Lee Stephen

The website of author Lee Stephen

Epic

By

The Next Big Thing

Big thanks to Patrick Todoroff for tagging me to answer ten questions in “The Next Big Thing.” No beating around the bush, let’s get right to it.

 

1) What is the title of your next book/work?

I’m actually working on three things at the moment. The first, deadline-wise, is Crimson Dagger, a novella I’m writing for the indie video game Xenonauts, currently in production by Goldhawk Interactive. The second project, which is also my most ambitious to date, is an audio adaptation of the first book in Epic, Dawn of Destiny. The trailer for this project was actually just released and can be viewed here:

 

And the third project is the fifth installment of Epic, Enemy One, which has gone through a bit of pre-planning and is “in the queue.”

 

2) Where did the idea come from for the book/work?

I was always inspired by science-fiction. I grew up watching Star Trek and wasted countless hours of my life playing video games such as X-Com: UFO Defense. Military Sci-Fi was just a natural fit. The human condition has always fascinated me. It’s definitely something that drives me forward, fiction-wise. The imperfection of man is an incredible canvas.

 

3) What genre does your book/work fall under?

All of the above fall under military science-fiction.

 

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

EDIT: This question has been addressed in future blog entries! Check out the explanation here.

 

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Epic is the story of man who sacrifices everything to follow what he believes is a calling from God to enlist in a war against hostile extraterrestrial forces.

 

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I publish my material independently.

 

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

The first installment of Epic took six years to write. Right now I’m averaging a book every 2-3 years.I’d love to be a bit quicker, I just have an incredibly busy life.

 

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

In terms of overall feel, I’d probably say Black Hawk Down, even though that doesn’t fall under science-fiction. But I think the general feel of being in the trenches of an interspecies war is very similar to the raw brutality of BHD.

 

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I get inspired by things that happen in life. I know that’s a very general answer, but it’s the truth. So much more important than unexpected twists and gimmicky story elements is just writing about real things that happen to real people. It doesn’t matter if they’re soldiers in an alien war or neighbors down the street – everyone is going through something that other people can relate to. If you can tap into that, and if you can make people have an emotional connection to it, then it doesn’t matter what you’re writing. If people care, they’ll come along for the ride. So in that way, life inspires me.

I’m also inspired greatly by my religious faith. As a Christian, I find that most “Christian-themed” fiction often sugarcoats what a life of faith truly is, which is very, very hard. We fail more often than we succeed. I try to have that represented in my protagonists.

 

10) What else about the book might pique the reader’s interest?

It’s just fun. It’s a series that’s four books and counting. It’s doing things few other series do and going places few other series go, both plot-wise and in tangible areas, such as the audio adaptation of Dawn of Destiny. Military Sci-Fi with a touch of faith. You don’t come across that often!

 

The writers I’m tagging next are Robert Fanney and Raphyel Jordan.

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Does Faith Belong in Sci-Fi?

“I have nothing against Christian or Christian writers, but when I want a ‘Christian’ story, I will buy one. When I want military Science Fiction, that is what I want.”

“Pages upon pages of God this and God that … Oh GOD cut it out! If I want to be preached to, I’ll go to a sermon. When I read military science fiction, I want a good story, NOT a spiritual rant.”

“The main character had a fixation on the Bible. For no apparent reason he would start thinking about his ‘faith,’ question god’s ‘plan,’ do some soul-searching, then decide he is doing what god ‘wants’ him to do.”

 

Well…that answers that!

Not so fast.

The quotes that kicked this entry off, if you haven’t figured it out, are from selected 1-star reviews for Dawn of Destiny, the first installment of my Epic series (NOT representative of the vast majority of its reviews). The same sentiment can be taken from each: an unequivocal insistence that stories of faith have no business being in science-fiction. They are oil and water. Wheat and chaff. Teenagers and turn signals. So the question remains. Does faith belong in science-fiction?

My answer is unabashedly, wholeheartedly, yes.

Now before some of you get all crazy on me, take a moment to understand the statement you just read. It did not say, “To not advocate [insert any name of any religion] is to fail.” Nor did it read, “To say that God is not real is to fail.” Take a look at the fundamental basis of the originally-proposed question. Does faith belong in sci-fi?

According to a 2011 survey, 51% of the global population has a belief in God, with varying percentages falling under such options as, “believes in an afterlife,” or “undecided.” Only 18% classify themselves as “not religious.” Bear in mind, “not religious” does not equal “atheist.” It simply means “not religious.”

Faith is real. That is not to argue that it is correct, or proper, or in need of emphasis. It is simply to state what it states. Faith – the human belief in some sort of Almighty – is real.

This is really just touching on something that has become somewhat of a passion point for me lately: the mindset that the word “God” should never appear in any sort of science-fiction (unless it’s followed by an expletive). Characters who seem real should appear in science-fiction, and if characters who seem real should appear in science-fiction, then characters of faith should appear, as well. That’s not an opinion. Unless your protagonist is an atheist who will have zero contact with any other human throughout the course of your story, or the full length of the narrative takes place at an atheists’ convention, then faith must appear to some extent to capture the essence what we should strive for: realism..

Obviously the question still remains, to what extent should faith exist in a science-fiction story? And the answer is, “whatever you want.” Including faith does not mean pushing it. It does not mean leaving footnotes to Bible verses. It doesn’t even mean making the person of faith the hero (heroes are heroes, religious or atheist). But it shouldn’t be ignored. It exists, in the same way that atheism exists, in the same way that agnosticism exists, in the same way that this whacked-out kid who married a cow ( http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/830794-man-forced-to-marry-cow-faints-at-wedding ) exists.

Me, personally? I’m not a fan of laying it on thickly. In spite of what the reviewers at the top of this entry think they read (I’m fairly certain it wasn’t my book), my preference for faith inclusion leans toward light and subtle. Because isn’t that how most of us are, most of the time, with everything we do? Realism is captured in subtleties. Now, the faith element of Epic and in particular in Scott Remington – my protagonist – is absolutely there, and I make zero apologies. But we – and particularly the owners of the quotes that kicked off this entry – make a mistake when we view “there” as “preaching.” We make a mistake when we don’t want faith present at all. We might as well marry a cow.

Okay, so that last line didn’t make sense. But just the same…what the heck was that kid thinking?