Interviewing MV Melcer
Hellooo!
I recently reviewed and was very impressed by Refractions by MV Melcer a fascinating SF set in deep space with a rescue mission that is filled with danger, betrayal and suspicions between its crew. I was very happy to have the chance to ask MV Melcer a few questions on the books which i definitely recommend!
How do you like to tempt Refractions?
Ah, that’s the toughest question ever. I’m the worst promoter of my own books. I’d say it’s a space mystery/thriller with a deeply flawed protagonist and big moral dilemmas. Does that sound about right?
(ETA: I’ve noticed that my answers below make it sound like it’s a Very Serious Book. Well, it deals with serious questions. But it’s also a mystery and a twisty ride – in spaaaaaace!)
What led you to having such a divided suspicious crew? What did you want to do with Nat in her role?
In a way, the first idea for the novel was a locked room mystery in space. We have a crew of strangers forced together by circumstances. The next thing I realised is that their mission would take decades of hibernation, over seventy years for the return trip. By the time they return, everybody they know will be old or dead. And that raises the question—who would volunteer for such a mission? What if they were all actually running away from their pasts, hoping their secrets will be lost to time?
And what if all their secrets were somehow linked? This gives the locked room mystery an extra dimension. And in the story I wanted to tell, the secrets needed to be related to the world, its politics and that politics’ impact on ordinary people.
The crew are all the products of their world, with its problems and prejudices—and so is Nathalie, the protagonist. She starts her journey focused on her own pain at losing her family, but as she is thrown into command (something she’s very much unprepared for), she must grow into her role and look beyond her personal pain.
Refractions is also very much a story of manipulation and weaponised prejudice, of people being set up against each other so they are too focussed on their infighting to notice who benefits from their discord. This is also Nathalie’s journey—first falling for the propaganda and misinformation, and then realising her mistake.
This was particularly important for the tension between the nations in the crew, given the animosities that follow them from Earth. We have a joint American-Chinese mission, set in a post-climate disaster world dominated by a “New Cold War” between the two nations. As bad news from Earth keep coming, and the crew descend into accusations and conspiracies, it becomes increasingly difficult for Nathalie to not judge her crewmates by what flag they carry on their chests. I wanted the reader to experience that manipulation with her and watch her come close to falling into the trap, falling into the trap with her, to realise how easy it is, and how it’s always a danger each of us has to watch out for.
The politics of earth have an impact here. How much of the backstory of the planet did you have to create prior to the main story?
I actually wrote several long pages of “history,” outlining the events that shaped the world decade by decade. This was useful for me to create a world I thought plausible as well as an additional reference for historical events the characters could invoke. As is usually the case, most of these events never made it into the book. Well, maybe there will be an expanded edition one day, and I get to throw everything into a dozen appendixes? ☺
The dangers of the conspiracy theory comes across in this story – what drew you to this theme?
::Waves arms:: Everything? We live in the world shaped by media and social media, when it’s becoming harder and harder to tell truth from lies and misinformation. People died sincerely believing Covid was a hoax. People vote based on propaganda pumped through tabloids and You Tube channels. Internet searches are becoming increasingly unreliable. Instead, we have book bans and attacks on minorities, because it’s always the easiest to blame “the other” for everything that’s wrong in the world. It will get harder still, even for those of us who consider ourselves unbiased and well-informed. It’s a trap that may spring on us at any moment. I wrote the book as a sort of “vaccine” that will hopefully help me see when I’m falling for lies and prejudice. If it also helps others, great. At least I hope they will enjoy the story.
What three words can you use for the next book in the series?
I’d like to say, “things don’t go as planned,” but that’s 1) too generic, and 2) not three words. So I’ll have to go with “back on Earth” or “after the message” – how does that sound?
What else can we look forward to from you in the future and where can we find out more?
The sequel to Refractions is scheduled for publication in early summer. After that, there are no firm plans. I have another novel with similar themes (but in a very different setting and far more distant future), so it may be the next one out, but nothing is confirmed as yet. For updates, please sign up to my (infrequent and irregular) newsletter (https://mvmelcer.com/newsletter). It’s the best place for the news about my writing and publications.
If there was one book, not your own, that you wish you could get everyone to read what would it be and why?
OMG, one??? That’s torture. But if I must, I will choose the book that brought me back to reading SFF. I used to read a lot as a kid/teen but then I went to study Literature and the Greats and that didn’t leave much space (pun intended) for the lowly genre stuff (\snark). And then I wandered into the long-not-seen section of a bookshop and remembered how much I loved sci-fi. And I picked up Look to Winward by Iain M. Banks. It was perfect—both for me at that time, as a reintroduction to SFF, and as an introduction to the Banks’ Culture. And everybody should most definitely read Iain M. Banks. Look to Winward is a good place to start.
