An Interview with a Ukrainian Science Fiction Creator
An Interview with a Ukrainian Science Fiction Creator
Steampunk and the Latest Russia War
Join Intelligence Officer Brendan Sean Murphy as he voyages into space in a struggle for peace and his own sanity. My first novel Fallen is available for $0.99 digital and $14.99 on paperback.
Make Sure You Scroll Down to Find out about July 1st! And subscribe to make sure you don’t miss the July 1st post!
Talking Non-American Science Fiction
Science fiction has long been a tool for cultures to envision how they would evolve and examine and comment upon contemporary issues. As I consumed more science fiction in various forms of media and met other authors, I began to appreciate the differences and similarities of foreign science fiction.
Motivated to learn more, I am contacting non-American scifi creators to get their comparisons of science fiction from around the world. If you are interested in being interviewed or know someone who would be, please reach out to patrick(dot)abbott(at)gmail(dot)com.
See previous interviews with creators from Nigeria, Pakistan, and South Africa.
Interview with the Ukrainian Creators of The Will
The Will by Volya Comics is a Ukrainian comic book series that combines alternative history, steampunk, and zombies. I’ll let the trailer video explain it more.
First, the obvious: Ukraine has had two major wars against Russia in the last one hundred years (1917-1921 and 2014-present) as well as periods of occupation and sometimes peace; how has this complex history influenced The Will?
Of course this complex history has absolutely direct influence on The Will. The first war (1917-1921) gave us a base and the background for our story, and the second one gave us a push to create this story.
If there was no second war, I’m afraid we wouldn’t create The Will. It was our protest that was transformed into comics strips. This war gives us a lot of pain and sorrow, but at the same time it forces us to act.
Of all the genres to choose from, The Will is steampunk. What made you want to choose that form of speculative fiction?
The answer is very simple - the steampunk genre is very close to the historic time of our story. When we dug into the history of 1917-1921 years, we found so many strange and almost real ‘steampunk’ vehicles, battle trains and zeppelins. All these vehicles were real, but looked so steampunk that we had no other choice.
How does your Ukrainian background influence your story creation?
It has a huge influence. As we create stories that have some historical background, we have access for native historical sources. Some of such historical facts are unknown to foreigners. We can develop these facts, add some fiction and colors. And transform them into interesting plots.
The other aspect is that in Ukrainian classical literature there are a lot of sad stories about suffering and difficult life. That’s why we decided to create colorful and positive stories in contrast to this. We are adding some humor and of course a happy end.
How do you think Ukrainian speculative fiction, like science fiction and steampunk, differs from American and British speculative fiction?
It definitely differs. But because we almost don’t have a background of speculative fiction history, modern Ukrainian authors are growing up with American and British speculative fiction. They read it, study it and it has a big influence on Ukrainian speculative fiction. That’s why I can say that it differs, but it includes some particles of American and British speculative fiction as well.
Ukrainian science fiction sometimes uses Ukrainian and Slavic myths. You can meet their ancient slavic gods. I didn’t see this in American and British fiction. So Ukrainian writers sometimes use local knowledge that is unknown to writers from other countries.
With the steampunk genre, the situation is rather different. As it has a strong background of Victorian time, there is no place for Ukrainian myths. Ukrainian authors are projecting steampunk rules to our country of the 19th and early 20th century. This mix of classic steampunk rules and Ukrainian accent creates a kind of Ukrainian steampunk..
We have dwelt on differences, but what themes do you think are universal in speculative fiction genres like science fiction and steampunk?
I think that the desire to defeat an evil, to achieve justice, to save somebody or even to save the whole world is common to all nations and cultures. This is part of human nature. And this is a universal key to create a story that will be close and understandable to any person. That’s why I think that superhero movies are popular around the world.
On a technical level there are a lot of patterns that become “rules” for different genres. Like hyperjumps in a space, short dwarf and tiny elves, etc. Same to Steampunks rules. Ukrainian authors are not exception and they obey these rules.
What is next for you?
Recently we have made some tries in different other genres like cyberpunk, mythological fantasy, adventures in historical settings. But now we are going back to our roots. Right now we are in the process of publishing the third volume of our main story - TheWill. Also in development is a new project that will be a spin off of the Will. We have finished preproduction and started to draw it.
And of course we continue our series of Kings Will. We are trying to finish the 4th volume before Christmas 2024.
How can Americans and others read your stories?
Unfortunately we almost don’t have any comics translated to English. We do ship our comics to the US, but they are Ukrainian. We had one agreement for publishing of comics TheWill in the US, but unfortunately it still isn't released.
The only comic we have available in the US is Peremoga published by Tokyo Pop https://tokyopop.com/search?type=product&q=peremoha%20victory%20for%20ukraine
But this is not science fiction or steampunk. It’s a collection of fictional (but based on real facts) stories about the current war with Russia.
What else do you want readers to know about you, The Will, or anything else?
This is the most difficult question. I’ll try to write something about us.
We have started to create our comics since 2017. Our first comic The Will in Steampunk setting gained very high popularity in Ukraine and was the best selling comics for several years straight. Now it is published in 4 other European countries.
Comic The Will later was followed by the tabletop game and last year by the book.
We have created some other comics in different genres. Our series of comics King’s Will, about hamsters that thought that they are Kyiv Rus knights, was also published in other countries.
Now we are focused on our new comics and at the same time we are trying to bring our Steampunk comics worldwide.
Make Sure You Don’t Miss a Thing
Substack will remain my main outreach on major events. However, I am also active on Substack Notes and Facebook, where I post very short stories and other short musings. You won’t be missing anything major, but you can get more if you wan it!
Other Independent Book Promotions
Lenore: A Sci Fi Horror Tale by Eric Williford - Free Book
A modern science fiction re-imagining of The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe.
An Illicit Mercy by Brian Scott Pauls - Free Novelette
Infants in the Martian outpost of Basin have been plagued with birth defects for years—until recently. Corporate has dispatched Siwela and her team to find out why. What she learns will have profound implications for her job—and for who she wants to be.
Endless Seas: Never Meet Your Idols by John Champaign - Free Book
Captain Joseph Baxtor and his crew on the sailing ship Phoenix cross dimensions through underwater portals on behalf of 'The Pantheon', a collection of cultures each led by their own created god.
On their maiden voyage, they are sent to establish diplomatic relations with the El-Fax, a recently discovered, friendly culture. Rather than being the routine voyage expected, everything may not be as it first appears.
The Storm of the Eye by Dan Daetz - Free Short Story
When the Laggan United Defense force yanks novice fighter pilot "Thrower" Larsen off leave on his birthday, he's thrust immediately into action. Thrower joins an aerial assault against a band of Shadowers: scrappy rebels who love a good ambush in the dusky canyons of the Twilight Frontier. With his flight lead and commando force out of action, Thrower and his trusty gunner must go after a Shadower fleeing with a box of high-value technology. In the process, he receives a most unexpected birthday surprise.
Crown of the Gods (The Alex 9 Saga #3) by Bruno Martins Soares - Free Review Copy
Alex 9 has a new mission. But it’s not just Prince Jikard and King Gobbiel III who are in peril. The whole Kingdom of Brodom faces multiple threats. Back on Earth, Clayton 5, Kaoru, and Pierre Bach are faced with surprise after surprise as they start to reveal the role of Alex in the grand scheme of things. They will have to deal with a large enemy plot to undermine them. And Dael returns to Brodom. Will he be able to defend the Crown of the Gods?
It’s the 22nd century and the Corporate Wars rage through our Solar System. Alex 9, an elite commando on a crucial mission, finds herself in Deep Space. Something went wrong with her ship, and she ends up on a planet much like Earth – a world at war where Humanity is still in the Middle Ages. Armies of knights, bowmen, and spearmen clash as empires fight to death and alliances are stretched to the limit. But is Alex there by accident? A mysterious prophecy seems to have predicted her coming. And why is she in possession of the deadly Japanese Sword of the Dragon, once the prize of the Takahashi-McNamara Corporation? What secret powers are at work? In this new world, she will have to find a new family, a new mission, and her own destiny.
Until Next Time
Thank you for reading this newsletter post. Next time, I will write a coda of sorts to the religion and aliens series by critically thinking about the claims that aliens are demons (see previous editions of Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Protestantism and other Christian Groups, Islam, Judaism, the Dharma faiths, Ancient Religions, Theozoology and World Ice Theory, American Indian religions, and the Nation of Islam, Scientology, and Falun Gong set of 20th Century Religions). Then, a special early edition celebrating 1 July will be released. Why July first? You’ll find out! This early post will also have GIVEAWAY information for the Fallen audiobook and digital copies of Risen!!!
As always, please leave a comment with any questions, reviews, thoughts, whatever about Fallen, Risen, or whatever else I have discussed. I promise to reply!