Why Mystical Science Fiction? Part 2: I Like a Challenge

In Part 1 of this little trilogy, I outlined the three reasons why I chose mystical science fiction as the genre for the Sleight of Mind series instead of "just" science fiction and I expanded on the first reason.  In this segment, I'll explore reason #2: because interspersing mysticism and technology is more challenging for me.

Ordinary science fiction is about stuff that is easier for me to grasp and understand: technology, mechanisms, rules, and learning.

Of course, there are interesting decisions.  Do you extrapolate from modern scientific understanding or do you stipulate a paradigm shift?  Do you roll time forward, backward, or weave your story into history?  Are humans more advanced or less?  How has society changed as a result of these changes?  How much has society shaped technology?

Those are the same basic questions you have to answer in any book, story, or series.  They're good questions to answer and can produce a fun read.  I like to write at least as much as I like to read, though, so I want the story to be fun for me to create.

For me, a world in which things cannot always be codified scientifically is one that is far more challenging to imagine than one in which our species or another has just churned out another five thousand generations worth of improvements on various gizmos.

That challenge makes the story more fun to write.  How do I balance these two different kinds of forces?  That's hard.  How do I reconcile them?  That's even harder.

Like I said, I am not betting the farm on people buying this book.  I'm mostly writing it for me and I'm hoping other people enjoy it.   For that reason, I embrace the big challenge of this genre choice along with some other challenges that I have typically skirted; namely developing personal relationships between characters and exploring character's feelings.

Stay tuned, tomorrow is the first day you will be able to get Sleight of Mind for free on your kindle and also the day I explain why I think this subject is more challenging for you, the reader.