Telepathy

I have always veered away from the concept of telepathy in both my fantasy and science fiction writing. Why? Because it doesn’t work in the real world so I can find no basis for it to work in a created universe.

Of course, I’ve found ways to get around that. There is ‘assisted telepathy’ in the Jack Mack SF stories (written as Oliver Davis Pike). That is, thoughts can be ‘read’ by a computer via sensors and passed on to another person by reversing the process. This requires being attached to relatively bulky units and is not generally practical. It is, however, the means by which jump pilots communicate with their drive computers when traveling from star to star, so I had to include the ability to use the process for human-to-human communication.

That does open up uses for the technology which I have yet to explore. Maybe someday!

Then there is the ‘talking afar’ that has been part of my Izan fantasies from the start. This is something wizards and gods can do, and is essentially sending a part of ones physical being to another world to speak with someone. To be sure, they also have to have this ability (although one can, if talented and powerful enough, send nebulous dreams to those who lack it).

This meshes with the infinite worlds (or universes) that make up existence. Some humans have the inherited ability to enter those universes — not permanently — and interact there. Gods, for the most part, can travel through them without much restriction, but that’s another subject. Gods can also send part of themselves roundabout through other worlds to peep into mortal minds via a sort of melding. That is, the minds or brains occupy the same space simultaneously. Just surface thoughts, mostly, can be ‘read’ in this manner, but it does give them the ability to pick up any language almost at once.*

That ‘two-minds-in-one-place’ is the closest I come to true telepathy, and it generally requires the cooperation of both individuals, and that both have the ability to enter other worlds. Yes, a truly powerful wizard might be able to force it, and I’ve gone that way a few times. It is to be noted that both will know each other’s mind when it’s all over, so it’s not always an effective way of learning someone’s secrets. It has, perhaps needless to say, definite dangers for both.

For the untrained, or those who do not know they have powers, all this can lead to madness. One ‘hears’ the voices of other worlds, with no knowledge of how to shut them out. The tragic (more or less) King Hara’a of the Malvern Trilogy is one such.

Although I could, in theory, drop telepathy into unrelated stories, I have chosen not to. As I said at the start here, I don’t think it works and I’d rather not make up pseudoscience to explain it. I am not at all big on mental powers of any sort. Telekinesis? Nope, but a wizard might reach through another world to move something. Precognition? Well, I have dropped in prophecies and explained them, again, as wizard powers. If one can send oneself to other worlds, one might — if one had the rare talent for prophecy — also seek worlds through time. Again, this is not a mental power but an actual physical phenomenon, a part of the body traveling ‘elsewhere.’

And not a bit of it has anything to do with brainwaves or electricity or any other of the usual explanations for telepathy.

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*For a long time, I chose not to tell how they knew languages but did finally provide this explanation. There may be just a bit of retcon to it, but it does fit with the other rules I’ve laid out in my world-building.

Mission Delayed

The new Jack Mack science fiction novella, MISSION DELAYED, written as Oliver Davis Pike, has its official release today. Here's where to purchase a print copy:

https://www.lulu.com/shop/oliver-davis-pike/mission-delayed/paperback/product-nvrr49v.html

Or go to arachispress.com for both print and free ebooks.

Speculative Fiction

Samuel Delaney has stated that when the term ‘speculative fiction’ appeared in the Sixties, it was applied loosely to experimental fiction, often with imagery derived from science fiction and fantasy. Perhaps we’d label that ‘literary science fiction’ these days. But speculative fiction, as a name, varied some in its implications over the years (and pretty much disappeared for a while) before finding its current definition as the broad swath of genres stretching from science fiction to fantasy.

I do see it as such a spectrum. What all the genre and sub-genre within speculative fiction share is a self-standing alternate world, with its own internal rules and logic. That differentiates it from realistic fiction, which follows the rules of our own world, and the surrealistic, which bends those rules of the real world — with little regard for logic — to jar the reader’s perceptions.

‘Magic realism’ is, of course, a form of surrealism (by these definitions) rather than speculative fiction.

Rarely do I refer to any of my work as speculative fiction, though I legitimately could. It can sound pretentious, can’t it? My science fiction is readily identified as such. The fantasy — despite most having rather strict science fiction-like underlying rules — would be regarded as fantasy by most. Those terms are good enough for me.

By the way, horror is sometimes included as a sort of speculative fiction but I don’t consider it a genre at all. I would call it a theme, that can be applied to almost any genre. Monsters are everywhere!

Work

Better

Yes, I do think I’m better than you
but I won’t say it out loud;
I’ll go about my virtuous ways
and quietly let you be wowed.
For I know I rise head and shoulders
above the common crowd;
my moral superiority
does make me rather proud!

Stephen Brooke ©2025

Indulging myself again with 'music hall' style light verse. To be taken however one wishes, as is all my work (and play, for that matter).

On the subject of work, the fourth Jack Mack science fiction novel, 'Blind Jump,' written under the Oliver Davis Pike pen name, is out today. Jack's adventures have been somewhat my focus this past year and that may continue a little while longer. Available from Arachis Press (arachispress.com) in print or as free ebooks.

The Short and the Long

More of my novels fall into the sixty to seventy thousand word range than any other. That is my personal sweet spot, I suppose. I am well aware publishers (these days) prefer a bit more length than that. I am also aware that many classic novels fall into that same range — or shorter. Some even slip into what some define as novella length.

I do not consider any of my stories to be novellas, at least as published. ‘Donzalo’s Destiny’ is, admittedly, divided into novella-length parts that are somewhat self-standing, though making up an overall story. My shortest novel otherwise is around forty-three thousand words; definitely above the novella cut-off.

Though a novella is, essentially, just a short novel — unlike a novelette, which could be considered a long short story. The border between the two is nebulous; by word count, somewhere around the fifteen to twenty thousand point. Depending just on numbers, however, is a mistake. The two feel different. The novella will be more complex in plot and character.

I just finished a story of some seventeen thousand and four hundred words. I consider it a novelette. There are two fairly straightforward plot elements intertwined and little more. Yes, I threw in some brief words toward a subplot romance but they are not at all essential to the narrative. Nor is any character other than the narrator really explored in any depth.

Kipling’s ‘The Man Who Would Be King’ is one of the great novelettes, at a little over fourteen thousand words. Again, essentially two plots — or one plot, as seen by two main characters. The conflict between their views of things pretty much makes the story. Everyone else who appears is not explored beyond their contribution to that story; we don’t know much of who they are, otherwise. Not even the guide, really, who is the strongest character beyond the two leads. His subplot is definitely subordinate to theirs. He could be discarded without changing the overall plot.

What am I likely to do with my own newly-minted novelette? Haven’t the slightest idea. It is set in the universe of my Jack Mack science fiction novels (written under the Oliver Davis Pike pen name), perhaps five or six years after the events in the one most recently published. I could just offer it as a stand-alone freebie. I could write another — or two — and put them together to create a longer book. Maybe both.

Either way, I should probably get to writing on something else.

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Incidentally, the movie of ‘The Man Who Would Be King’ is one of the few that truly does credit to its source material. Definitely recommended (and I’m generally not much of movie fan at all).

Also (not so incidentally), I put together a PDF ebook of Kipling’s novelette than can be downloaded for free at Arachis Press (arachispress.com). Or one can obtain a free epub from Project Gutenberg.

Soft Magic

I am not fond of ‘soft’ magic. All the magical events in my primary fantasy mythos follow strict, generally well defined, ‘scientific’ rules. They may be ‘rubber science,’ as the science fiction community terms such plausible but invented rules, but they remain constant. In that sense, my fantasy could be alternatively labeled science fiction.

Most fantasy has used soft magic over the years. And centuries and millennia! Stuff just happens without much explanation. Gods and demons have powers. Sorcerers cast spells. Names have power. And so on. You’ll find it in Tolkien. You’ll find it in Le Guin’s ‘Earth-Sea.’ That approach also spills over into science fiction when telepathy or the transferal of consciousness occurs, often without explanation. I assiduously avoid such things. Even at best, they become a crutch.

As can be soft magic. It’s far too easy to fudge what magic can do when there are no strict rules. Ultimately, having those rules requires us to think creatively about how to work with them. Rather like writing poetry in form; finding the words that work properly can lead us to new insights on meaning, point us in new directions. We will find no new roads if we don’t run into a few obstacles.

I might add that the rules of magic in my stories are also rooted in science (yes, of a sort). They are not just arbitrary rules that have no explanation — or ones that are, in themselves, soft magic. Sanderson’s work tends that direction. However, it is recognized in the work that most practitioners (even the gods, sometimes) do not completely understand the underlying reasons things work. Magic is ever likely to remain a somewhat empirical sort of science.

Desire

Desire is the basis of consciousness. Desire to feel pleasure, desire to avoid pain. Without these, a creature is but an automaton, responding mindlessly to stimuli.

The desire to be, however, would go hand in hand with self-consciousness (self-awareness), the recognition of an organism that it exists as an entity.

Could an AI ever be truly conscious? Could it ever desire anything in the sense we do? Could it hurt?

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This is a note I made to myself for use in a story, one of the Jack Mack sci-fi novels I write as Oliver Davis Pike. I would be likely to word it somewhat differently in a work of fiction.

Review: Incomplete

A review of the novel 'Incomplete' by S.I. Foote

Although ‘science-fantasy’ is not a term of which I am particularly fond, it does describe ‘Incomplete’ as well as any other. It could also be considered a superhero story of sorts; the ‘Nine’ are very much in the same vein as the X-Men, the Justice League, and so on. With their own unique quirks, to be sure.

Anyway, it’s pretty decent science-fantasy. Oh, sure I can find things to criticize. There are some plot holes and inconsistencies; e.g. why did Plan AZ exist when there had never been any problem killing a Rogue before? We have a ‘magic’ system that does not make a lot of sense, but does, for the most part, respect its own internal logic. There is quite a bit of reliance on coincidence to tie the plot elements together. A certain amount of slightly clumsy info-dumping occurs.

But the story holds together and is written well enough. Certainly interesting enough and entertaining enough to keep me reading and to get me started on the sequel. The characters are well realized and their actions are believable. They are people we can care about, sympathize with—even the antagonists. I can recommend ‘Incomplete’ to fans of speculative fiction and to readers in general.

More on the author and their books at: https://www.sifoote.com/

Alternate Realities

In one of H. Beam Piper’s science fiction stories of ‘alternate timelines’ (a frequent subject of his writing), there is a discussion as to whether an altered event would have little effect, with things canceling out over time and history getting back on an even keel, or make an ever-increasing difference as the changes spread outward from the original point of difference, effecting more and more of reality.

I will admit I believe the first of these; individual actions have little effect on a history largely driven by economics. People simply don’t matter on the largest scale. The names might change in the history books but history would sweep on along pretty much the same path. What could change history? Natural events, certainly—droughts and epidemics and that sort of thing. Again, those are ultimately economic forces (in the broadest sense of the word).

But what if we assume infinite realities? Then every possible outcome exists (if only in potential). History will go on as it did or change radically and everything in between, so there is nothing wrong with a speculative fiction writer imagining any outcome they desire. All should be equally valid. George Washington was assassinated and the United States went on. George Washington was assassinated and the US broke up into warring states. George Washington was assassinated and it prompted an alien invasion. Whatever world we choose to create.

But if we do, we should also pay attention to the underlying economics, to be able to explain why things changed. Even if anything can happen, we should know why!

Wonder, a poem

Wonder

I have pursued the sense of wonder
beneath the hurtling moons of Barsoom
and through the caverns of Moria.

I followed its tracks in jungles where
Mowgli and his brothers howled,
and on the shores of Gitche Gumee.

I once held it for a moment,
off the coasts of Treasure Island,
and voyaged on, to seek new worlds.

I yet hear it calling me,
calling me again to follow
across the hills and far away.

Stephen Brooke ©2024

Rubber Science

There is a fair amount of ‘rubber science’* in the three science fiction novels I have written under the name Oliver Davis Pike. The one SF novel with my name on it, the time travel tale “When Man Was Young,” avoids much science at all. I certainly do not explain how anything works, only a few ramifications of the fact it does work. The book was largely an excuse to write about Neanderthals.

But the ODP novels: those consist of the stand-alone “Alienese” and the two Jack Mack adventures, “Among the Many Worlds” and “Jumping Jack.” All include faster than light (FTL) space travel and various useful gadgets. I do not dig deeply into the science in “Alienese.” There is some mumbo-jumbo about teleportation, which is pretty much central to the plot. How does it work? No idea; it’s an innate gift for some species and others can follow the ways they open. It might be assumed there is some ‘folding’ of space or something of that sort. Other technology was kept sketchy. “Alienese” is ultimately a light, humorous novel and not to be taken too seriously. That is not to say it does not have a coherent internal logic. That is a necessity for any good science fiction. Or any good fiction, period.

The Jack Mack novels are another matter. There is plenty enough rubber pseudoscience to be found bouncing across their pages. I base a lot of it—without overdoing any explanations—on the use of ‘super-massive elements.’ They are definitely involved in faster than light travel. Whether they are used to create a ‘warp bubble’ or work somehow else entirely, I have left to the reader to decide. Indeed, the characters are not always certain how things work themselves!

Which is one reason I made my main protagonist, Jack McFee—Jack Mack himself—a bit of a technophobe. As in “Alienese,” there is a mental component to the FTL technology. Yes, that echoes the navigators of the “Dune” books a little bit. Not that Herbert was the first to use the concept.

However, the ultra-heavy elements thing does pop up with some regularity. It is the basis of all sorts of tech, including artificial gravity and dampening fields and such. And, of course, it is exceptionally valuable and the mining of it—primarily from collapsed stars—is essential to the economies of most of the ‘many worlds.’ I really do prefer to focus on culture and economics and that sort of thing; I readily admit it. Chances are I shall crank out more Jack Mack stories in time. Assuming I have time!

I must mention that all the books mentioned (as well as all my other published fiction) is available from Arachis Press (arachispress.com) as print editions or as free ebooks.

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*The term rubber science was coined by science fiction author Norman Spinrad as a term for "pseudo-science ... made up by the writer with literary care that it not be discontinuous with the reader's realm of the possible." Spinrad created eight rules of rubber science:

Explanations must feel scientifically correct and have internal consistency.

Principles used for plot purposes must be planted in the reader's mind long before they are used as plot elements.

Concepts shouldn't be over-explained; a theoretical basis is sufficient.

When creating a new science, authors should pay attention to how established sciences evolve.

Interfacing two or more existing sciences will create a plausible new science.

Plausibility can be lent by systematizing terminology and relating it to existing human knowledge by choosing words for metaphorical resonance.

Rubber science can be solidified with believable hardware.

Rubber science can "contribute to the dialectic of scientific evolution" as a tool for intellectually exploring the unknown.

(this explanation was largely taken from Wikipedia; read further there for more info)

Islands in the Sky

 

The first science fiction novel I ever read was ‘Islands in the Sky’ by Arthur C. Clarke. This was a young adult title that is more-or-less hard SF, published in 1952. I might have been ten or eleven when I picked it up.

It did not greatly impress me as a story at the time, yet I know bits of it have stuck with me. The ‘coffin’ space suits of my Jack Mack science fiction stories (written as Oliver Davis Pike) owe a definite debt to those in the novel. The technology is most of what I remember, to be honest; there didn’t seem to be much plot.

This was very early Clarke but he always liked to explore the engineering and science aspects in his tales. I don’t really have it in me to write hard science fiction, not that it keeps me from sprinkling some tech into my own stories. Only a little!

So when did I really discover SF that grabbed me? That would have to be the science fantasies of E.R. Burroughs a couple years later. I much preferred Barsoom to any space station Mr. Clarke might launch. And though I read a lot of science fiction in my teen years—most of the usual suspects—my tastes ran particularly to Jack Vance and Roger Zelazny and the like. Writers some might accuse even of penning ‘literary’ SF (not that such can be successfully defined).

Then I discovered fantasy and all changed.