Sci-fi aficionados are well acquainted with the 1982 film Blade Runner. And most of those aficionados are at least aware (even if they’re not clamoring for details) that a sequel is scheduled for release later this year.
The official trailer promises an epic and faithful return to the world of Blade Runner. The effects are great. Harrison Ford returns. And the casting directors and producers did an excellent job picking Ryan Gosling for the new male lead. Even if Ford and Gosling only produce average quality performances, the end result is likely to be a blockbuster with multiple sequels greenlit.
Why am I writing about this now?
My upcoming novel series contains some similar concepts and elements to the Blade Runner world. My fictional universe has aliens, clones, and androids. My series features action and thriller scenes set in a dystopian future world.
And that got me thinking… Would my books be seen as knock-offs or copycats?
Science fiction is based on our understanding of the scientific world. As our knowledge changes, so do sci-fi tropes and conventions. But just as often, our knowledge and the sci-fi tropes remain consistent.
In the case of aliens, clones, and androids, science fiction has featured such concepts for as long as the genre has existed. In that respect, there’s nothing unique about Blade Runner (or my books, for that matter). What’s interesting and unique is how writers USE those concepts. In the case of Blade Runner, Ridley Scott brought Phillip K. Dick’s story to life to use some of those elements as a commentary on the nature of humanity. My books have a similar theme, but the execution is different.
Writers use words the way artists use paint and brushes, or the way sculptors use chisels and hammers. They all have an idea in their brains that they want to portray and communicate to the audience. For visual artists, the end product is a painting or a statue, or in modern times, a virtual reality demonstration. For filmmakers, the end result is a screen filled with brilliant images and compelling acting. For writers, the challenge is even greater. We must use 26 letters, arranged in varying sequences, on a flat page (either paper or digital), to string together sentences that work in the reader’s mind to create the visual world we imagine. We use words to paint a picture. We use phrases to sculpt the shapes.
It ain’t easy.
There are definitely examples of knock-offs that are clearly derivative and worthy of dismissal. And then there are those variations on tropes that show how a skilled artist can use the exact same tools to create a new thing worthy of examination.
Take GalaxyQuest as an example. At first glance, it’s a cheesy knock-off of Star Trek. But the moment you start watching that film with an open mind, you realize that it contains parody and commentary on not only the sci-fi genre itself, but the world of science fiction fandom, including the actors who portray characters in popular television shows and movies. The film makes us look at sci-fi conventions differently. It makes us think about the life of the actors after their series is canceled. GalaxyQuest makes us see geek culture in a new light.
Like any writer, my hope is that my books will convey my ideas in a way that entertains the reader while passing along my thoughts on a theme. In the case of the Steraxi Prophecy books, that theme is the nature of humanity and its existence on earth. Where did we come from? How did we get here? Have humans lived somewhere else? Is our concept of God in antiquity based on a divine being, or a being who was just technologically advanced?
And most importantly for me, even if we explain God as being an advanced technology, that just takes us one step farther back. If God was an alien, who created that alien? How did that being’s life come into existence? What created “life” in the universe? What created the universe itself?
In any event, I hope people give writers a break. Any time a big-budget Hollywood movie comes along, a writer who releases a novel with similar concepts is often branded as a sell-out looking to make a quick buck. In many cases, that writer may have been working on that book for many years, long before the movie even started shooting. It’s like the western. If I write a book set in the Old West, it’s going to have cowboys, horses, six-shooters, spurs, and high desert towns with gambling halls and brothels. And if I released a book like that on the heels of Unforgiven, someone could argue that I was just trying to make a quick buck. But tell that to Louis Lamour or Zane Gray.