J.R.H.Lawless – On Rise of Humor & Satire in Scifi

Science fiction is one of my favorite genres and I read it extensively. It’s only been recently when I have started to learn about the many themes that authors try to address through satire and humor in science fiction. I read Willie Handler’s book last year about Mars and Vincent Scott was over on Creator’s Roulette a couple months back to tell us about writing comedy in science fiction. Today I have another science fiction author, J.R.H Lawless on the series and I am super excited to talk about this rise in satire, humor and comedy that I am noticing in the genre.

On Scifi and Messages in Scifi

Welcome to Creator’s Roulette, Jay! Tell us what fascinates you most about the science fiction genre?

I love science fiction because it takes what we know about the world, and how the Universe works, and then project that into a “What If?” future. Every good science fiction book — like any good speculative fiction work in general — can be boiled down to one or more essential “What If?” questions. But unlike most other branches of speculative fiction, science fiction’s “What If” questions are always linked to reality and plausibility. As such, I think science fiction is the branch of speculative fiction which is most easily accessible to readers everywhere — especially when paired with other genres, and especially with humor.

Your book Always Greener is a satirical scifi novel, exploring themes of privacy in this age of technology. What inspired you to write this book?

I wrote ALWAYS GREENER when I was living in a little village in rural England, working from home and caring for our newborn daughter half the time, and communing to the French National Assembly in Paris, where I worked, the other half of the time. On the English side, I was immersed in the hilarious and satirical works of people like Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett. On the French side, I was faced with the reality of modern power institutions, and the personalities that go along with them, on a daily basis. In-between, I was doing a lot of drafting in airport bathroom stalls. ALWAYS GREENER and the GENERAL BUZZ series it’s the start of are the result.

What drew you to write it as a satirical piece?

I wanted to write a book that would appeal to a wide audience with its humor, but also slip in some serious food for thought about where our modern societies are, and where we’re going if we aren’t very careful. Satire is the perfect format for that. Plus, it’s horrendously good fun.

Are there other books that you have read which used satire in scifi?

There’s a long British tradition for starters, including Douglas Adams and all the Red Dwarf novelizations for starters. YEAR ZERO by Bob Reid is another good example of science fiction satire done well, just like Eric Idle’s ROAD TO MARS.

Why do you think satire and comedy are becoming an integral part of new books in scifi? What does scifi offer that other genres do not have to talk about certain themes?

No other genre but sci-fi satire would have allowed me to explore so many different future lives, let alone directly through the individual’s own eyes, thanks to the lens implants that are a mandatory part of the reality show at the core of ALWAYS GREENER.

The technology might be different, but the characters and the social power dynamics will be all too recognizable for modern readers, and that’s the core strength of satire and comedy in science fiction.

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On Personal Experiences and Interests

You practice law. Have your experiences as a lawyer affected the themes you like to address in your writing through satire?

My legal bent shows in all my works at some level I should think — some more than others, depending on the themes and subgenres of the novel. In ALWAYS GREENER and the rest of the GENERAL BUZZ series, which carries on this Fall with the sequel, THE RUDE EYE OF REBELLION, this shows in some of the corporate-speak.

You were at the WriteHive Convention last weekend and talked about Etymology during the book blub interview. Can you tell me about your passion for this field and how it grew?

A central part of my training in the French “Sciences Po” system was learning how to take any concept, however abstract, and boil it down to its basic elements (so you can then proceed to write a five hour essay about them). A large part of that is word origins, or etymology. Seeking the original meaning and linguistic building blocks of a word, particularly in order to trace the evolution and distortion of that meaning over time.

One of the upsides is that the original meaning is often completely at odds with the present day usage, or else words have associations or stories behind their birth that are absolutely hilarious.

How have you pursued this passion through your books?

A challenge I set out for myself with ALWAYS GREENER and the rest of the GENERAL BUZZ series, was to explore the origins of some of the more interesting words I ended up using, and reveal some of the humorous twists and turns their meaning has taken on the road to modern English use.

It’s one of my personal favorite part of the books!

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It was wonderful to talk to Jay! I hope you enjoyed this conversation too. Want to connect with Jay? You can find him on Twitter or his website.

Do you have any book recommendations for scifi humor and satire?

Cover  Photo by Jeremy Thomas on Unsplash