Sci-Fi Melting Pot
The art of writing stories in any science fiction subgenre
If you read through my Alien People Chronicles series, you’ll quickly discover each book fits into a science fiction subgenre distinct from other books in the series.
Alien People is a first contact story blended with military sci-fi. The central premise involves a team of alien explorers — led by Calandra Menankar and Xttra Oogan — journeying to Earth after Calandra discovers a probe sent from our planet.
Dark Metamorphosis is divided equally between a tale of genetic engineering horror and a political sci-fi thriller. The central premise involves a Calandra uncovering a dark conspiracy against the survivors of the Earth expedition when Xttra is abducted and stolen away to another solar system.
Among Hidden Stars is space opera blended with an alien invasion tale. The central premise involves Calandra and Xttra journeying to a distant planet to find a powerful ancient relic before a tyrannical ruler can claim possession of it and use the relic to conquer their homeworld.
My approach to science fiction (and horror) is unique among authors. Why? One simple reason: many characters I create are purposely designed to exist within a wide spectrum of stories, regardless of genre or subgenre.
This is a reflection of the real world. Life isn’t lived in a single subgenre. Characters shouldn’t be trapped within one.
Character driven science fiction
Science fiction stories sometimes draw outside criticism for their rigid adherence to following tropes at the expense of character development. The criticism is a fair one. You see this tendency pop up again and again in various sci-fi subgenres. It usually leads to formulaic and cliched stories that are unappealing for anyone who isn’t a true fan of the subgenre.
Some examples of these common subgenre tropes include:
Hard sci-fi stories devoting lengthy passages to explaining futuristic technology in detail while spewing technobabble along the way.
Military sci-fi stories including gobs of copy and paste space battles between space marines and nameless alien monsters/troops/ships.
First contact stories where omniscient/paternalistic aliens visit Earth in order to stop us from destroying ourselves and our planet and take the next step in our collective evolution.
How do you avoid falling into these traps as an author? Create characters who are realistic, relatable, and dynamic. Characters who feel as real as flesh-and-blood people will anchor stories that feel like tales which could have been ripped from real life. Want readers to fully immerse themselves in a story set on an alien planet? Make that fictional world feel as real as Earth. Populate it with characters who feel like close friends that invite you to become invested in their lives and care about their fates.
Character driven science fiction leads to fresh and unique stories. It tosses stale tropes out the door. Characters take the wheel and determine the path they will travel rather than being an unwilling puppet in an author’s hands.
Readers embrace these types of stories.
A whole new sci-fi world
Character development is a keystone for world building in science fiction. Giant spaceships and sleek weaponry are useless accessories if the characters in the story are second-rate clones of the usual batch of sci-fi archetypes. Characters need personalities and emotions. Readers need to connect with them on a personal level to give them stakes in how the plot plays out.
My ability to navigate seamlessly through multiple sci-fi genres in the Alien People Chronicles is rooted the natures of Calandra and Xttra themselves. They are characters with intelligence, emotional depth, and dynamic personalities. I can place them in any situation, and it will ultimately work for readers, because I’ve taken the time to build both characters in a way that makes them feel like real people.
Ultimately, character driven science fiction creates a sci-fi melting pot where no story or subgenre is off limits.
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