Best selling science fiction books. Their promise

 

Best selling science fiction books. Their promise

Predictable and not at all predictable. 

This is how I categorise #scifibooks. If anything becomes predictable it no more excites us, but when it is unpredictable it fills us with a deep sense of longing, a feeling of wait, where we are very keen to know what next and how the plot or situation will develop further.

Perhaps that is why seasons are predictable but what each season will beget is not predictable at all. Because there is nothing like obsidian of seasons, where each day of every season is cast in a predictable mould of moments of time. It is this fact that makes life exciting and very inviting as well.

But everything in life should not be unpredictable. For example one's career, one's love life or married life, these parts of life need to be predictable. Including many other things. However, when it comes to the #scifi books, being predictable would ruin their appeal and no scifi reader would feel motivated to read them. It is the unpredictable element of best selling scifi books that makes them so successful.

And this is also one of the many reasons many #scifibooks fail to become the best selling scifi books. Because they are very predictable. None of the scifi readers wants to read a scifi book that reveals the entire story when he/she has not even finished reading the 15th or 20th page. 

Scifi readers are romantics by nature, they prefer a longer courtship with the plot of the scifi story, where one excitement leads to another, and every new curiosity reveals a new secret, and as these ripples of excitement and curiosity develop into many sequences curious excitements, the #scifi reader begins to enjoy this courtship with the scifi book. And by the time he/she is on the last page of the scifi book, the scifi reader feels sufficiently rewarded as the scifi lover. Whose romance with the scifi story led him to experiencing the passionate kiss of the science fiction.

All scifi books do not offer this excitement to the scifi readers, because they fail to develop a sensible and rewarding courtship with these scifi readers.

What goes wrong with these #scifi books that the scifi reader does not feel like entering into a courtship with their plots?

The answer to this question is both simple and a bit complicated too.

I believe an ordinary fact should be expressed in equally ordinary and easy to comprehend terms or words. But few scifi authors indulge in so much unnecessary adulation and exaggeration that they spend 80% of their vocabulary on proving that the ordinary fact is actually extraordinary. Whereas it should not be so. 

They should not spend any energy on painting the ordinary as extraordinary. Rather emphasise on the fact that the real and bigger fact that this scifi book aims to reveal is revolutionary and worth interacting with these ordinary and simple facts. Because the grand fact that the scifi book is about to reveal happens to be a mega compilation of many ordinary and simple facts. 

Then in the grand plot of the #scifi book, the author should use incremental stacking when it comes to the placement of these ordinary/simple facts, until they give rise to that grand fact; where the scifi reader feels excited to reach. So excited that he/she would do anything to get there, and know everything about it. The scifi reader feels so because the well planned sequencing of these simple and ordinary facts were able to develop into a dynamite of excitement that the scifi reader wants to deal with in its absolute climax- He/she desperately wants to feel this explosion of excitement within him/her!

And when the scifi reader feels he/she is almost there. The scifi author should use his/her best vocabulary to explain this extraordinary fact; around which he/she has created a web of simple and ordinary facts. 

If the scifi author can achieve this, the scifi reader would feel motivated to develop a romantic relationship with the scifi book. With time it will grow so strong, that he/she would dream about it day and night, because he/she would not only be wondering and thinking about one thing. “How exciting will this extraordinary fact be and what a grand explosion of scifi excitement it shall be!”

But if the scifi author uses most of his/her talent painting ordinary facts as extraordinary facts, the scifi readers will lose their interest in the scifi book because he/she would begin to think that the existence of the grand fact is a myth. At this point the scifi book will become a victim of its own bluff. 

It is this lack of judgement on the part of few scifi authors that prevents their scifi books from becoming the best selling #scifibooks. And those who use ordinary language to express ordinary facts, know how to hand hold the scifi reader into this courtship, where he/she is led from one ordinary fact to another. Where every fact is interlinked, but each fact offers a new clue about the grand fact  that the scifi book is about. And these clues about the grand and revolutionary fact, act like promises or reminders, convincing the scifi reader to keep on reading the scifi book, until he/she has not come across the promised grand fact, which is always waiting to be discovered by the serious and genuine scifi readers on the last pages of the best selling scifi books. 

And the scifi reader cannot experience this excitement if he/she directly reads the last parts of the scifi book and omits the rest of the parts. And here too, the scifi author has to be witty. And the best selling authors know how to do it with perfection! They never let the scifi reader experience any part of the grand excitement if they attempt to read the ending of the scifi book, without reading every page of it.

These scifi authors take a step by step approach when it comes to romanticising with the excitement of the #scifi reader, who is keen to uncover that grand thought, that moment of scifi kiss. And for it they will go to any extent. And in case of the best selling #scifibooks, this extent usually happens to be the range of all pages comprising the scifi book i.e. from first page to last page.

Only few scifi authors manage to offer enough motivation to the scifi readers who would do anything to complete the scifi book and experience its scifi kiss. 

And what is this motivation that forces them to enter into this courtship with the scifi book?

Motivating factors differ for all of us, when it comes to the same or different aspects of our lives. But when it is about reading a scifi book the motivating factor is almost the same for all of us.

But prior to explaining what motivates scifi readers to read a scifi book, it would make sense to know about the motive that the scifi readers have behind their courtship with the scifi book. And the motive is plain and very ordinary. Excitement!

Scifi books offer too much excitement because it is unlike any other fiction. It is fiction based on science that imagines a world or a technological possibility that no one else has thought about yet. It is new, it is pioneering, it is bold, it is adventurous, it is thrilling, it is unafraid and a lot more. All these attributes make scifi books exciting to interact with. Ok, now we know the motive- The excitement that scifi readers seek from scifi books!

What about the motivation?

Now that we know the motive of the scifi reader is to seek excitement. The scifi author’s motivation can be explained in one simple line.

“How does the scifi author promise this excitement to the scifi reader?” Simple and complex too. I know, but this is how it is!

It is this promise of excitement and how it is made or presented via the scifi book, that the scifi reader will either feel motivated to read the scifi book, so that he/she gains access to the excitement he/she is seeking. Or, the scifi reader will realise after a few pages that he/she is being offered no promise of scifi excitement that he/she is pursuing via the scifi book. And it will demotivate him/her, eventually becoming his/her cause to defect the author’s scifi world.

This is about motivation that the scifi author needs to generate via the promise of excitement that the scifi readers desire to achieve via the scifi book.

But, how and when should a scifi author refer to this promise?

This part is very critical, and if taken care of with attention to detail, the scifi book will be a best selling scifi book.

Promise. They say, he/she who is most slow in making a promise is the most faithful in its performance. Well that is very true when it comes to real life scenarios and when it comes to human relationships.

But it is not exactly the case when it comes to the relationship between the #scifi author who is absent, and only passively present in the relationship that he/she shares with the scifi readers. Via his/her book. The scifi book is his/her avatar that the scifi readers expect to act as if he/she were live in front of them as they read the scifi book.

Due to this paradox. The scifi author needs to offer the promise of final scifi excitement that the scifi readers wish to derive from every scifi book, in the very beginning of the scifi book. And then via each page build upon this promise and make the scifi readers feel they are getting closer to the fulfilment of this promise.

This answers the when part of the motivation that the scifi author needs to offer to all his/her scifi readers.

Now let us come to the how part.

Every scifi story is based on a plot with a scientific concept/idea being central to this plot. And revealing this plot in the initial pages of the scifi book will be impossible to achieve. But, it is for the sake of knowing this novel idea/concept that the scifi readers are reading the scifi book. 

Therefore, the scifi author has to create a few instances whereby he/she reveals a part of the concept without making the scifi reader feel ignorant. The concept should appear grander and exciting, but at the same time, it should convince the scifi reader that he/she already knows a little bit about it. And then surprise him/her by revealing a part of the idea/concept that none of the scifi readers knows nothing about. And this is what will get them motivated to know more about it. Not because they feel challenged, but only due to one reason. They feel proud they know about it already and want to confirm what is this new element or new dimension of the idea that the scifi author knows that they do not know yet. The scifi readers at this stage are entering into a competition with the author’s imagination based on their conviction that their creative imagination is at par with that of the scifi author. When this happens, the scifi author has won. And he/she is already a part of the best selling scifi book.

It has a magical impact on the scifi readers, because they board the train of scifi author’s thoughts; and onboard this train, they feel satisfied that it will lead them to the final destination called, “Scifi Excitement!”

And this is how a scifi author can motivate the scifi readers to keep interacting with his/her scifi book as long as they have not read its last page. 

With their need for scifi excitement fulfilled, every scifi reader will now claim that it is truly a best selling scifi book. And the scifi author could not have asked for more.

If you are seeking the ultimate scifi excitement with the bonus of scifi kiss, then you must discover the scifi book titled, They Loved in 2075. It is a romance scifi book of a different kind. Where a boy courts a beautiful girl, but due to her excessive interaction with self aware machines, she is unable to emote like humans. And thus begins the boy’s own journey to seek his excitement and his kiss from someone who does not feel 100% human.

While the boy tries everything possible to woo her, the world witnesses an unforeseen clash between humans and self aware machines. Where the world has got divided into three clans. One of the clans that uses quantum level processors and is highly advanced, wants to control the entire planet, including other two clans as well. 

But the other two clans launch an attack, and the world is caught in a war unlike any other war. 

And in case of this #scifi book the excitement lies in knowing who wins!

• The boy and the girl?
• One of the clans?
• Self aware machines?
• Or does the world end, and with it ends everything: the boy, the girl, the clans and the machines too?

There are many possibilities. To know what exactly happens, please discover the scifi book, They Loved in 2075.

Best selling science fiction books. Their secrets

Best selling science fiction books. Their secrets 

Less indifferent, more inventive, extremely innovative and terrific with creating a fictitious plot that rests within the pillars of scientific reasoning and a pioneering exuberance of ingenuity that baffles the #scifi reader. This is what a best selling science fiction book should be like, and this is what it should do to any scifi reader.

Now, let me first deal with the following attributes of a best selling scifi book:

• Less indifferent

• More inventive

• Extremely innovative

And

• Terrific with creating a fictitious plot that rests within the pillars of scientific reasoning and a pioneering exuberance of ingenuity

Less indifferent

Prior to understanding the less indifferent part let us understand how can a scifi book be indifferent. Because it is not a person with whom the #scifi reader can enter into a live conversation or exchange views.

Have you ever experienced a situation where you asked someone something; and instead of acknowledging your requests. He/she acts as if he/she did not hear anything and walks away. What you experienced at this moment is indifference from the person who completely neglected you. 

Now how can a book act indifferently or be indifferent? And not only that, also be less or more indifferent.

Trust me, a scifi book can be indifferent too, just like humans. And here is how.

When we read a scifi book, we first interact with words, then paragraphs, and gradually we develop an overview of the scientific thought that the scifi author is trying to communicate to his/her readers via his/her book. But, as we engage our mind with the pages of the scifi book; and we are past 5 pages. And still we are unable to gauge the contextual flow of the author’s thoughts, then the scifi book is being indifferent towards the scifi reader.

This interactive numbness on part of the scifi book emerges from the scifi author’s inability to form a collective pool of scifi readers’ likings and dislikings as far as their scifi related preferences are concerned. 

Did I complicate it? I think I have made it a bit complicated, let me explain it with more detail and simplicity.

Consider a hypothetical situation where a scifi author wants to write a scifi story around a rose- The flower rose I mean. Now, this scifi author cannot access the database of scifi readers who like roses and then exclusively promote his/her scifi book to them. ( Although nowadays such filtration of target audience is possible, and this in turn makes targeted marketing possible as well ) However, in this case it would be foolish because it would lead to lesser sales. As the scifi author will only be reaching out to 

those scifi readers who like roses.

Here we are caught in what I term as scifi writer’s enigma- A book where rose is the subject can only be liked by people who like roses. And is there a way to overcome this limitation? Indeed there is a way.

The scifi author has to be very alert throughout the book writing process. He/she should not mention names of flowers that many readers dislike. For whatever reason that might be. If the author is not able to achieve this consciously defined filtration then he/she is authoring a book that will be regarded as indifferent by many scifi readers. Because it failed to consider their likings and dislikings.

And this is exactly where the highbrow #scifi author applies what only few scifi authors possess as a quality, the writer’s discretion. The scifi author does not specify any flower like : rose, sunflower, dahlia etc. instead, throughout the scifi book, the author refers to the word “Flower.” And throughout the book every scifi reader happily assumes that the scifi author is referring to his/her favourite flower. But in the concluding part of the scifi book, when the scifi reader is very excited to know how the story ends, the scifi author defines this flower as “Rose'' or any other flower of his/her own choice.

If he/she is able to do this, he/she keeps all scifi readers appeased. Thus preventing the scifi book from being labelled as indifferent. And by specifying the flower in the concluding part of the book, the scifi author establishes his/her liking without appearing peevish to the scifi reader. And now, being impressed by the scifi story, the readers who used to like hyacinth, now may try looking at the rose differently and not indifferently! 

This is what a best selling scifi book should manage to achieve. Make the scifi reader believe in something new, without alienating him/her from his/her own likings; from what he/she prefers at personal level.

By specifying the flower in the end, the scifi author avoided being indifferent by applying well calculated forethought. Even if few scifi readers may find it slightly indifferent, they would always be able to convince themselves that the rose specified by the scifi author towards the end of the book, is actually a representation of their flower of preference. Because throughout the scifi book, the author deliberately used the word “Flower” and avoided using “Rose.” This realisation will always make every scifi reader establish a proper and active communication with the scifi book, and when in the end they realise that the scifi author was actually referring to rose, that does not hap;pen to be their flower of choice, would not feel let down at all. Because excluding the concluding part of the book, every other part of the book made them feel the scifi author was referring to their preferred flower.

And it is these authors who write best selling #scifibooks.

More inventive

We all keep imagining things, all of us. If few of us would say that they do not, then it is their imagination that makes then feel they are not indulging in imagining about things. Even the act of saying they do not indulge in any sort of imagination, is actually an imagination of their minds. Because the human mind is designed to imagine, to think what noone has ever thought; and then invent ways to fulfil these dreams in reality.

And when it comes to scifi authors, they have to be able to imagine more than the average imagination of the general scifi readers. And when the author feels he/she has imagined what nobody has ever imagined. Then the scifi author needs to invent the most conducive ways to realise these imaginations in reality by applying scientific reasoning to them.

This is where the main trick lies. The #scifi author has to first be sure he/she has imagined what nobody has even thought of. Once he/she establishes this fact, then he/she has to be extraordinarily inventive in order to make the scifi reader believe this is actually a part of his/her own imagination, and it can be achieved by applying the scientific realities proposed by the scifi author. When this harmonious exchange of imaginations takes place (  between the scifi author and scifi reader ) the scifi reader feels special, he/she feels valued because the author convinces him/her that his/her imagination is rich enough to be the part of scifi author’s grand scheme of imaginations. This is the magic best selling #scifibooks should be able to create. 

If via internet you access the list of best selling scifi books, you will come across many #scifibooks where scifi author's imagination about future technologies or scientific concepts is a reality today. Take for example smart phones, space walk, interactive screens, nanotechnology based body suits, flying cars, self aware robots, self driving cars etc. etc.

In early 90s all these technological realities of today would have been nothing more than scifi author’s works of imagination. But the conviction of scifi authors was so profound that the scifi readers believed in these concepts and even the community of scientists believed in them. That is why they are a reality today. And it proves nothing is as powerful as human imagination. 

And this is what I mean by being more or extraordinarily inventive. Being more inventive is impossible without being able to imagine more than average imagination.

Extremely innovative

Inventive and innovative are they different? That is a tough one to be honest.

But it has a simple explanation. 

You cannot be inventive if you are not innovative. Just like you can't love someone without being loving

And a #scifi author has to be extremely innovative when it comes to his/her imagination. The scifi author has to go around in the merry-go-round of infinite thoughts, to encounter imaginative bursts that eventually culminate into one super and superior imagination that has never entered the domain of any thinking being’s universe of imagination.

It is not at all easy, it takes a lot of mental steadfastness and grit of scientific character that is not willing to let go off the imagination that it believes in and wants to stretch it to the farthest limit on the thread of his/her logic. That finally gets woven into that grand imagination supported by the innovative thinking of the scifi author, whose mind is already breeding the thoughts that will lead to a highly innovative big bang- The birthplace of innovative inventions. Where this grand imagination will find its moment of tryst with reality. And it is then that fiction meets science like a perfect companion.

And now the scifi author with a resolute approach develops a grand imagination, while not eliminating from it micro imaginations of all his/her readers. Because if he/she does not consider this nuance of scifi book writing, the scifi author, as I mentioned earlier, will trap his/her scifi book, in the curse of indifference i.e. being indifferent towards the scifi readers’ likings and dislikings. By including moments of scifi reader’s micro imaginations in his/her grand imagination, the scifi author converts his/her book into the best selling scifi book.

   

Terrific with creating a fictitious plot that rests within the pillars of scientific reasoning and a pioneering exuberance of ingenuity

“A gripping plot that is supported by logic and pioneering ingenuity.” It is almost similar to being inventive and being innovative. But there is slight difference, similar to the difference in being inventive and being innovative.

I think now I have trapped myself. Because I better be right and define the difference well. Let me address it in parts.

• Gripping plot

And

• Pioneering ingenuity

Gripping plot depends on: Grand imagination, being inventive and being innovative.

Here grand imagination is the main propeller of the #scifi story. Without it nothing will move ahead, least of all the scifi reader. So, the scifi author has to weave a grand web of grand imagination, and then fill this web with knots of inventiveness and innovativeness. But these knots have to be carefully done. Make them too tight and the scifi reader will struggle to open them with his/her imagination. Make them too loose and the scifi reader’s imagination will slip through it, without feeling its influence. These knots have to be perfect, neither too loose nor too tight, so that the scifi reader’s imagination can flirt with them. And if the scifi book helps the scifi reader’s imagination flirt with the imagination of the sifi author’s grand imagination, the scifi book you are reading, is the best selling scifi book. No doubt about it.

There is no better way to explain “gripping plot.”

Now moving on to pioneering ingenuity. I believe all scifi authors are pioneers. But how many of them are ingenious pioneers is what matters the most. 

We all are influenced by someone, all of us. Children are influenced by their parents, by their teachers and of course by their friends. An adult at the office is influenced by someone in his/her office or someone he/she looks upto. This influence can be so strong in a few cases; that these individuals retain few of the characteristics of these influencers.

But a truly pioneering author knows how to not let these influences reflect in his/her scifi book. Because it can happen, that a highly renowned scifi author may not only have influenced not so famous scifi author who is writing a new scifi book, but his/her scifi readers as well. And if this not so popular scifi author cannot free his/her scifi writing from the influence of this renowned scifi author. Then for the scifi readers it will be more like reading the scifi book of this renowned author whom they idealise in the scifi genre; and not the author whose book they are reading currently. When this happens, the scifi book will fail to make it to the list of best selling scifi books.

However, the experienced scifi author knows what it is like living under the shadow of someone bigger than his/her own stature- A situation like the sun and the moon. Where we all know the moon borrows its light from the sun, but the authentic scifi author always attempts to be the sun and not the moon.

It is these scifi authors who achieve pioneering ingenuity. They imagine new scientific concepts which challenge and completely shatter every old and obsolete concept. Without failing to inject their grand scifi imagination as a replacement of these conventional and rusted concepts. 

And scifi authors who accomplish this milestone, develop a scifi reader base, that is like a fan-following of a superstar of scifi- Uncompromising and never budging in their loyalty towards their new, but now, their favourite scifi author. 

And it is done by scifi authors by displaying the courage to be ingenious in their thinking, while not being less practical too in supporting their theory with scientific arguments that cannot be ignored by the scientific community.

This is what I mean by Pioneering ingenuity. And a #scifi book that possesses Pioneering ingenuity is destined to be the best selling scifi book.

Now, there is a scifi book that is based on a similar, grand imagination and pioneering ingenuity. Because what appears to be an imagination in this scifi book, will be a reality in 2075. A reality for your children and grandchildren in 2075. This scifi book is titled, They Loved in 2075.

It imagines a world in 2075, where self aware machines have invaded human societies at an emotional level. And due to this invasion humans have lost their ability to feel and emote like humans. And when the world is witnessing an emotional crisis on a global scale, a boy falls in love with a girl who is unable to emote like humans.

To know how their romance progresses or meets a tragic end, read the scifi book titled: They Loved in 2075.

Although it is a romance scifi, set in the year 2075. When the world gets divided into three clans, and one of the clans wants to control the entire planet. They are super intelligent humans who use quantum thinking machines to develop new technologies and uncover new secrets of science. Yet the other two clans launch an attack. And they stand no chance, without the boy and the girl. 

What happens in the end? To know, you must read the #scifi book, They Loved in 2075.

PS. I personally endorse use of technology. Especially AI, ML and other technologies that will augment human intelligence and reveal to us secrets that we have chased for many centuries now. But, when it comes to AI and other technologies, being cautious and taking well measured steps is very important. Otherwise we may be seeking refuge in Noah’s ark that has a hole in the bottom. It may not mean anything while the ark is gradually sailing away from the last and disappearing shore left on the Earth. But once it reaches the centre of an abyss like water world, the ark is bound to sink. And that is what we should consider and think about!

Best selling science fiction books. What makes that winning difference!

 

Best selling science fiction books. What makes that winning difference!

The best indication that the #scifi book is the one you would like or prefer to read, is not the general buzz around it in the market. So what is it then?

The best scifi book should convince you to be a scifi reader forever, with a desire that is not grappling with abetment of any sort. When you read the opening paragraphs of a scifi book if you feel you are sailing on the calmest surface of the scientific thought that is willing to ferry your own thoughts into its bosom. And then at the deepest point, where the author’s thought elevates into a crescendo of imaginative prowess, if it lets you sink into its bottom where the currents of scientific wisdom drift you in the direction where the author wanted to lead your thoughts. Without letting you feel disowned by your own imagination. This is the #scifi book with that winning difference. A scifi book that has everything to keep the scifi reader completely drawn into its literary aura and scientific innovativeness.

And this entire process has to be slow, and so enticing; that you like riding these currents of wisdom, seeping into your every imagination until you feel like a scifi reader who is not reading words written by someone else, but you begin to feel every word is a portrayal of your own thoughts. A different version of your own imagination.

If you have experienced a similar feeling whenever you read a best selling scifi book, or just a least known scifi book, then you are the scifi reader who knows what scifi euphoria feels like. 

But all scifi readers are not so lucky. Either they never come across the right scifi book or they fail to understand that anything of this sort could even exist. 

So, who should be blamed for this tragic deprivation of the scifi reader? Where he/she never gets to experience the euphoric waves that reading an interesting scifi book can cause.

Should we blame the author or the reader? It has to be either of the two. But being judgemental may not serve the purpose here, because the author’s passion is to write and he/she performs it with a lot of dedication. And just like the author, the scifi reader’s true desire is to read a scifi book with dedication, and he/she fulfils it without any leniency. Yet, the scifi reader does not experience the enjoyment or the scifi pleasure that would excite him/her to such an extent that he/she would compromise on anything, but stop reading the scifi book that he/she is going through.

 In such cases, something is wrong somewhere. But what and where?

There are a few very likely suspects:

1- The scifi reader likes something else. Not what the scifi author is trying to express via his/her scifi book.

2- The author of the scifi book believes more in fiction. Therefore he/she tends to drift yonder from scientific realities.

3- The plot of the scifi story is simple, but the main scientific idea being proposed by the author adds confusing complications to the entire story, making it less palatable for an enthusiastic scifi reader.

4- The scifi author is unable to tap into the general IQ of the target audience. As a result of this ignorance he/she is unable to appeal to a larger audience via his/her scifi book. Thus subjecting the scifi book to scifi reader’s cavil, that in most of the cases is a well founded objection of the scientific views being expressed by the scifi author.

5- The scifi reader feels like he/she is being married to a concept that he/she finds too awry.

If a scifi book is conceived by the scifi author without attempting to overcome any of the above mentioned points, then that scifi book is not going to be the best selling scifi book. Because such scifi books are like a litigation, where there is only one litigant. And this single litigant assumes two roles: the accused as well as the one defending his/her innocence. Such a situation will always lead to mockery and unavoidable temperamental skirmishes. Because a litigation of this sort can never be resolved. 

The single litigant when acting as the accused will have to deal with different thoughts and realities, and when acting as a defendant, the same litigant will have to address different thoughts and realities. And there are many #scifibooks which get caught in a similar struggle.

Where the scifi reader feels his/her own thoughts and views about the proposed scientific idea are being accused by the author’s views and ideas. And when the #scifi reader perceives being subjected to this accusation, he/she immediately turns into the defendant, and that too an aggressive one. Because he/she feels hurt by the author’s passively accusative views.

The scifi reader begins to believe that he/she is being labelled as ill informed, or not at all aware of the scientific realities that the theme of the scifi book is trying to promote. And it is this scifi book that makes the scifi reader feel accused that is very unlikely to make it to the list of the best selling #scifibooks.

So, a scifi author has to be exceedingly cautious when writing a scifi book; and make every effort to avoid creating a plot or using words that the reader treats as accusations. Because the scifi reader feels that the author is challenging his/her knowledge. And in this monologue like litigation, the reader always wins and the author always loses. Because the reader can always choose not to read further. But the author has no such choice because he/she has already written and published his/her views in the form of the scifi book, that he/she hopes would be the best selling scifi book. But the author either forgets to treat the reader as his/her scientific accomplice or the author is too convinced that the reader will always believe what he/she is trying to express via his/her scifi book. This lack of forbearance on part of the author becomes the executioner of his/her every effort to impress the scifi reader. Therefore leading to the scifi book that will always witness the scifi reader as a single litigant playing two parts, the accused and the defendant as well. And it can be frustrating for any scifi reader.

But, that is not the case with all scifi books. At least that is not the case with best selling scifi books. They always manage to convert litigation-like situations into a dialogue and not a monologue. Where roles may flip, but there will always be two litigants.

Sometimes the author is the accused and the scifi reader is the defendant. And at a few occasions, the scifi reader feels like the accused and the author is cast as the defendant. And if a scifi author can create such a flow in his/her scifi story, then nothing can stop that scifi book from becoming the best selling #scifi book. Nothing at all!

Have you read Dune?

The magical and wonder drug, called the Melange. Is the main cause of interstellar war. Now a scifi reader might think, this is taking human imagination too far. Because how can a drug like Melange, enhance the capacity of thinking being’s minds to such a degree that their minds begin to think in different dimensions at the same time. And that too with the highest degree of accuracy and guaranteed output.

But the moment this question arises in the mind of the scifi reader, and he/she is about to enter into a litigation process, where he/she is about to evolve as a litigant playing both roles, that of the defendant and the accused as well. The author’s wit subconsciously counters this process of the reader’s transition into this aggressive and non submissive litigant. Because the well informed reader is instantly prompted by his/her mind about the effects of cannabis, weed and magic mushrooms ( famous as shrooms ) on the human mind.  

( Please note : I do not promote or recommend use of any of these hallucinating herbs/fungus/drugs because they can even kill. It is just used as a reference to improve the interactive flow of this blog post. ) 

Anyway!

The moment this scifi reader is reminded of magic mushrooms or cannabis, he/she pauses, thinks about it, and silently his/her mind confesses, “well, it is possible.” And the moment this realisation strikes his/her mind, he/she reads further. 

All scifi authors cannot achieve this silent dialogue with the scifi reader via a book that does not converse through the medium of speech, but only talks via words which are printed on the pages and cannot be altered to suit the mood of the scifi reader. And a seasoned #scifi author is able to prejudge these scenarios in advance, and comes up with subsequent lines or paragraphs that counter these situations. But it is a talent only few scifi writers possess.

Because when I read Dune, for a  moment I too thought how can a drug like Melange heighten the output of one’s mind? As I was dealing with this thought, my mind led me to the effects of magic shrooms and cannabis on the human mind. And immediately I continued reading further. 

The author had indirectly entered into a conversation with me and instructed me to think with a broader perspective. Because when it comes to science, anything and everything is possible. You just need the right approach, iron will and a lot of honesty along with strength of character. Then one cannot only terraform planets; one can even change the makeup of the entire galaxy, and create habitable zones in it. At least I think it is possible.

Now you know what a scifi author should do in order to retain the interest of the scifi reader. And he/she has to maintain this rule throughout the book. As for the scifi reader he/she should never refrain from taking his/her imagination a little further and allow the scifi author’s concept make some sense, without jumping to premature conclusions. Just like what I did when I read about Melange in the scifi book Dune. I probed my own knowledge and I finally concluded, it is possible. Had I been too adamant then I may never have been able to experience the euphoric waves scifi books can offer. And I say never, because Dune was my first scifi book, and if I had not been able to deal with the reality of Melange, I would have abandoned the scifi book then and there.

There is one such scifi book that carries a similar scifi punch. It is titled: They Loved in 2075. It is a romance science fiction, where the plot is gripping, the scientific concepts are exciting, the theme of the story is one you all can easily relate with. Because it is the scifi story, that can be the story of your sons, your daughters or grandchildren in 2075. If you care for them and you do not want them to live loveless and sterile lives in 2075, then you must try reading the scifi book, They Loved in 2075.

It reveals the unthinkable. A reality that shall not spare those alive in 2075. Especially those who want to feel human, express human-like feelings and emotions in 2075. And it is a potent reason to discover the #scifi book, They Loved in 2075.