two authors in conversation about dystopian and science fiction writing
Rie Lee, author of the dystopian novel Vessel, and Erik James Troy, author of the sicence fiction novel Icarus Dawns discuss the intersections of dystopian and science fiction writing and different perspectives on presenting post-apocalyptic themes, including individualism versus collectivism. The settings of both books invoke a sense of renewal in the wake of destruction. Lee’s is a renewal of community that leads to cult-like behavior. Troy’s renewal is a union crafted in spite of people’s differences.
RIE LEE, “Vessel” (Dystopian Fiction)
STAY OR LEAVE. DIE EITHER WAY.
In a ravaged world where survival depends on blind faith, true-believer Paige has one chance to escape an arranged marriage to a boy in her post-apocalyptic cult: by becoming its human sacrifice.
This role requires absolute purity, because the souls of her neighbors rest in her hands – but she’s starting to doubt her ability to deliver them to the afterlife. Not when she doesn’t know what to do with the inappropriate attraction she’s feeling toward another girl – her best friend, Mott.
When Mott and her brother get arrested, Paige finds her beliefs crumbling and faces two choices: hope that she’s pure enough to stay in the strict, zealous love their religion preaches, or run away from her idyllic community to the wastelands outside – to certain death.
... a piercing, beautifully rendered story of a young woman trapped between the demands of a rigid, post-apocalyptic society and her own awakening desires. A love story wrapped in a dystopian thriller tucked into a coming-of-age tale, Vessel hooks you immediately and moves with relentless, bristling tension toward its powerful conclusion. – Shawn Vestal, winner of 2014’s PEN Robert W. Bingham Prize and author of Daredevils and Godforsaken Idaho
RIE LEE (she/her/hers) is a recovering true believer. She's a little too obsessed with cults and almost definitely on some kind of FBI watch list for researching pipe bombs. She is an alum of the MFA program at Eastern Washington University.
ERIK JAMES TROY, “Icarus Dawns” (Science Fiction)
Humanity has survived over 500 years on a lifeless planet, but cities there are becoming overcrowded underneath protective domes. An ensemble of characters with different scientific backgrounds are tasked with uncovering the truth about what happened to humanity’s home world and venture light years into the middle of the untamed universe to a frozen Earth. Their ensuing archeological study holds many secrets - lost technologies, remains of animals that went extinct centuries ago, and long forgotten chapters of human history.
Under the frozen Great Plains of North America, a secret government research facility houses what may be their only hope for answers.
I have no idea what made me step away from my comfort genre and read this book. The book cover? The title? Both? Maybe the plot? I was getting interstellar vibes, and I had to pick the book up, and I enjoyed every single minute of it. – on line review
Born and raised in the Boston area, Erik James Troy went to school in Cambridge and moved to the town of Andover, MA for the latter half of his childhood.
After graduating from Pratt Institute with a degree in Film and Video, Erik made commercials and social media ads in the Boston area. During this time, he consulted with peers in defense, pharmaceuticals, and educational institutions in Cambridge, Massachusetts while he wrote Icarus Dawns.
Erik now works at Universal Studios and continues to write with the hopes of directing his first feature film in the near future.
FROM THE AUTHOR: Always a science lover, I began writing this novel while talking with scientists in the greater Boston area. Many characters in the book are based on these real people who have lived through real events. Their takes on morality, religion, and philosophy are interesting subjects that come up in the world of science.
To my readers, I would advise you to have an open mind and an open heart. Even the worst of villains have some insight to offer, and the best of heroes are never perfect.