is a USA Today bestselling author of roughly 30 science fiction and fantasy books, including the bestselling Blood on the Stars series, Crimson Worlds series and the Far Stars trilogy published by HarperCollins Voyager.

A lifetime northeasterner, Jay currently lives in New York City, where he writes from his apartment…and continues to fill small notebooks with ideas for future books.

He has been a voracious reader of science fiction and fantasy for many years, a writer of the same far more recently. His tastes are varied and eclectic, but most often he will be found reading military and dystopian science fiction, space opera, alternate history, and epic fantasy. He is also an avid historian, and is as likely to be reading non-fiction as a novel.

Jay writes a lot of science fiction with military themes, but also other SF and some fantasy as well. His works tend to feature complex characters and lots of backstory and action, always with an emphasis on world-building and extensive detail.

Join Jay's reader group on Facebook to keep up with the latest in his work.

The Top 10 Sci-Fi Titles Written by Women

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“The writer of it is, we understand, a female; this is an aggravation of that which is the prevailing fault of the novel; but if our authoress can forget the gentleness of her sex, it is no reason why we should; and we shall therefore dismiss the novel without further comment.”
―The British Critic, New Series, Volume 9, April 1818

The above quote is taken from one of the earliest reviews of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, a book commonly regarded as the first ever work of science fiction. Not even the very best books can be expected to transcend criticism, so that a critic might find flaw with a book shouldn't come as a shock; what might, is that the flaw this anonymous critic found with Frankenstein was in the gender of the writer rather than in the content of the work. This is something women writing in science fiction have been up against for the better part of forever, and it's a sentiment we can no longer abide. The good news? Times have definitely changed and they continue to do so.

Starting around the 1950’s women began to gain some real traction in publishing in science fiction, writing award-winning novels alongside the men who traditionally dominated the genre; and while women writers are still under-represented, readers and critics alike are increasingly embracing their work and their often unique perspectives. So let’s celebrate some of the best, shall we? Here are the top 10 science fiction titles written by women as chosen by you, the Discover Sci-Fi community!

As always, these top ten lists are not meant to be all-inclusive or definitive, but give a great finger on the pulse of our communities interests and favorites. Want to see who missed out? Here's the original nomination list from the blog.

As always the results below are based on the combined nominations and votes here on the Discover Sci-Fi blog and the Facebook group.  

10. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin is an American literary treasure, or as Stephen King has said, "...a literary icon." Over her almost 60 year literary career she wrote more than twenty novels and over a hundred short stories, in addition to poetry, literary criticism, translations, and children's books, though her most famous and popular works are undoubtedly the works of science fiction she wrote set in the Hainish Universe along with the high fantasy Earthsea Cycle series. Two of the books from Hainish Universe made our top 10. Let's take a look at how they did!

In tenth spot, we have The Dispossessed  which, as mentioned, is set in the Hainish Universe. The book has won multiple awards, including a Nebula for best novel, and both Hugo and Locus awards. The book plays with themes that, at the time, were not often explored in science fiction; things such as anarchism and revolutionary societies, capitalism, and individualism and collectivism. While it is the 6th book in the Hainish Cycle, it can be read as a standalone.

A bleak moon settled by utopian anarchists, Anarres has long been isolated from other worlds, including its mother planet, Urras—a civilization of warring nations, great poverty, and immense wealth. Now Shevek, a brilliant physicist, is determined to reunite the two planets, which have been divided by centuries of distrust. He will seek answers, question the unquestionable, and attempt to tear down the walls of hatred that have kept them apart.

Read The Dispossessed  here on Amazon.

9. Beast Master by Andre Norton

We were as surprised as many of you in Discover Sci-Fi community to see that none of Andre Norton's books made the cut for our last top 10 list for Young Adult Fiction, so it's good to see her getting the recognition she deserves here with not one, but two nominated titles! The first, coming in ninth place, is The Beast Master.

Left homeless by the war that reduced Terra to a radioactive cinder, Hosteen Storm Navaho commando and master of beasts is drawn to the planet Arzor, to kill a man he has never met.

On that dangerous frontier world, aliens and human colonists share the land in an uneasy truce. But something is upsetting the balance, and Storm is caught in the middle. He had thought the war was over but was it?

Get your copy of The Beast Master here on Amazon.

8. Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh

The 77 year old novelist C.J. Cherryh has published more than 80 books since she began writing in the 70’s. Her remarkable capacity for world building has earned her not only a loyal fanbase, but Hugo Awards for two of her works, both of which were nominated for this poll and landed in the top ten, the first—Cyteen—appearing in eighth spot! Cyteen is set in Cherryh's Alliance-Union universe, the same universe as her award-winning Downbelow Station. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1989.

A brilliant young scientist rises to power on Cyteen, haunted by the knowledge that her predecessor and genetic duplicate died at the hands of one of her trusted advisors. Murder, politics, and genetic manipulation provide the framework for the latest Union-Alliance novel.

Get your copy of Cyteen, books 1-3 in one volume, Here on Amazon

7. Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh

Can you imagine having an asteroid named after you? C.J. Cherryh was honored in just such a way, the asteroid’s discoverer saying of the author: “She has challenged us to be worthy of the stars by imagining how mankind might grow to live among them." Who better to make our list then!

The science fiction classic Downbelow Station was published in 1981 and has the distinction of having won the 1982 Hugo Award for Best Novel. The book was nominated and shortlisted for a Locus Award for Best Science Fiction the same year, an award which it didn’t win, but it was later named one of the top 50 science fiction novels of all-time by Locus Magazine. Not too shabby! Throughout our poll it remained neck and neck with C.J. Cherryh's other nominated work, beating it by one vote to it finish in seventh place! 

The book is set in Cherryh's Alliance–Union universe during the Company Wars period, specifically late 2352 and early 2353. The book details events centering on a space station in orbit around Pell's World (also known as "Downbelow") in the Tau Ceti star system. The station serves as the transit point for ships moving between the Earth and Union sectors of the galaxy.

Read Cherryh's Hugo Award winning Downbelow Station  here on Amazon.

6. The Time Traders by Andre Norton

The remarkable Andre Norton published her first novel in 1934, and was the first woman to receive the Gandalf Grand Master Award from the World Science Fiction Society in 1977, and won the Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) association in 1983.

Often called the Grande Dame of Science Fiction and Fantasy by biographers such as J. M. Cornwell and organizations such as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Publishers Weekly, and Time, Andre Norton wrote novels for over 70 years. She had a profound influence on the entire genre, having over 300 published titles read by at least four generations of science fiction and fantasy readers and writers.

The Time Traders is the second book of Norton's to make our list, and missed the top five by a margin of only one vote! The book was first published in 1958, and has been printed in several editions. It was updated by Norton in 2000 to account for real world changes. It is part of Norton's Forerunner universe.

The never-ending tension between Russia and the United States has been escalated by a stunning new variable: time travel. While the Americans can roughly utilize the technology, the Russians have learned the secret of space travel—and that makes the US vulnerable. What they need is someone expendable to send through time to obtain the same secret.

Get your copy of The Time Traders here on Amazon.

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5. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

We have reached the top five with Madeleine L'Engle's  classic, A Wrinkle in Time. L'Engle began writing at five years of age and almost gave up at 40 when she received yet another rejection letter. We are fortunate that she found she couldn't give it up, and was finally able to publish one of the most beloved books of our time, the multi-award winning, A Wrinkle in Time. 

It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her small brother Charles Wallace, and her mother had come down to the kitchen for a midnight snack when they were upset by the arrival of a most disturbing stranger.  

And so begins the adventure as Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin O'Keefe, embark on a journey through space and time, from universe to universe, as they endeavor to save the Murrys' father and the world. The novel offers a glimpse into the war between light and darkness, and goodness and evil, as the young characters mature into adolescents on their journey.

Start the adventure with book one in the Quintet, A Wrinkle in Time  here on Amazon.

4. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

In fourth place, we have the mother of all science fiction, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein! Mary Shelley is a fascinating and tragic figure. She lost her mother in infancy, and in the course of her relationship with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, three of four children. She was widowed at 25 and succumbed to a brain tumor at 53 after years of illness. Despite a life fraught from the start with challenge and heartbreak, she persisted, and at the young age of 18 wrote what many consider the first work of science fiction ever.

Mary Shelley’s gothic masterpiece Frankenstein is a tale for the ages; a timeless classic with a fascinating origin story: 18 year old Shelley, on holiday with her lover and their friends challenge each other to see who could write the most terrifying horror story. Initially stymied, after thinking for days, Shelley dreamt about a scientist who created life and was horrified by what he had made, inspiring the novel and introducing one of the most icon monsters of all time. 

Find the gothic classic Frankenstein, here on Amazon

3. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Left Hand of Darkness—set in the author's Hainish universe—won Le Guin both the Hugo AND Nebula awards for best novel, making her the first woman to do so. The Left Hand of Darkness was among the first books in the genre now known as feminist science fiction and is the most famous examination of androgyny in science fiction. Given that distinction, it is no surprise to find it near the top of our list! 

The Left Hand of Darkness takes place many centuries in the future—no date is given in the book itself. Reviewers have suggested the year 4870 AD, based on extrapolation of events in other works, and commentary on her writing by Le Guin. The protagonist of the novel, the envoy Genly Ai, is on a planet called Winter ("Gethen" in the language of its own people) to convince the citizens to join the Ekumen. Winter is, as its name indicates, a planet that is always cold.

Pick up Ursula K. Le Guin's groundbreaking The Left Hand of Darkness here on Amazon

2. The Vorkosigan Saga

Lois McMaster Bujold was born in 1949, the daughter of an engineering professor at Ohio State University, from whom she picked up her early interest in science fiction. Bujold is one of the most acclaimed writers in science fiction. Last year the Science Fiction Writers of America named her its 36th SFWA Grand Master; she has won the Hugo Award for best novel four times—more times than any of the other authors on this list, so perhaps the only surprise here is that her acclaimed epic, the Vorkosiagan Saga landed in second place rather than first.

The Vorkosiagan Saga, perhaps her best known work, is a series of science fiction novels and short stories set in a common fictional universe. At present there are sixteen books plus six short works in the series. There is a little bit of debate about the best order in which to read them, however the author recommends reading the books in order of the internal chronology so we'd suggest that is what you do, too!

When Cordelia Naismith and her survey crew are attacked by a renegade group from Barrayar, she is taken prisoner by Aral Vorkosigan, commander of the Barrayan ship that has been taken over by an ambitious and ruthless crew member. Aral and Cordelia survive countless mishaps while their mutual admiration and even stronger feelings emerge. A science fiction romance by a Hugo and Nebula Award winning master. Bujold's Shards of Honor is the first book in her SF universe to feature the Vorkosigan clan.

Get your copy of Shards of Honor, the first book in the internal chronology, here on Amazon.

1. The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

We've reached the top! In first place by a landslide, we have The Dragonriders of Pern, a series by the indomitable Anne McCaffrey. McCaffrey is a remarkable writer and one of a handful of women (some of whom also appear on our esteemed top 10 list) awarded the Grand Masters award, a prestigious lifetime achievement award won by a small number of other sci-fi luminaries—some of the biggest of the genre—such as Asimov, Heinlein and Clarke. Select individual works written by McCaffrey have won Hugos and Nebulas and in 2005, she was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. In addition to all the wonderful industry accolades, McCaffrey is a beloved and oft celebrated author among our Discover Sci-fi community as well, so we were not surprised to see her top the list. In fact, the nominated series—The Dragonriders of Pern—has been KILLING it in these polls of late, taking the top spot in the most recent poll for best young adult science fiction, and a respectable fourth place in the best multi-book science fiction series of all time.

If you haven’t read the series, you are seriously missing out!  McCaffrey made history as the first woman to win a Hugo or Nebula Award with the first novel in the series, Dragonflight.  In Dragonflight, we meet a young woman named Lessa who is being recruited to establish a telepathic bond with a queen dragon at its hatching, thus becoming a dragonrider, and the leader of a Weyr community on the fictional planet Pern.

 Discover the book that started it all, Dragonflight, here on Amazon

"We've come a long way, baby..."

"...From now on, lover-boy, it's fifty-fifty, all the way. Up to now I've been an object made for pleasin' you. Times have changed and I'm demanding satisfaction too." —Loretta Lynn.  

Here's to the women of sci-fi: not just to the ones who grace the artwork on the covers, but especially to those who put themselves out there, writing rich and layered science fiction that, more often than not, gives us something to think about while keeping us wildly entertained. Who knows what this list will look like next year, or ten years from now.

Thanks to these trailblazers, more women are coming up in science fiction than ever before. Yes, we've come a long way, baby, but perhaps the best is yet to come.  

*All book-related copy in this post was pulled from Amazon, Goodreads & Wikipedia, unless otherwise credited.

What Are the Best Friendships Found in Science Fiction?

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“There are good ships there are wood ships, there are ships that sail the sea. But the best ships are friendships, and may they always be." —Irish Proverb

Friendships really are the best ships, aren't they? While there is something to be said for a flaming hot romance; a seasoned, mature and devoted love; or, a passion unrequited, truly, some of the deepest and most loyal bonds are between friends. These friendships can also be a source of some pretty witty banter and some wild shenanigans too, which is always a treat to read!  

Does it feel like the world is falling apart right now? Maybe a little. We like to think The Beatles were on to something when they promised "we'll get by with a little help from our friends" and so this week's poll is in celebration of friendship. This week we're asking you to think about the most iconic and inspiring friendships found within the pages of science fiction, to add your nomination(s) below and then to vote on your favorite(s).

We base our lists on the votes and nominations from this blog and our Facebook Reader group, and we want to hear your opinion!

​

What is the Best Friendship from a Science Fiction Book (standalone or series)?
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The Top 10 Best Sci-Fi TV Series (Of the Last Two Decades) and Books That Are Similar

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You can easily find the top 10 TV series in science fiction according to various review sites. 

This is my personal top 10 out of the top 100 highest-rated sci-fi series on Rotten Tomatoes. I have curated this list with one small limitation: it has to be less than 20 years old. I promise I won’t spoil anything if you haven’t already watched these series, and I’ll also be proposing some similar books that you can read, because well, we all know books are better than TV ;).

#10 Wayward Pines (Rotten Tomatoes #??)

This entry bumped Dark Matter off my top 10 (another good series to look into). Wayward Pines doesn’t have as many sci-fi elements as I typically like, but it is fantastic for two simple reasons: the twists in the plot, and the mystery that’s woven throughout the story. This series has it all: great characters, an amazing plot, and a unique setup. I really, really loved this series, and it would be topping my list if there were more Sci-Fi elements involved. I can’t say much about it that wouldn’t spoil the series for you, so just take my word for it: watch this, or better yet, read it, because it started out as a book series by Blake Crouch.

Similar Books: Wayward Pines, Broken Worlds: The Awakening​

#9 The Hundred (Rotten Tomatoes #23)

The world ended in a nuclear war. The only survivors are on a space station orbiting Earth. Strict population controls drive these survivors to send 100 juvenile delinquents down to Earth to fend for themselves. They discover that the surface is habitable, and there are other survivors down there with them—ruthless tribes of humans who would sooner kill them than help them. The earlier seasons are the best, but season six actually takes a unique turn as well. A highly enjoyable sci-fi / post-apocalyptic series, but grim and bloody (in case you’re squeamish). The only negative, and it still sticks out in my mind, is that this is definitely YA sci-fi, so you’ll be continually amazed that teenagers / young adults are calling the shots when more capable / knowledgeable adults would make much more sense.

Similar Books: The 100, Hell Divers

#8 Colony (Rotten Tomatoes #38)

This series is about an alien occupation of Earth. It follows the resistance to the occupation and how we struggle to break free. There are plenty of post-apocalyptic themes here as well as sci-fi. I particularly enjoyed this series, to the point that it actually inspired one of my recent books. See below for something similar to read.

Similar Books: Occupied Earth, Occupation

#7 Stranger Things (Rotten Tomatoes #2)

This series is more of a fantasy than actual sci-fi, but it is still fantastic. Full of otherworldly monsters slipping through from another dimension known as the upside down, this series follows the lives of a group of kids in the 1980s, as well as a few of their parents. Despite the main characters being children, they’re all extremely relatable for adults, and the entire series is a nostalgic trip back to one’s own childhood. It’s hard not to love the characters, and the terrifying horror elements introduced by interdimensional monsters really make this series easy to binge.

Similar Books: It (Stephen King)

#6 The Expanse (Rotten Tomatoes #10)

This is a military sci-fi / political series with elements of space opera as well as space exploration. The special effects are fantastic, and the universe is a compelling one with more realistic science than you typically find in the sci-fi genre. This series is set in a near future of Earth where Mars, Earth, and The Belt (miners who mine the asteroid belt and live in space) are all vying for dominance in our solar system. There’s plenty of friction between the three, and open war looks to be inevitable. The story is told from multiple points of view, and there is an evolving mystery at the heart of it. This series is particularly impressive because it manages to capture both the macroscopic Space Opera elements of sweeping, epic stories as well as the down-to-earth plot lines of everyday people caught up in the middle of it all.

Similar Books: Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse Book 1)

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#5 The Orville (Rotten Tomatoes #100)

I can’t say enough good things about The Orville. This is clearly a Star Trek rip-off, but don’t let that turn you away. It actually captures the spirit of Star Trek far better than Star Trek Discovery. This series is also about space exploration, and it’s not all action-driven, which reminds me a lot of the older Star Trek series. The only possible negative, is that this series is a spoof. If you’re looking for something grim or serious, keep looking, but if you don’t mind busting a gut while exploring the universe, you won’t find a better series anywhere than The Orville.

Similar Books: All Systems Red, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

#4 Stargate Universe (Rotten Tomatoes #58)

This is an extension of the Stargate franchise, and as far as I’m concerned it is by far the best entry into that universe. The original SG-1 is now dated, and I always found it to be highly cheesy. Stargate Atlantis was good in its day, but dated by today’s standards. By contrast, this series is more recent and definitely takes itself seriously. It truly captures the spirit of space exploration. Apart from a few boring flashback sequences, this story is all about moving forward, exploring new planets and new sci-fi concepts. If you like stories about space exploration, this is about as good as it gets.

Similar Books: Dark Space Universe (Book 1)

#3 Lost in Space (Rotten Tomatoes #63)

This is a PG-rated space adventure available on Netflix. It’s actually a remake of the older version. An interstellar colony ship gets lost in space. The colonists are forced to abandon the ship, and they crash land on a strange planet where they are faced with an ongoing set of challenges to their survival. The plot is very similar to a sci-fi version of the Swiss family Robinson, which it unashamedly mimics, even in the fact that the main characters’ last name is Robinson. But everything has a sci-fi slant to it, so I’ll let that go. This particular series is better in the first season than the second, but it still rates highly on my list, because I have seen so few space adventures, as opposed to Space Operas or Military Sci-Fi epics.

Similar Books: Into the Unknown

#2 The Mandalorian (2019) (Rotten Tomatoes #??)

I signed up for Disney+ just so that I could watch this series, and I suspect I’m not the only one. This is a Star Wars TV series (live action, not animated) about a bounty hunter who travels the galaxy making money by capturing or killing criminals. The series takes a sharp left turn from there as the main character is hired to kill an unknown target for an officer of the now-defeated Galactic Empire. The story is actually surprisingly good, and involves far fewer fantasy elements than we’re used to with Star Wars. I can’t recommend this series highly enough for fans of Star Wars and Sci-Fi alike.

Similar Books: The Mandalorian Armor

#1 Battlestar Galactica (2005) (Rotten Tomatoes #1)

This is a slightly older TV series (2005), but by far the best that I’ve ever watched. It’s about a far future of humanity in which we have colonized 13 different planets. We were forced to leave Earth behind a long time ago, but no one can remember why, or even where it is. A race of exiled androids that we created known as Cylons hatches a violent plot to wipe us out early on in this series, and the survivors are left to flee the colonies aboard an aging warship called the Galactica. With the ship being hounded relentlessly by Cylons, the main characters must flee to safety, ultimately searching for our long-lost homeworld, Earth, in the process.

This series is what I would call realistic sci-fi. With very few fantasy elements, excellent action sequences, unforgettable characters, and plenty of plot twists. Battlestar Galactica is to Sci-Fi what Game of Thrones is to Fantasy.

Similar Books: Dark Space, The Legacy Fleet Series

​Jasper Scott is a USA Today bestselling author of more than 20 sci-fi novels including the best selling First Encounter, The New Frontiers trilogy and Dark Space series. With over a million books sold, Jasper's work has been translated into various languages and published around the world.

Jasper writes fast-paced books with unexpected twists and flawed characters. He was born and raised in Canada by South African parents, with a British heritage on his mother's side and German on his father's. He now lives in an exotic locale with his wife, their two kids, and two chihuahuas.

You can follow Jasper on Facebook, Twitter and his website.

Aliens, crop circles, and objects in space: First contact settings in literature

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It’s nighttime, and the smell of the corn field is overpowering as you walk through the thick stalks. Your friend carelessly ran ahead, and now she’s vanished from your sight. You hear a noise and peer at the dark sky, certain you’ve never seen so many stars before in your life. The moon is a sliver tonight, not helping much to guide your steps. 

“Jane! This isn’t funny!” you shout, but your voice falls flat, like you’ve screamed into a pillow. And it hits you. The smell of ozone fills your nostrils, the flashing lights threaten to unravel your mind… You spot Jane before you hear her cries for help. Her arms are limp, her expression twisted in fear as the beam of light lifts her from the soil.

The UFO blocks the stars above, the light dying against its smooth surface rather than reflecting. Jane is carried away, the beam vanishes, and you’re left alone, trying to process what you just saw. Your hand feels something dripping over your lip, and you run your fingers over it, tasting blood.

Aliens. The concept is familiar, yet terrifying. Whether you’re a believer or a skeptic, the truth is out there. We just haven’t found it yet.

They’ve been a topic of interest for centuries, with sightings dating back as far as ancient Egypt. There are references to strange creatures “visiting in their vessel with wheels within wheels” in the Bible in Ezekiel 1, and Peter Cawdron even wrote a great book, 3zekiel, about this very topic, using remote Africa as the setting for the alien contact novel.

Fast forward to a time where HG Wells wrote War of the Worlds in the late 1800s, changing the way we thought about aliens and potential earthly invasion, and we were ushered into a new era of literature. Rumors of UFO and extraterrestrial sightings grew in popularity in the 1960s, making more people look to the stars for answers amidst lunar space travel and the Cold War.

So what makes a great UFO or alien contact story? 

For me, there are so many interesting concepts and ways to go about the topic. Personally, there’s something intriguing about the small-town crop circles, the recollection of abductions along a lakeshore, and the flashing lights in the night sky that offer no explanation of a definitive source.

I tackled the subject of alien abduction, and what would happen to someone if they’d possibly experienced it as a child, in my novel Lights over Cloud Lake. Not everyone who’s been through something traumatic like that should be deemed mentally ill, and I do think it was a unique take on the genre, blending mystery into a science fiction topic.

Another setting or trope I gravitate towards is the mysterious object in space. 

We see this done well by AG Riddle recently in Winter World, where an object is blocking the sun from reaching Earth. Books like Rendezvous with Rama, by the great Arthur C. Clarke, show us one of the most intriguing cases yet, with a giant empty ship rotating through our solar system, about to be flung around the sun. Others take a different approach, like Felix R. Savage’s Freefall, where an unfamiliar vessel is orbiting Europa, and we follow a team on Earth as they prepare a flight to investigate. Each of these involves strange distant beings, but they are not the forefront of the story; instead, the setting and obstacle they create is. 

In books like Contact by Carl Sagan, we have instructions given to create a portal to another location, and in Douglas E. Richards’ brand new novel, Enigma Cube, we learn of a device left by aliens on Earth, and once we are advanced enough, only then will we have the means to uncover the truth. 

All of these stories are fascinating and thrilling, regardless of whether you actually see the aliens, or if their existence stays a mystery. 

The setting in an alien contact book is as important as any other aspect, and done well, it can create a tone and have as large of an impact as a main character.

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I tackled alien contact with my debut novel The Event, where we realize we’ve been living among them for years. My hero was an accountant who teamed up with a cocker spaniel as he set out to stop the invasion, and it’s what kicked off my career as a full-time author. I’m planning a new series with the mystery of alien life at the forefront, and when I’m preparing it, the setting is at the top of my list.

We’ve engaged in numerous discussions regarding the theory of aliens over the decades, but one thing remains constant. We still have no idea if they exist, but if they do, there’s one thing I’m confident of. They’re aware of us.

Keep looking to the stars, because you never know when we’ll make contact.

What’s your favorite type of alien contact story? Let me know in the comments, or hop on over to the DSF Reader Group on Facebook to add your 2¢ to the discussion we've got going there.

Nathan Hystad is the best-selling author of The Event. He writes about alien invasion, first contact, colonization, and everything else he devoured growing up. He's had hundreds of thousands of copies sold and read, and loves the fact he's been able to reach so many amazing readers with his stories.

Nathan's written over twenty novels, including The Survivors, Baldwin's Legacy, and The Resistance.

Nathan's also done mystery/thrillers with Red Creek, Return to Red Creek, and Lights Over Cloud Lake.

You can follow Nathan on Facebook, Twitter and his website.

Review—Electric State

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Author – Simon Stalenhag

I’ll start with the bottom line first. I thought Electric State was an excellent book.

But, not for everyone.

Let’s start with the most salient oddity—it’s not quite a graphic novel, and it’s not quite a novella. It’s a book that decided to be something in between. It’s a story written around a series of stunningly beautiful apocalyptic art pieces. They create a vision of a world that words would fall short in describing. I totally loved the artwork, and I’d say, if you like the book cover, give it a try, if only to peruse the images from time to time. If you don’t dig the cover art, then don’t waste your cash on a purchase. You won’t like what’s to come, and the word count alone is insufficient to justify the cost. I paid $16.99 on Amazon for an eBook.

I should probably say something else about this. I own a spiffy little kindle that fits into the pocket of my cargo shorts, but I do most of my eBook reading on an iPad Pro with a 12.9-inch full-color screen. If you’ve got a small and/or black & white display, I wouldn’t recommend buying Electric State in eBook format. Spend a few bucks more and purchase the hardback, otherwise, you won’t get the full effect of the artwork.

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Next, the storytelling style—not for everybody. 

It has a very raw, ambiguous, dark feel. As a reader, I spent a good deal of the time unsure about what was happening in the present-day story of the narrative and what was the retelling of a memory. Characters from the recollected past seemed to come into the story, so suddenly that I spent many paragraphs feeling like I’d missed something. It took some time for me to put together who those people were and how they related to the main character. Having said all that, the entire story was a set of nested questions leading me toward a resolution that tied the story up very nicely.

I know reviewers like to talk about story details and how the plot developed and whether this scene or that scene worked, but I think to do that with this book would be an injustice. It’s a quick trip through a weird SciFi-apocalyptic world, and I thought the unmoored feeling I experienced was what the author intended—a feature, not a bug.

Check out the sample at your favorite eBook retailer. The artwork in the sample is worth at least a glance.

Bobby Adair

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Google Play
Kobo

* If you feel like I’ve been unnecessarily harsh on a masterpiece, or too easy on a terrible POS, please read my Disclaimers, Caveats, and Excuses page before you flame me.

Bobby Adair is a former programmer, with a long-lived passion - and only recently fulfilled desire - for writing.  He is the author of the Freedom Fire series, the Slow Burn series and the Ebola K series.

One of Bobby's favorite quotes:

“It’s not just about me and my dream of doing nothing. It’s about all of us...Michael, we don’t have a lot of time on this earth! We weren’t meant to spend it this way. Human beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles staring at computer screens all day, filling out useless forms and listening to eight different bosses drone on about about mission statements.”
- Peter Gibbons, Office Space

You can follow Bobby on Facebook, Twitter and his website.

Time to Decide: What Are the Best Sci-Fi Titles Written by Women?

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In honor of International Women's Day, which falls on March 8th, last week's poll asked for you to think about science fiction titles written by women and submit the ones you think are the very best. With well over 50 different and amazing titles submitted, there was some tough competition! We went easy on you for the first round of voting, allowing  you to vote for as many titles as you'd like.

But now, it's time to decide.

This week, we'll ask you to narrow down your choice to one selection.  Which one do you think is the very best? With ten truly excellent titles to choose from, we know it won't be easy! Read on to see what made the cut and if you are curious to know what didn't, you can see the original list of nominations in our facebook group.

*This list is made up by combining votes from this blog and our Facebook group.  In the cases where both a series and a title from that series was nominated and in the top ten, we combined the votes and moved the series forward. 

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Time to Decide: What Are the Best Sci-Fi Titles Written by Women
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Time to Decide: What Are the Best Friendships in Science Fiction?

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This week we asked you to think about the most devoted, inspiring and entertaining friendships in science fiction, and you delivered! We know that true friendship comes in many forms and knows no bounds; the list we've compiled here based on your nominations both here on the blog and in our facebook group is illustrative of that. Be it friendship between man and monster, animal, alien or machine, these friendships are all #goals, as the kids say.    

But now, it's time to decide.

Last week you were able to nominate and vote for as many parings as you wish; this week, we've narrowed down the selections to the ten most popular, and we're asking you to narrow down your choice to one. Which one friendship do you think is the friendship for the ages? With ten epic relationships to choose from, this is no easy task! Read on to see what friendships made the cut and then place your vote for your favorite. If you happened to miss the first round of voting and are curious to see the original list of nominations, be sure to check out our facebook group to see them all.

*As always, this list is made up by combining votes from this blog and our Facebook group.  

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Time to decide: What is the Best Friendship in Sci-Fi?
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