Vocabulary for Science Fiction or Fantasy Novels

In science fiction and fantasy, there is normally a cornerstone culture, central to the story, that is malevolent. It is oppressive of its citizenry, setting the stage for the rise of a hero, an avenger of the people.

There are two words to describe such a culture:

• cacotopia
• dystopia

Both words define a world that is the opposite of Utopia, or paradise: a world of deprivation, horror and exploitation. Usually the people are enslaved, if not physically, then through economics or some psychological method. Or earth changes, like  global coastal events caused by meteor strikes or the aftermath of world wars, have disrupted normal society and destroyed convenience systems, such as the electrical grid or banking. Whatever the cause, the new world order is a system that grinds those under its bonds to grist.

Now that your imagination is twisting, turning, leaping and bounding with images, get writing!

Oh, I Hope Not!

Venus transited the face of the sun recently. Amateur astronomers gathered, where weather permitted, to watch the event. Other planet gazers, the astrologers, also fixated on the event. Even the ancient Mayans noted the event.

In fact, the Mayans believed that whatever was happening in world events at the moment of the Venus eclipse would foreshadow the events to occur in December, at the end of the Mayan calendar.

A cursory search of headlines is bleak. The European economy is in tatters. Leaders seem unable to solve the nations’ problems. The union of nations, which has cemented peaceful interrelations for decades, is disintegrating. The bank crisis in Europe threatens to spread beyond Europe. China, the world’s new sovereign lender, is battling its own economic slowdown. China, Russia and India are clandestinely ganging up against the US dollar as the world reserve currency.  The mideast is forming energy alliances with Russia, by-passing historical contracts with the United States. China, Russia and central Asia intervene and discuss plans to stabilize Afghanistan. Banks and financial institutions the world over appear to be gambling with stakeholder assets without evident consequences to those making the wagers. Rather the depositors and taxpayers appear to sustain all the loss. There are less and less safe and solvent investments for individuals to use to safeguard wealth accumulation. Hyperinflation or deflation–either one is destructive. The weather is bizarre and affecting food production negatively. Water resources are inadequate for global need. Radioactive accidents in one locale spread to affect food sources of other nations. No one trusts anyone.

Does this all sound like the book outline of an international thriller? It would be a fantastic read. Maybe that’s it–the world is creating a new novel, not an uncomfortable future reality.

Oops. There I go smoking hopium again.