Build Your Own Spaceship By Nir Yaniv Author of The Good Soldier
Have you ever attempted to build your own spaceship? Even if you haven’t, you probably have a gut feeling about which spaceship looks right and which doesn’t. Decades of science fiction, not to mention the space programs, saw to that. It can look like the space shuttle or the USS Enterprise or the Millennium Falcon or the Japanese Battleship Yamato from Star Blazers. It has a command capsule or a bridge near the front and an engine or five at the back. There may be pipes or corridors or access tubes. Some spaceships are more slick than others, but still, there’s not much to make them truly unique. So what does a science fiction writer have to do to create a one-of-a-kind spaceship?
To answer that, we need to ask three questions: What was this spaceship meant to be? What is it used for by the people running it? And most importantly: What is the focus of the society that created the ship?
For instance, some cultures would prioritize ease of use and comfort, with a healthy dose of automation and a slick user interface. Others may focus on robustness, at the expense of everything else. Etc. etc,
Which brings me to the ship I’ve designed for my new novel, The Good Soldier. The plot takes place in an alternative future, and our galaxy is ruled by a tyrannical empire derived from 19th-century Europe.
The ship – named UPS Spitz (United Planets Ship – yeah, I know) – is a light frigate. That answers the first question. Let’s skip the second question for now and jump to the third: what is the focus of society that created this ship:
Well, every piece of equipment created in this dystopian, fascist society is designed to leave control with the leaders of the empire and prevent any tinkering or misuse. And so the ship, the light frigate UPS Spitz – the initials stand for United Plants Ship (yeah, I know) – is constructed quite differently than anything else you’ve seen before. There’s no bridge of control room, because those imply, well, control. And as for the engine room… perhaps a quote would do best here:
The UPS Spitz did not have an engine room. While it definitely, according to the laws of both state and physics, had an engine, that vital part was designed to be as inaccessible as possible. It was cast into a solid sphere of some super-hard polymer, which itself hung in the middle of a graphene spider web inside a hollow, fortified space that consisted of the entire rear quarter of the ship, sealed with a combination of tough materials not only totally impenetrable› but also a tightly kept state secret. The only opening was for the main power supply shaft, which itself was similarly sealed and protected up to the very point it split into about a dozen immense cables, each, in turn, splitting into numerous thick tubes transferring power from wherever it was stored. The whole apparatus was remotely controlled, and even the control units were cast in tough security boxes, just in case.…The only way to fix the thing was total deconstruction and overhaul in a naval dockyard, Class A. This, as everybody knew, was a far-fetched scenario, especially in comparison with likelier incidents, e.g., the ship being lost along with its entire crew
Is it a logical design? Yes, if you’re a crazy tyrant. For the rest of us, it’s ludicrous. Which, I dare say, serves the point: that bad politics can twist logic on its head. This idiotic design fits the book’s protagonist, Fux, a stocky red-haired draftee to the imperial army, who declares himself to be an Idiot, Second-Class.
And what about the second question? What do the people on board the ship use it for? Well, in this case the answer is simple: the ship is their home.
This is just one example, and a rather bizarre one, of what can be done to create one’s own spaceship. It may be used, I dare say, to create other entities as well. But hey, you don’t have to take my word for it: go and try it yourselves!
Here’s a look at THE GOOD SOLDIER:
The Imperial Navy has long been at war. It is a well-oiled machine, a mighty galactic power in which nothing can go wrong.
Enter Pre-Private Joseph Fux, self-proclaimed Idiot, Second Class.
When Fux arrives on board the light frigate UPS Spitz, things immediately begin to go wrong. It’s not Fux’s fault. It never is. Accidents just happen when he’s around, despite the best intentions.
And as the always-cheerful Fux bungles his way through one job after another, he throws the whole ship and its orderly crew into chaos. No one is left unscathed: not the responsible and lonely Lt. Lipton, grieving for his lost love; not the mercilessly logical Doctor Nightingale, who may or may not be Lipton’s current romantic interest; not the overzealous Ensign Berseker, or the pompous political officer, Commander Kapust. Not even the hidden, monstrous Captain.
Knowingly or not, Fux is an agent of resistance, his blind stupidity the only sane response to the insanity of war. Something’s gotta give, and the tiny spanner-in-the-works that is Fux threatens at last to destroy the entire machinery of the Galactic Empire . . .
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Nir Yaniv is an Israeli-born multidisciplinary artist living in Los Angeles. He’s an author, a musician, an illustrator, and a filmmaker. He founded Israel’s first online science fiction magazine and served as its chief editor for ten years, after which he moved on to editing a printed genre magazine. He collaborated with World Fantasy Award-winning author Lavie Tidhar on two novels, including the “deranged sci-fi extravaganza” (per The Jewish Quarterly) The Tel Aviv Dossier, and his English-language collection he Love Machine & Other Contraptions was published by Infinity Plus in 2012. His most recent Hebrew novel, King of Jerusalem, was published in Israel in 2019. His short stories have appeared in Weird Tales, Apex, and ChiZine, among others. Nir’s musical career includes soundtracks for film, dance shows, and theater. His most recent work is the voice-and-drums animated album The Voice Remains (LifeArt Music, 2021). Nir has also directed several short films and music videos, both live-action and animated.
Website: www.niryaniv.com
Twitter: @TheNirYaniv
FB: www.facebook.com/nyfiction
Instagram: @nyfiction
BlueSky: niryaniv.bsky.social
Publicist: Mickey Mikkelson
