What would an alien society look like?

Toreni, Chet, and Jirra

I'm sure you all know I'm working on the WIP – Mystery of the Ice Warriors. It's set firmly in the Manesai (Morgan Selwood) universe, so I have to make sure that I stick with that society's structure. While the Manesai are evolved humans, they are a little bit different from us. They have better eyesight and cat-like eyes. They're stronger, suppler – and they have a rigid class system.

There are basically four classes:

• Mirka - These people are the leaders. Military command officers, presidents and senior politicians will be found in their ranks, as well as police.
• Vesha - Vesha form the business class. Merchants, traders, layers, accountants and the like. Some of them are very wealthy.
• Hasta - These are the technical people. Engineers, technicians, chemists, scientists, doctors.
• Shuba - The working class. Laborers, foot soldiers, farmers.

Genetic engineering has made it impossible for people from the four classes to create offspring with a member of another class. Manesai culture is heavily based on the Indian caste system. But even if it wasn’t, point a finger at any part of the world and you’ll find classes, castes, restrictions on marriage and the like. The daughters of merchants would marry the sons of other merchants. Princes married princesses. Common serving men didn’t bother lusting after the daughter of the house. Although, in male dominated societies, men in authority thought nothing of having a bit on the side with the serving wench. Marriages were (and still are) very often arranged by the families. And folks, this is still, by and large, true. I have simply taken one small step further in my science fiction and had idealistic genetic scientists make matches between classes childless. A place for everyone and everyone in their place. That’s sure to make for a peaceful society. </sarcasm>

Since humans are essentially tribal and we love to belong to groups, each class has developed sub-classes. Shuba are the foot soldiers, but one group was deliberately modified to make them bigger, stronger, more fearless than the rest. They are the Fleet's elite troopers who also fill civilian roles as security police and body guards. Admiral Ravindra is a member of the Darya sub-class within the Mirka. It is an elite group which produces most Manesai admirals. And the children of admirals (of course) tend to marry the children of admirals.

My three Morgan's Misfits are Jirra, who is a Hasta ex-Fleet engineer, Chet, who is Mirka and was a detective, and Toreni, who is elite Shuba. Romila, who they rescue from a raid on her shop, is Vesha.

I suppose I'm looking at the boundaries between people of different classes. In Morgan's Choice, Ravindra falls for a (shock-horror) ALIEN. But that opened up other questions. What happens if a Mirka man falls for a Hasta woman? Or A Vesha woman for a Hasta man? Or if two people from the same class have incompatible interests? Or if an arranged marriage is not to the liking of the two parties to the marriage? It's an interesting exercise.

In Kuralon Rescue Jirra is being pursued by a bounty hunter, sent after her by her parents, for refusing to honor an arranged marriage. Jirra, who's Hasta, is in love with a Mirka officer. Mystery of the Ice Warriors will explore a little more of the star-crossed lovers theme.

It has been fun developing a history for these stories. I'll confess that some of the folklore in these made up stories is loosely based on real history, or myths and legends. The Mirka temple MAY have derived, at least a little, from the cult of Mithras. Here's a little excerpt, and then I'll get back to the book.

********************

"What is this place?"

Sunil lifted his shoulder. "It's a temple."

"To what?"

"A Mirka temple. There are no gods, of course. Hardly anybody believes in things like that anymore. But the Mirka are warriors, first and foremost. This is a place to honor the dead and to gain one's courage. There's one on Mahanadi, still in use."

Of course. The Mirka temple on Khalas Island. She'd never been there. Women were discouraged. In the past they'd been forbidden. But she'd seen pictures of the interior, and she recognized the similarities. She ran her gloved hand over the altar, still polished smooth. "How old is this place?"

"It's hard to tell. But I think it goes back to the earliest settlement on this world. I spent a few days at the Central Library at Mahanadi trying to find out as much about this world as I could. It wasn’t always called Akhlut. That happened when everyone moved to the main town. From what I can piece together, the weather was much milder when the first people landed here, but weather being what it is, the climate changed. After I think about one hundred years this place in the mountains wasn’t tenable anymore. Akhlut is the name of an ice demon."

Romila nodded. "The cold drove them out."

"That’s right. And they've developed their own folklore. Ice witches that cause water to freeze, that sort of thing. And the ice warriors – the statues you sell – they keep the forces of cold at bay. But while the ice witches aren't real, as you can see, the ice warriors are. Or were."

Don't you love a series?

I admit, I love series of books. If I find an author I enjoy, a story I can relate to, as soon as I’ve finished one, I’m hankering for another book in the same setting.

Before I go any further, let’s define what I mean by ‘series’; a set of books set in the same environment, often using the same characters. The world-building has been done, it’s familiar. Sometimes main characters in one book might be bit-players in another but the reader has (probably) met them before and knows who they are. Here, I’m talking about books written by the same author. A good example is Anne McCaffrey’s Pern series which started with the dragonriders and expanded to harpers and then others as the demand grew.

Crime books starring particular detectives are a stand-out example of a series. Agatha Christie’s Poirot and Miss Marple, Sherlock Holmes, Adam Dalgleish, Inspector Banks etc etc etc. Grab me with one and you’ve sold me the lot.

I should point out, though, that liking a series by an author does not immediately imply I’ll like everything an author writes. Of course, there are exceptions. I’d read a laundry list if Terry Pratchett wrote it. But I have been disappointed. Ms McCaffrey’s ‘Talent’ books (Pegasus et al) left me cold and although I loved Elizabeth Moon’s Serrano and Vatta series, her award-winning novel about autism (Speed of Dark) was a dnf. This is not necessarily a reflection on the ability of the writers. At the end of the day, the contract made between the author and the reader inevitably includes the subject matter. I only bought Speed of Dark because Moon wrote it – but perhaps I should have looked a little more closely before I spent my money.

Which brings me to another type of series which is really a franchise. One of the most famous of this type is Star Wars. Since it expanded beyond the original three movies the Star Wars franchise has gone super nova. There must be at least one hundred Star Wars novels out – I don’t know, I haven’t counted. Here, the setting in particular, is as comfortable as an old pair of slippers. The characters are bit-players in a larger scene. Only the authors are different, which means, of course, the reading experience differs. I’ve read some very good Star Wars novels and some that were (imo) total rubbish. Anne McCaffrey handed on her Pern series to her son, Todd, also a writer. For me, the transition was not a great success.

And then there’s that last type of series/franchise that frankly grates on me. A lot of the Big Names such as James Patterson and Dale Brown have developed franchises. Their names are on the books in Great Big Letters. And underneath, you’ll find the by-line “with Fred Nerk”. Which means Fred Nerk wrote it. To me, that’s almost false pretenses. And I avoid those books.

A small plug for me. I have a couple of series myself. The Morgan Selwood stories, and the Ptorix Empire novels. I've put all four Ptorix Empire novels into a boxed set. You can buy it now, from Amazon only, for $4.99. It will be withdrawn at the end of the month.

How do series work for you?