Context Changes: The most powerful ally of science fiction and fantasy – ever. By Immortal Angel

By Immortal Angel

Would you take the red pill, or the blue pill?

If you would take the red pill, you would definitely experience a context change.

A context change is a revelation which literally tips the world on its axis, and neither the character nor (hopefully) the reader will ever see their reality in the same way again. Taking the red pill thrusts Neo into the ‘real’ world, which is completely different than his former illusory world in the Matrix.

Classic science fiction and fantasy stories take advantage of these context changes in ways that are unique because they typically open up a new world that is completely different than the mundane, ordinary world we inhabit on a daily basis. Some great context changes:

When Marty gets out of the De Lorean and finds out he’s gone back in time. [Back to the Future]

When Dorothy exits her house and realizes the world is in color. [Wizard of Oz]

When Lucy goes through the back of the wardrobe to Narnia. [The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe]

This type of context change alters the external world, and that is usually to dazzle the reader. Throwing readers into the world of color, magic, or outer space gives them the enchantment they are looking for when they pick up a science fiction or fantasy book.

There is another type of context change, where you change only the character’s world, which leads to internal character growth. Examples of this:

“Luke, I am your father.” [If you don’t know this it will just be my secret.]

“You’re a wizard, Harry.” [Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone]

In The Neverending Story, when Bastian realizes that the Childlike Empress is actually talking directly to him.

When I first started writing, I intuitively threw in context changes, but probably not to the extent that I should have. The best science fiction and fantasy stories have a mixture of several external and internal context changes, so the author can dazzle the reader with their amazing world, and the characters can grow through different revelations.

In The Matrix, there are several context changes:

1.       When Neo takes the red pill.

2.       When Neo learns that he can control aspects of the Matrix, so he becomes more powerful.

3.       When Neo learns about viruses that hunt them, so the Matrix becomes more dangerous.

4.       When Neo is told he is The One.

5.       When the Oracle tells him that he isn’t The One.

6.       When he realizes he is The One at the end.

His context is continually changing and shifting in a way that is exciting and keeps viewers on the edge of their seats. It’s even better because it’s his decision and belief in himself at the end that paves the way for his final context change of becoming The One.

If you look at the most powerful science fiction and fantasy stories today, they take advantage of multiple context changes. If you have a series, there should be context changes from book to book. In my series of eight books about elves and cyborgs, there are context changes for each of the main characters within books. But in the overall series arc, there are context changes for elves which happen in books 1, 4, 6, 7, and 8. There are also context changes for cyborgs which happen in books 1, 2, 5, 7, and 8. Book 3 changes the timeline, and Books 4 and 8 have the largest context changes for the understanding of the villains.

So how do we think of context changes for our stories? This is where brainstorming comes in, and you can really let your creativity run wild. I usually sit down with my husband and a cup of coffee and we ask each other: What is the craziest thing you can think of to happen in this story?

For external context changes, you go through your world and ask what could change that would alter reality. Perhaps the characters enter another dimension or place. Perhaps they find some hidden knowledge. Perhaps a new technology is revealed. Perhaps the enemies morph into something different altogether. I still love it when a vampire turns into a bat. Seriously, that trick never gets old.

For internal context changes, you can go through your characters systematically and start asking how you can shake them up. How can we change the hero’s world? How can we change the villain’s world? How can we change two characters’ relationships  to each other? How can we add to the back story in a way that would change their reality?

Once you have your context changes, take some time to make sure that they haven’t been done before. You know how I check? My chiropractor. He loves science fiction and fantasy, and he’s read, watched, or played just about everything out there. If I tell him my idea and he says, “That’s just like. . .” followed by a movie or book and a detailed explanation, I know I have to go back to the drawing board.

Whatever you do, you can be sure that context changes are worth the time and effort it takes to plan them. They serve the same function as plot twists in action and mystery stories, and will add the extra sparkle to your science fiction or fantasy story that will keep readers coming back for more!

Do you have some great examples of context changes? Feel free to leave them in the comments below!

All the best and happy writing!

Immortal Angel

About the Author

Immortal Angel’s first true love was Han Solo – of course, that was before she realized she wasn’t really a princess. But from that heartbreaking realization came a lifetime love of reading and watching science fiction, fantasy and romance. Once she began to write, those translated into epic adventures that cross time and space, with a little romance thrown in for good measure!

Immortal Angel loves to hear from her readers, and of course, she wants to hear from you! Feel free to contact her by any of the methods below:

E-mail: immortalangelwrites@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/immortalangelwrites/
Website: http://www.immortal-angel.com

Alien Lessons by @LibbyDoyle9

By Libby Doyle 

Imagine you’re a miner in space, digging ore from the bowels of an inhospitable planet. An alien creature is stalking your fellow miners, burning them to a crisp. You’d want to kill it wouldn’t you? Of course, you would. But suppose it turns out you’re the invader?

All you Trekkies out there may recognize this as the plot of the classic Star Trek episode “The Devil in the Dark.”

The alien creature turns out to be a horta, a silicon-based life form. The miners had tunneled into the horta’s egg chamber and were callously destroying her progeny. They didn’t know the nodules they’d found were eggs. To make matters worse, the horta was the last of her kind, charged with tending the eggs until a new generation was born. Thanks to Captain Kirk and Spock, who mind-melded with the creature, the humans were able to learn all this before it was too late for the horta. The miners agreed to safeguard the eggs, and the horta agreed to stop incinerating the miners, even to help them.

“The Devil in the Dark,” is one of my favorite Star Trek episodes. I like its lesson – that our hatred of one another often stems from fear, ignorance, and miscommunication. In fact, one of the reasons I adore science fiction is what alien characters can teach us about ourselves.

Ursula K. LeGuin’s classic 1969 novel, The Left Hand of Darkness, used its alien characters to hold a mirror up to one of the most vexing (and wonderful) aspects of the human condition: gender.

Human male Genly Ai travels to the planet of Winter to entice its inhabitants—the Karhadians—to become part of the Ekumen, a confederation of planets. The Karhadians are a sexless race. To reproduce, they enter kemmer, which is like estrus in animals. At that time, they can turn either male or female depending on who catches their fancy. If they turn female, they can become a mother. If they turn male, they can father a child. After kemmer, they return to complete androgyny.

I love this bit, when Estraven, a Karhadian, asks Genly about women:

“Are they like a different species?”

“No. Yes. No, of course not, not really. But the difference is very important. I suppose the most important thing, the heaviest single factor in one’s life, is whether one’s born male or female. In most societies it determines one’s expectations, activities, outlook, ethics, manners—almost everything. . . . It’s extremely hard to separate the innate differences from the learned ones.”

And this passage isn’t the only one that makes you think. When Genly sends a report back to his superiors, he says: “The fact that everyone between seventeen and thirty-five or so is liable to be . . . ‘tied down to childbearing,’ implies that no one is quite so thoroughly ‘tied down’ here as women, elsewhere, are likely to be – psychologically or physically. Burden and privilege are shared out pretty equally[.]”

What a concept! The book is filled with these nuggets.

Now, you may say to me, Libby, this is the Science Fiction Romance Brigade blog, and you haven’t mentioned a romance yet! But I consider Left Hand to be a love story. Estraven and Genly face extreme hardship together, and love grows. When Estraven enters kemmer, there’s a spark of attraction, but their situation precludes romance. It doesn’t matter. This novel is one of the most profound depictions of love I’ve ever read, and Estraven is a total [expletive deleted] hero. Really, it’s beautiful.

The Left Hand of Darkness also touches on another theme near and dear to my heart, which happens to be where it gets its title. A religion described in the book believes in the unity of all living things, expressed in the precept: “Light is the left hand of darkness and darkness the right hand of light.”

I started writing my own books before I read Left Hand, and I was excited to discover this theme. My own Covalent Seriesfeatures the concept of Balance, the equilibrium of light and darkness, order and entropy, love and hate. I was inspired by yin and yang and covalent bonds, which are formed when two atoms share a pair of electrons to create a stable balance of attractive and repulsive forces. 

The hero of The Covalent Series, the alien warrior Barakiel, derives his power from Balance. His powerful enemies mean he needs his hatred. He needs that energy. Lucky for him, he meets the heroine, Zan O’Gara. She’s his left hand, the light that balances his darkness. He’s good for her, as well. His race, the Covalent, view sex as one of life’s great joys, casual or committed. For them, sex is never, ever a source of shame. Through her alien lover, the human Zan learns to throw off the shame of her past.

That’s why I love science fiction romance as a genre. All those opportunities for our cross-species lovers to learn from one another.

Libby Doyle is the author of The Covalent Series. To learn more, visit libbydoyle.com.