sci-fi

I’ve eagerly books_to_film watched and enjoyed many of the blockbuster films this year, including Infinity War, Solo, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and others. Still haven’t seen Deadpool 2 yet, but it’s on my list! I’ve also been watching Westworld and enjoying its complexity while I suffer the long wait till Game of Thrones returns in 2019 (and even longer wait for Winds of Winter).

It occurred to me as I examine book genre trends in the sci-fi and fantasy areas, that the popular trends in books vs. movies/tv tend to differ in subtle ways.

In film and TV, genre-blending stories are as popular as ever: e.g., superhero thrillers that span earth, space, and sea; blockbuster monster films (Skull Island, Jurassic World, etc.); technothrillers like Westworld, horror/sci-fi blends like Stranger Things, and so on.

In literature, at least in the sci-fi and fantasy world, sticking closely to a sub-genre and observing its tropes (while still aiming for a unique story) is the norm, with more defined borders around each sub-genre. Currently, space opera, urban fantasy, cyberpunk, and military sci-fi are all doing well. It’s harder to gain visibility in a crowded genre like action-adventure, for example, unless it’s a killer concept or an already popular author. And if a story spans multiple genres, it’s even harder, because the bookstores don’t know where to place it (and readers aren’t quite sure what to expect). This is why publishers always have the same battle cry, “Give me the same, but different.”

Psychological thrillers/mysteries are big in both film and literature, and in fact, many such novels are made into movies (e.g., Gone Girl; Girl on a Train; Woman in the Window; The Marsh King’s Daughter; Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; just to name a few). Oddly enough, most books in this genre are traditionally published, while the sci-fi arena includes a good portion of indie books.

One thing is certain. A story with great characters, a compelling premise, and a killer logline will have a much better chance of finding an audience in any arena. In the book world, if it’s an easily identifiable sub-genre, all the better.

As a writer, these are the things I tend to ponder as I plan a new book series. Either way, for me, the story comes first. If it doesn’t appeal to me or offer a set of characters I want to spend a lot of time with, it doesn’t matter what genre it is. But more on that later!

As reported on pop culture site Nerdist, YouTube channel College Humor has posted a hilarious comparison between Westworld and Jurassic Park.

This doesn’t surprise me in the slightest, as I’ve long said the two are pretty darn similar, especially with both having been created by Michael Crichton. After all, both are essentially about people trying to survive in a theme park with man’s creations gone amok.

Of course the video takes it ten steps further with a funny take on even more similarities, including the “old white-haired British guys” running the place. They even coined a new tagline:

Westworld: Jurassic Park, but with robot cowboys

For a more serious, but fascinating, in depth analysis of what makes the Jurassic Park formula work so well, check out screenwriting guru John Truby’s take on it.

When you think about it, there are quite a few similarities between Jurassic Park and Jaws as well (both films, of course, were directed by Steven Spielberg). A few years ago, I developed a side-by-side comparison of the story beats of both films. In an upcoming post, I’ll share it, but at the highest level they both involve:

Lead characters with a fear (Chief Brody hates the water, Alan Grant hates kids and parenting)
A temporary antagonist until the monsters take over (Mayor Larry Vaughn in Jaws, John Hammond in Jurassic Park)
Something gone wrong during the battle (the Orca running out of gas in Jaws, the electricity going out in Jurassic Park)
Increasing exposure to the monster(s) until the total immersion in the final third
Lead characters who get over their fears at the end (Chief Brody swims to shore saying how he used to hate the water, Alan Grant saves the kids and is cuddling with them on the helicopter)

And of course, you may know that Ridley Scott’s Alien was originally pitched as “Jaws in space.”

As the saying goes, there is nothing new under the sun.

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#screenwriting #Westworld #sci-fi

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