Exploring Cultural Clashes Through Sci-Fi and Fantasy

As human beings living on Planet Earth, by default everything we write – even the most imaginative science fiction and fantasy – mirrors our culture in some way. One thing I really appreciate about fantasy and sci-fi is the way these genres allow us to explore difficult social concepts, historical trends, and other complex topics in a way that’s comparatively safe and non-confrontational (because, after all, we’re dealing with an imaginary world and not levelling accusing fingers at anyone).

As I was writing Frozen World, my environmental science fiction series set in Antarctica, I was thinking a lot about indigenous cultures worldwide. I won’t go into specifics here, but we know that, as a rule, contact with Europeans has been devastating to so many indigenous people worldwide. From the civilizations of Mesoamerica to Australian aborigines, native people suffered staggering losses.

A question I asked myself was, “What if a completely new indigenous civilization were discovered today, in an era of (hopefully) more advanced ethics and greater cultural sensitivity?” – and this is one of the core questions I explore in Frozen World.

The key premise of the books is that there is a warm and fertile oasis in Antarctica, and this oasis hosts the ancient people of Anai, a stone-age type civilization that has built a harmonious and socially evolved culture. The U.S. government stumbles upon the Anai, and instead of encroaching upon this civilization in any way, it issues an official policy of preserving the Anai culture in its pristine, original state.

Of course, this approach is arguably better than an outright violation of indigenous people’s rights or taking over their lands. But as the plot unfolds, we begin to understand how this attempt to preserve living people as a type of Stone Age relic is also highly unethical and patronizing. Someone up there has decided that, for these people’s own good, they should have no access to modern technology, information about the outside world, or even life-saving medical care – the “do not interfere” policy leads to death when a native hunter sustains serious injuries that modern medicine could have treated.

Scott Buckley, one of the main characters of Frozen World, fights for freedom of choice for these indigenous people. They have the right to decide, he argues, whether they want to partake of the modern world, and to what degree. Free choice is a universal concept in just about any fiction genre, especially as it clashes with the plans and ulterior motives of high-powered people pulling the strings.

What I love to show through my books is how basic human patterns are ubiquitous, whether the plot takes place in Ancient Rome or on Mars. Greed, thirst for power, and the desire to control others are entirely universal, just as are love, selflessness, and the desire to be understood and accepted. At our core, we always stay human – and that’s a key message of many great fantasy and science fiction works.