This page consolidates three separate posts I made about how LotR can be turned from fantasy into science fiction. I think they show that fantasy is not about the subject matter, but about the way you tell your story.



I had an argument with Inferno some time back over the definition made by Orson Scott Card of what makes fantasy writing fantasy as opposed to sci-fi. Orson Scott Card’s position was something along the lines that sci-fi is literature that is based upon the rules of our universe. Personally, I think this is absolute nonsense. If this were true, then a science fiction novel based upon one understanding of the way the universe works would suddenly become fantasy if that understanding was later shown to be false. Many great sci-fi novels require faster than light travel/communication. Does this make them fantasy? Well, it depends...

I view the distinction between sci-fi and fantasy as being made by the style of the book, not the content. An author who creates fantastical situations, yet has also created rules and an explanation as to how this fantastical situation might come about, is writing sci-fi, not fantasy. The rules do not need to be possible given the physics of our universe provided that they are consistent and provide a satisfactory explanation for an otherwise unbelievable event. To prove my point, I present as my birthday mathom, a science fiction version of a section from “The Bridge of Khazad-dum”. I will give my additions to Tolkien’s original text in bold so that you can see what changes I have made to turn a resolute fantasy into science fiction.

Gandalf had hardly spoken these words, when there came a great noise: a rolling Boom that seemed to come from the depths far below, and to tremble in the stone at their feet. They sprang towards the door in alarm. Doom, doom it rolled again, as if huge hands were turning the very caverns of Moria into a vast drum. Then there came an echoing blast: a great horn was blown in the hall, and answering horns and harsh cries were heard further off. There was a hurrying sound of many feet.
‘They are coming!’ cried Legolas, whose hearing was able to detect the rumble of the approaching forces thanks to generations of rigorous selective breeding and forced evolution under the control of the Valar, who extended their lives long enough to perform their millennia long eugenics experiments by replacing their aged and failing organs with fresher specimens removed from the elves who failed to live up to their exacting standards. Eventually, under threat of rebellion from a small group of elves, the Valar retreated across the Sundering seas together with the elves faithful to their cause. While this seemed a victory to the rebellious elves at the time, those elves that remained in Middle Earth were now realising that the race was failing and groups of them were already beginning to follow their old masters to Valinor. Many of them would end up in the organ banks, this they knew, but at least something of the distinctive culture that they had developed in isolation from the rest of their race might be salvaged. Legolas himself had not yet decided whether to take the trip across the waters, and now he was unsure whether he would ever have the opportunity to take that decision, given their predicament. His comrades in arms were clearly also beginning to realise the desperation of the situation.
‘We cannot get out,’ said Gimli. Legolas looked down on his dimunitive companion and decided then that he wanted to live at any cost - to be immortal with his brothers. He would survive this day, and would travel across the seas with Gimli at his side. The dwarf would be consigned to the organ banks almost immediately, but maybe Legolas could exchange these sturdy body parts for his own life. Immediately he saw how Gimli could be persuaded to make the journey: Galadriel would ensure it and ensure her own safety as well as the safety of Legolas with one enigmatic smile. Legolas smiled down at his new friend supportively.
‘Trapped!’ cried Gandalf. ‘Why did I delay? Here we are, caught, just as they were before. But I was not here then. We shall see what –-‘
Doom, doom came the drum-beat and the walls shook.
‘Slam the doors and wedge them!’ shouted Aragorn. ‘And keep your packs on as long as you can: we may get a chance to cut our way out yet.’
‘No!’ said Gandalf. ‘We must not get shut in. Keep the east door ajar! We will go that way, if we get a chance.’
Another harsh horn-call and shrill cries rang out. Feet were coming down the corridor. There was a ring and clatter as the Company drew their swords. Glamdring shone with a pale light, and Sting glinted at the edges as the spinning, precessing molecules worked into the steel lined up and emitted the alignment energy as a soft blue light in the presence of the strong magnetic field exhibited by all orcs. Little did Frodo realise as he gazed at his glowing dagger that whereas the Valar had sought to improve the elvish race with a long term breeding regime, Melkor (and Sauron after him) had no patience for such a slow process. The Enemy had sought to improve the elves directly and took them from the light to their hidden caves where they were strengthened and improved by the direct application of strong electromagnetic fields. This process had left the elves, now orcs, changed in many subtle ways. The strong external fields brought to bear upon their flesh had set up permanent sympathetic fields throughout their molecular structure, giving them the magnetic presence that now gave them away to those holding the carefully wrought elvish weapons. The field also interefered with light itself, causing an unpleasant tingling for the orcs in the presence of any bright light, especially the sun. Yet these fields also made them stronger and as Boromir set his shoulder against the western door, he felt a tremble of anticipation in the presence of this mighty enemey.
‘Wait a moment! Do not close it yet!’ said Gandalf. He sprang forward to Boromir’s side and drew himself up to his full height, also drawing forth one of the many small pouches hidden amongst his long robes.
‘Who comes hither to disturb the rest of Balin Lord of Moria?’ he cried in a loud voice.
There was a rush of hoarse laughter, like the fall of sliding stones into a pit; amid the clamour a deep voice was raised in command. Doom, boom, doom when the drums in the deep.
With a quick movement Gandalf stepped before the narrow opening of the door, threw the finely ground mixture of aluminium and iron particles contained in the pouch into the darkness beyond and thrust forward his staff. The flint hidden at the staff’s tip sparked and lit the mixture, the aluminium burning fiercely in the presence of the iron filings. There was a dazzling flash that lit the chamber and the passage outside.

I hope you get the idea. Science fiction or fantasy is all about the way you tell your story, not the story you are trying to tell.



Then I posted this science fiction treatment of the power of the Ring. By explaining how it has the effect it does, rather than simply telling the reader that it has this effect, I think it crosses the boundary between sci-fi and fantasy.



Science Fiction version of LotR - the power of the Ring

Basically, I think the one ring is a telekinetic device. It absorbs the emotions of the wearer and those near to him. Emotion is nothing more than a series of electrical signals in the brain, and Sauron was able to tap into these in order to make a ring which absorbed the correct electromagnetic wave frequencies.

Now, it is a commonly understood principle in physics that you don't get anything out of a system without putting energy into it. The ring is an electromagnetic system at heart, and therefore it uses the electromagnetic energy of the wearer as its power source. As the Matrix films will tell you (they're not all bunkum) the human body generates an electromagnetic field. Putting the ring on your finger (or any other suitably sized appendage :) ) surrounds the ring in an electromagnetic field which the ring can use, and the ring powers up.

What is the effect of the ring on other people when the ring is being worn?

A person looking at the ringwearer sees nothing. Why? Well, what is your eye-sight except the brain interpreting the light received by the eye? It's commonly understood that the brain does a lot of work when doing this interpretation. Your eyesight can be tricked by what your brain "expects" to see, and the brain has been known to make things up if it thinks there is something missing. Read any book on optical tricks if you don't believe me.

Now, the ring absorbs emotions from those near to the ring wearer. So a person looking at the ringwearer will be experiencing a drain of emotion immediately surrounding the area occupied by the ringwearer. The brain will know that something is missing, but will not understand quite what that something is. The brain interprets this sense of loss by creating nothingness where the ringbearer stands. A blank space doesn't make sense, so the brain also creates an imagined scene behind the ringbearer which does make sense. Hence, the ringwearer appears to be invisible. The light from the ringwearer is still being reflected into the eyes of a person looking at the wearer, but to the brain, this light makes no sense, so it creates an image which does and fools the brain into thinking there is nobody there. Perhaps you could think of it as an emotional black hole...

This "sense of loss" or "sense of something missing" is very powerful. For those near to the ringwearer, there is a palpable sense of something missing, but the brain doesn't understand what it is. A sense of loss can be a very powerful emotion. It makes you unhappy, especially if you can't get a handle on why you are unhappy. Only the strongest wills, those least susceptible to loss of hope, will not feel that something in their lives is wrong and that they need something to fill the void. On a subconscious level, perhaps the brain realises that it is the ring that is absorbing these emotions and is causing the sense of loss. So it does not seem surprising that "desire" for the ring is the prime emotion felt by those near to it. If it is realised sub-consciously that the ring is the source of inexplicable sense of loss, then surely having the ring would mitigate those feelings. We must have it! We must have the precious! That these feelings occur on a sub-concious level just makes them all the more potent and impossible to ignore or resist.

What is the effect on the wearer?

We understand that the ring is an emotional absorber. Absorbing the energy of those around the ringwearer AND the ringwearer himself. Where does this energy go? It must go somewhere since energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It is delivered to the ring wearer himself, amplified by the ring.

One effect of this is to create a feedback loop. The emotions of the ringwearer are both absorbed and piped back into him in amplified form. Round and round these emotions go, building and building inside the wearer. To the uninitiated wearer, unable to control this effect, the tiniest thought can be caused to grow until it drowns out everything else. This is why putting the ring on out of fear does not make the wearer less fearful, but moreso. This is also why the ring is more powerful in the hands of a powerful person. Such a person will have arrogance in him, and the expectation of success. These feelings will be amplified and the wearer will become more and more convinced of his strength and abilities. He will then seek to dominate all those around him who he would see as insignificant compared to him. Bilbo saw the ring as a toy, and therefore there was a sense of joy for him when wearing the ring which was amplified: what could be more alluring the amplified happiness for a hobbit? Frodo knew the full story and was therefore always wary of putting on the ring. Because of this, he never keeps the ring on for long periods of time. Gollum's feelings of guilt at his murder were amplified to create the self-loathing, but his underlying joyful hobbit nature would have been amplified also, creating this conflicted desire to have and to be rid of the ring at the same time.

What about the eye-sight of the wearer? Well, the emotional content of those around the ringwearer is being absorbed. What is the brain of the wearer to make of this? The brains must know that those around the wearer are being preyed upon, and therefore everything becomes slightly dim, representing the loss that is being inflicted on others. The Nazgul, however, become very clear, and their true form is also shown. This must be because the Nazgul have little physical presence and are pure hateful emotion - they therefore seem brighter than other things, and their true form can finally be understood by the brain from the emotions that are being absorbed.

The ring has this effect of both taking emotion and feeding it back. However, it seems unlikely that when it is fed back into the wearer it will be the same as it was when it was taken. This would explain the draining effect that the ring has on a wearer.

How do you use the ring?

All that has been described above is the natural effect of the ring, without any guiding force being applied to it. The experienced user, such as Sauron, will be able to use these effects of the ring to his own advantage. One obvious thing that a wearer might be able to do is to change the focus of where the power in the ring goes. Aiming that power at someone as an attack against a foe, or to provide extra strength to a friend. Perhaps the experienced wearer could also control the emotions absorbed by the ring. Absorbing the desire to fight from an attacker to make them lose hope. Tolkien says very little about how the ring can be used as a tool, so it is hard for me to guess what uses the ring might be put to, or how the desired results might be achieved.

What about when the ring is not being worn?

We've ascertained that the ring needs power to operate. So, why does the ring have an effect on people even when it's not being worn? Well, just having the ring near to you (and your electromagnetic field) provides the ring with a limited amount of power, but not enough for it to be able to exhibit its full strength. This means that the ring has the ability to affect the bearer and those around him even when not being worn, although to a more limited extent. The earth itself generates a weak electromagnetic field, so the ring can never be entirely latent.

This means that the sense of loss and desire will still be felt by all those near to the ring, just on a smaller scale. The ring will not make anything invisible because not enough energy will be absorbed to create the "black hole" effect.

How to block the ring's power?

Simple. Place it in an environment without any EM fields. This is possible with current technology, but may not have been possible in Middle Earth, or perhaps the elves didn't understand where the ring got its power and simply viewed it as "unexplainable magic".



Finally, here is a post in which I have re-written the opening of The Silmarillion as a science fiction story.

AINULINDALË

The Music of the Ainur

There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar. He was the only one to survive the cataclysmic war that befell his race in the Prior Days. Of that great race of beings mighty in stature and terrible in the power of their thoughts, he alone amongst them was enlightened and lived to view the ashen and dusty Void that remained at their passing; and, finding himself alone, he gathered the dust that surrounded him and, mixed with his own genetic being, made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought made real by scientific endeavour, and they were with him before aught else was made. And he spoke to them, to begin their training in that which was to follow propounding to them themes of music; and they sang before him, and he was glad for they showed at least a small portion of his strength and talent and might be capable of his tasks. But for a long while they sang only each alone, or but few together, while the rest hearkened; for each comprehended only that part of the mind of Ilúvatar from which he came, and in the understanding of their brethren and of their own powers they grew but slowly. Yet ever as they listened they came to deeper understanding, and increased in unison and harmony. Then did the dusty Void around them first begin to shudder with the force of their sound, but only in small parts, and not yet with an overall motion.

And it came to pass that Ilúvatar called together all the Ainur and declared to them a mighty theme, unfolding to them things greater and more wonderful than he had yet revealed; and the glory of its beginning, during which the very structure of the Void itself shook with the power of Ilúvatar’s voice, and the splendour of its end, whereupon they saw that the Void had crystallised into new forms, amazed the Ainur, so that they bowed before Ilúvatar and were silent.

Then Ilúvatar said to them: “Of the theme that I have declared to you, I will now that ye make in harmony together a Great Music. This music shall form in the Void shapes and bring structure to the chaos. And since I have kindled you with the Flame Imperishable, ye shall show forth your powers in adorning this theme, each with his own thoughts and devices, if he will. But I will sit and hearken, and be glad that through you great beauty has been wakened into song.”

Then the voices of the Ainur, like unto harps and lutes, and pipes and trumpets, and viols and organs, and like unto countless choirs singing with words, began to fashion the theme of Ilúvatar to a great music; and a sound arose of endless interchanging melodies woven in harmony that passed beyond hearing into the depths and into the heights, reaching unto the very boundaries of the universe; and there it reflected with a great echo, resounding back through the dark places to interfere with the endless stream that arose from the core. Over vast regions the interfering vibrations of the music swelled to a rousing symphony and the very dust of the Void trembled and shook itself loose from its place, searching for those few and disparate places where the interference brought with it calm and stillness; and the places of the dwelling of Ilúvatar were filled to overflowing, and the music and the echo of the music went out into the Void, and it was not void for now the motes of ash and dust were gathered into clusters and groups; and rocks formed, and planets, and stars. Never since have the Ainur made any music like to this music, though it has been said that a greater still shall be made before Ilúvatar by the choirs of the Ainur and the Children of Ilúvatar after the end of days. Then the themes of Ilúvatar shall be played aright, and take Being in the moment of their utterance, for all shall then understand fully his intent in their part, and each shall know the comprehension of each, and Ilúvatar shall give to their thoughts the secret fire, being well pleased.