Dominic Flandry

Dominic Flandry, Poul Anderson’s secret agent of the far future Terran Empire, first appeared in 1951 in ‘Planet Stories.’ That puts him before James Bond, but the two arose from the same Cold War era and share many characteristics.

There is undoubtedly something of Flandry in my Jack McFee, protagonist of the three Jack Mack novels. As a teen, I read most of Anderson’s stories (there are quite a few) of him. Sure, there’s a bit of James Bond, too, but Jack is a much glibber and less serious sort than either, and more inclined to shoot off his mouth than his gun. One can find many examples of that type in literature, as well.

I could name, for example, Peter Whimsy or Simon Templar, except I had read neither when I first started with Jack. One might go to other science fiction authors, such as Vance or Zelazny, to find some of my inspirations. One could also look at Tom Jones for Jack’s relationship — or relationships — with women. The opposite sex likes him and he is rather too willing to reciprocate.

Yet remain detached. That is Jack McFee’s big flaw — every decent protagonist has one, you know. Without it, he would be something akin to a ‘Mary Sue,’ the character that is too competent to be true. He seeks that elusive connection to another, even while, perhaps, sabotaging it. At the end of the third Jack Mack novel, ‘Dim Distant Stars,’ he may have finally succeeded — or at least made a step in the proper direction.

I was just rereading that first Flandry story, ‘Tiger by the Tale.’ As most of Anderson’s work, it is written well enough to rise above the mediocrity of the average writer. It is really ‘science fantasy’ in the Burroughs vein. Definitely not ‘hard’ science fiction! Poul Anderson was really better at fantasy than SF, overall, and his best work (in my humble opinion, of course) often combines the two. He is also pretty much to thank (or blame) for creating the Chaos versus Order duality explored later by Moorcock and Zelazny and various lesser lights.

Some of the Dominic Flandry stories are available free from Project Gutenberg, as well as other Poul Anderson work. Maybe you’d like to take a look — but don’t forget my tales too! Available at Arachis Press in print or as free ebooks.

Plausible

I do not write ‘hard’ science fiction but I attempt to write plausible science fiction. That works best if I remain somewhat vague on details; that is, the more we attempt to explain things, the more likely we are to be wrong!

When Jack McFee claims his sidearm is constructed of a ‘carbon-beryllium matrix,’ it is a meaningless statement of itself. I give no further explanation as to what that entails but Jack does make an offhand assertion that it is difficult-to-impossible for sensors to pick up. All that is plausible if I don’t go further and attempt pseudo-scientific explanations.

Similarly with the various ships’ drives: I name some that are known today (such as ion drives) but only in passing as propulsion units no longer in wide use or only for specialized applications. But I do not explain at all the ‘thrust tubes’ that power most craft (including air-cars). Even while pointing out they come in more than one version, pulse-tubes and so on, and attempting to give a very rudimentary idea of what the differences are. I will probably never give any sort of details on the science behind the thrust tube, though there is information in my notes that may fill out my readers’ understanding in future books (as much of the technology I allude to in the novels, it is based on the use of ultra-heavy elements). They do not really need to know more, of course, but most SF readers like a little detail in their world-building.

Nor do I give any explanation of jump-drives, other than some quantum cliches and the suggestion that my folk of the future don’t completely understand the mechanisms themselves. At least, there does seem to be science involved, though the human mind also plays a part (though it’s not teleportation purely by thought, as in ‘Alienese’).

The best way to make science fiction—or any fiction, for that matter—plausible is to be consistent. Have reasonably clear-cut rules and stick to them. That I do attempt. I do fairly fully-realized world-building, both before and as I write, and if things do not fit, I will probably change the story before the rules. Definitely if the rules have already been stated in a previous book in a series.

As far as hard science-fiction goes, I’m doubting I’ll ever write any, under this name or another. I’m no scientist, though knowledgeable enough—at least about things that interest me.

(reblogged from the older site)

FTL

Anyone who has dipped into one of my books would be aware I do not write ‘hard’ science fiction. Which is not to say I write science fantasy—I do attempt to drop in somewhat believable technology and even explain it (after a fashion). This brings us to the question of faster than light (FTL) travel. Einsteinian physics assures us this is impossible and hard SF writers tended to work with that for a long time. Not all of them, to be sure; some ingenious workarounds were created.

I didn’t bother with much in the way of explanations in ‘Alienese.’ I simply posited a race of aliens who could jump anywhere in the universe by thinking of it. Other, not so gifted races could ‘follow’ them once they opened a way. That whole gift of teleportation is pretty much the concept around which the plot is constructed.

But I went with a ‘jump drive’ concept for my Jack Mack novels (‘Among the Many Worlds’ and ‘Jumping Jack’). This also required a certain amount of brain power, whether human or that of an advanced artificial intelligence. That latter is a fairly recent development; until recently, trained operators were necessary to ‘aim’ a jump drive.

The drive operates via an element of super-massive material, which brings with it a number of technical problems. Most notably, its gravity field—which is more or less what makes the drive work—can crumple a ship in which it is installed, if it is too large. Thus, there is an upward limit for how big jump ships can be. The mass (although they are typically a tiny filament) definitely has an effect on acceleration and deceleration. One doesn’t install a jump drive in a small fighting craft. It would make it much too slow for combat (but Jack pilots one modified so for a reconnaissance mission in ‘Among’).

Now do I get into all the ‘scientific’ explanations of how it works? Definitely not. There is an entire technology range built around ultra-massive elements in the Jack Mack books. They are essential to making just about everything work, and the mining and trading of them is a big factor in holding the many worlds together. I could see a much more insular society otherwise.

And one with less conflict. Several recent technological advances (such as the AI-controlled jump drives I mentioned) have led to the war in the first two books. In warfare, too, the peculiarities of the jump drive lead to certain tactics. For one thing, it is impossible to control where in a system one will land in a jump. A fleet is likely to be scattered throughout a system’s space, some closer to the sun, some further out, and likely enough to be on opposite sides of it. So we have small-scale raids, mostly, rather than invasions. Shipping is targeted, not planets.

It can also be mentioned that jumps become increasingly dangerous with distance, so most are from one neighboring system to another. The need to hop from system to system has its effects on military tactics. I do get into that in the books—and will undoubtedly continue to expand on jump drives and the rest of the technology in future novels. But faster than light travel is possible in them; that’s the central point from which all the rest comes.

(reposted from the older site)