The Guardians--A Novel

As preparations for The Guardians moves forward, I am confronted by a stigma in the Science Fiction community. Like many other genres of commercial publication have subgenres, Science Fiction is easily divided into Hard-Science Fiction, Space Opera, Cyber Punk, Steam Punk, and many others. Each genre has its specialized market that the writer writes to and the publishing house focuses on. The general reader may not always catch the nuisances as they browse the bookshelves at their local books store, for the books stand next to each other, the marketing people and editors are focused upon the differences.

It must be asked if these subgenres really do stand alone and can be pigeonholed. Or if they crossover. The obvious answer is yes. Let me use a simple example of a series of tv shows, movies, and novels: Star Trek. Anyone who knows the universe that Gene Roddenberry created knows it is really Space Opera. Yet, many of the things in Star Trek that were created to save on budget of money and/or time have come to be science and in reality fact. So is Star Trek then Space Opera?

The communicators in Star Trek were the idea behind our cell phones. The computer elements, like great databases of music and entertainment have also become reality or are in development to do so. Examples of what I mean are: Ipods, Kindle readers, internet and various “libraries” of information, Medical Records being stored electronically, Genetic research and the use of it to grow food, and the list continues. An example of something that is in development is the “holodeck” of virtual reality. In fact, the only thing on the surface that forces it to be Space Opera is the fact of faster-than-light travel. What happens if someday we are able to figure out how to break that barrier?

The fact is that the subgenres are not as easily pigeonholed as the universe of those who see things as only “this or that” would like it. It is with this foreknowledge and acceptance of fact that will push the blending of subgenres into The Guardians.

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com for up to date information on the articles, blogs, novels, and short stories that I write.

Utopia? Dystopia? Hold true to the original concept of The Guardians? Transform The Guardians in to a dystopian view of the future. I have begun the new plot and find myself torn between the new and the old. Some may argue that there is room in the universe for both novels. I agree. Agreement does not solve the quandary. Only my muse or my subconscious or whatever part of my creative soul is dedicated to story creation will solve it.

I started this plot a long time ago, when this blog was born. Times have changed since between then and now. The world has changed. The world has stayed the same. Such is the world, so is this novel. I know how to solve this issue. I need to complete my characters and let them show me the world they live in. I will do this soon—I have just one other novel to finish first.

Thank you for reading and please visit www.davidalanlucas.com for more on the articles, blogs, novels, poems, and short stories I write.