How weird is it to experience another intellect? There’s nothing like it. It’s confusing, it’s busy and chaotic and overwhelming. There’s confusion, revulsion, denial, anger. There’s a drive to escape or strike out, but you can’t. It’s under your skin. You can’t run from it, and you can’t hurt it. It just is. It has to be.
At Confluence this year, I attended a panel on “7 Things Every SF/Fantasy Novel Always Includes,” which was, as partially intended, a good overview of things a speculative fiction novel needs: a fantastical element, solid world-building, history, etc. Mostly, it…