"Demigod" beings
Posted: 2006-06-04 02:47am
This is two-parter, as I'm considering throwing in a race of this sort in my fiction, but there's another avenue that would work just as well to justify certain events being set into motion.
1. Do you like the "uberwank" beings being in a story, and if so, why?
2. If you do, do you prefer them to be mysterious and "deity-like" or do you prefer that they be quantified at some point?
My answers, to start things off:
1. Sometimes - if there's a genuine point to doing so, and you're not just invoking "Intelligent Design"/deus ex machina to get an idea to work.
2. I'd prefer they be quantified at some point, with a history (usually quite a long one) that explains how they got from "non-uberwank" to "uberwank" status. Even if this is the case though, I'd prefer they fulfill the "jester" archetype of sorts - questioning the main character's view or something else rather than just doing the "Poof! You and your ship are now a whale and a potted plant" thing.
As a corrolary to my answer for 2., I felt that the Q in ST were an interesting idea, but very, very badly used and written, because quite a few stories about the Q involved them basically showing off, with rarely a visible reason.
1. Do you like the "uberwank" beings being in a story, and if so, why?
2. If you do, do you prefer them to be mysterious and "deity-like" or do you prefer that they be quantified at some point?
My answers, to start things off:
1. Sometimes - if there's a genuine point to doing so, and you're not just invoking "Intelligent Design"/deus ex machina to get an idea to work.
2. I'd prefer they be quantified at some point, with a history (usually quite a long one) that explains how they got from "non-uberwank" to "uberwank" status. Even if this is the case though, I'd prefer they fulfill the "jester" archetype of sorts - questioning the main character's view or something else rather than just doing the "Poof! You and your ship are now a whale and a potted plant" thing.
As a corrolary to my answer for 2., I felt that the Q in ST were an interesting idea, but very, very badly used and written, because quite a few stories about the Q involved them basically showing off, with rarely a visible reason.