Don’t let “science fiction” put you off a good story. Early science fiction was in the hands of scientists. Now it’s in the hands of the writers. Scientists knew science but they did not know people. Writers – good writers – know people.

It’s okay, I’m not going to slap down the early sci-fi works, and I’m certainly not going to knock down the classics (I could lose friends really fast that way and I don’t want to). So, let’s switch from books to movies and I can continue down the “why I got into science fiction” path.

Please note, my recollection are the recollections of a kid looking for adventure. So, while people may adore the mechanics and nostalgia of early films and television (and books), as a kid living it and with nothing better available, I did not appreciate its art.

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I recognize now it was all a new era, new technology, and all people involved in the industry (writers, directors, actors, all the technical crew, etc., etc.) had to learn what worked and what didn’t. ALL early television was bad. No criticism in learning the ropes, it had to be done (notice how well I’m covering my butt?). 🙂 Anyhow, I liked the TV series Star Trek well enough. In fact I loved it. Years later, when the movies came out, I was in heaven.

Back then, when the series was new, I wasn’t allowed to sit up that late, so I’d hide in the dark hallway and wait for it to come on. I could see the TV from there and if I was lucky, my parents wouldn’t visit the bathroom and therefore catch me. The kids of our street would get together and take over a tree, naming it the USS Enterprise. Without fail, I was always first up the tree, calling myself Captain Kirk. I had it easy – everyone else wanted to be Spock, which suited me just fine, I liked being Captain Kirk, but I digress.

Today we speed along, we like a good pace to a story, plenty of action, something with “bite” that will last into tomorrow. We like realism and real characterization. If it’s going to stand out, it has to be memorable. Times have changed and our likes have evolved.

So why is it so many people today have the idea “science fiction = yuck”? As I mentioned in an earlier post “Sci fi – not their genre of choice. What?“, people frequently say they like my book even though it is “not the genre of their choice”. So, this is something I have reflected on. I think the reason science fiction is lower on the list for many people is because what’s available today is mostly what was available in my youth – and we have moved on from the classics.

We don’t seem to get a lot of new science fiction. We get plenty of fantasy, but science fiction seems thin on the ground when compared to just about every other genre. Why is that?

Films, on the other hand, are plentiful (and wonderful), so wouldn’t that win people over to the genre? Apparently not. So, it must be something about sci-fi books.

I can only think that every other genre expanded to include all the nuances of life, yet somehow science fiction was supposed to remain “pure”. Over the years, a lot of well-meaning people have told me what science fiction should and should not be. Obviously I didn’t listen to any of those limiting science fiction, or I wouldn’t write the way I do.

Okay, so that lets in sex, nudity, swearing, living and action. Yes, there is science, too. But wait, where are the bimbos, again? I mean, I mentioned them in the title, right?

We’ll get there. Let’s first go back to early sci-fi movies, you know, the B-grade stuff. No one cared much about plot in those films, as long as the woman was young and good-looking, screamed well and fell over at convenient intervals, usually adding a heap of trouble to the hero who then had to come to the rescue. That the female was intellectually lacking seemed obligatory.

Generally speaking, all early films were psychologically devoid of anything remotely realistic, and those ones in particular (the rubber monster sci-fi variety) were likely only enjoyed by sixteen year-old boys who LIKED beautiful dumb women to scream, fall over and with a bit of luck you could see up her skirt. Perhaps the monsters were good, too, but only if they trampled on buildings or ate someone.

As for a rescue – well, I have nothing against a good rescue. I rather like a good hero, too, it’s just the screaming and the falling over part that got my goat when I was a kid. Dumb didn’t help, either.

And right here, right now, I shoot myself in the foot because for all of that, The Khekarian Threat has (shock/horror) Sasha, a bimbo if ever there was one!

Don’t yell at me about it – bimbos are people, too – I’ve even met some, although they didn’t have the Goddess proportions I gave lovely Sasha.

I could try and justify her presence – honest, she just evolved – but it might be better to point out that I at least I balance her fluffy-headedness with the cool and calculating Sevi (Khekarian), who’s an elite soldier. Jackie (Terran), as an ex-soldier, is pretty capable, too. Both are female leads. Both are smart.

I can also categorically state that Sasha does not – even once – fall over. The other two might, but only when they are fighting…

Oh, go on, click on the picture of the cover in the right margin. You can have a copy for $4.95 for Kindle, $19.95 for paperback, story-length 590 pages. Sex, nudity, action, fighting and – wow – Sasha, too. It’s worth it. Cheers! 🙂