Fantasy/Sci-Fi Author Dawn Ross

This is a space opera. If you’re not familiar with the term space opera, it is basically just a story with a setting in space but with little regard to the technicalities of living and traveling in space. As such, my story is set in a universe where humanoids have populated several planets throughout the galaxy.

Battlestar Galactica is a space opera. There are some scientific elements, but it is mostly about a story set in space, not about what is or isn’t scientifically plausible.

I say humanoids, but they are all humans. They all have similar DNA. Most can intermingle, despite a few thousand years of isolation, while a few others cannot. Most humanoids are comparable in human qualities while others have distinct differences. There are cultural differences as well. Physical differences can be just as diverse as cultural differences, but one thing remains the same – they are all human in nature.

How is it possible that all these humanoids with similar DNA have populated the galaxy on numerous worlds, which are all amazingly similar to Earth? Perhaps the Earth man spread out to space generations ago out of necessity. They settled new worlds and lost their Earthian history in the process.

It seems scientifically unlikely for so many worlds in the galaxy to have the same gravity pull, atmosphere, rotation, density, orbit, etc. that make human habitation possible. Did their ancestors terraform these planets or was there a divine creator who set them up? The characters in my story may have different beliefs and theories on this, so forget the science of this story. Don’t get caught up on whether such worlds could exist. And don’t analyze the logistics of certain activities such as space travel, transporting, deflector shields, or other things. I’m not a physicist, astronomer, or a space engineer. I’m just a storyteller.

Firefly is another example of a space opera. After all, it would hardly be possible for multiple habitable planets to circle the same sun. The central planets might be habitable but the further planets would be ice cold.

In my make-believe universe, space travel is not only possible, it is relatively easy. It can take years to get from one portion of the galaxy to the other, but core of the inhabitants are merely months or even weeks apart. The centralized part is the Core Alliance. There are other alliances but the Core Alliance is the largest and, of course, central.

Although Star Trek might try to imcorporate more plausible scientific elements than other space operas, it is still a space opera. Some of their episodes are way out there.

Despite the advances in science, these humanoids suffer from what us humans have always suffered from – human nature – namely greed, malice, violence, hate, ego, etc. Sure, some races of humanoids are more enlightened than others. But they still have their own human flaws.

Star Wars got a lot of flack from the scientific community about what was and what wasn’t possible. Who cares? It is a great movie, space opera or not.

In our own history, figures have risen far enough above the ability of the average man in order to earn the title of “great”. They overcame adversity, did things that made positive and lasting changes for mankind, or stood above the rest in their righteous morality. It takes a rare individual to do such a thing.

Greatness of character is what this story is all about. In this story, or series of stories, I will introduce you to a character and take you through his life up to (and perhaps beyond) his moment of greatness.

Keep in mind, there may not always be a single definable plot. This is just a story. Call it rambling if you want. It doesn’t matter because I’m not writing this for the mainstream sci-fi geeks. I’m writing this for me, a sci-fi geek with her own space tale to tell. So stop by again next week for the first chapter in the Kavakian Empire.