Gary Hughes, Author of Alyen

Gary A. Hughes, author of Alyen: I want to do more than entertain, I want to teach, convince, and promote change in the lives of those who read my books. Ideas are dangerous, they have the power to overthrow the established order. A fearsome monster exists in our world, a thought-numbing, close-ranked mindset that permeates all of society. How do we destroy it? How do we even properly identify it?

Ultimately it comes down to two kingdoms, the earth and all of history being the battlefield. It encompasses all the wars, the struggles, the triumphs, and the pain of the human condition. It's far bigger than Republican vs. Democrat, Capitalist vs. Socialist, Christian vs. Islam, Liberal vs. Conservative, or any other dividing line we try to rally behind.

I love a good sci-fi story, but most have an attitude that makes them hard to enjoy. Woven throughout, from subtle to in-your-face overt, is a total repudiation of the Judeo-Christian God, worldview, and morality. It's a genre that lends itself to promoting any kind of oddball, half-baked lifestyle that somebody may want to justify.

But what about the other side? Can such a story do the opposite, demonstrate that truths are timeless and cause and effect don't change with a few billion years? Wouldn't that take all the fun out of it? Maybe, maybe not.

Imagine the bleakest, darkest, most disgusting scenario in the world and turn it around, bring good out of evil for a total, glorious victory. A young boy, publicly auctioned into a life of exploitation and bondage, captivated by his own notoriety and proud of what he's become, suddenly finds himself in a group of people who are the total antithesis of what he's been taught to view as important.

What of the society that not only accepts but embraces such behavior? Greatness made them what they are, but they haven't been great for some time now. What will happen as their selfish, affluent lifestyle unravels? Is right and wrong more than intellectual disagreement?

And how about making it into a really good story, where people have to make decisions and live with the consequences. We would like to meet some new friends, laugh with their joy and feel their pain. It helps make our own more bearable.

Are we preaching here? Well, maybe. Unless we can actually make a difference, what's the point? After all, the only thing we really know about this world is that we probably won't get out of it alive… More about Gary Hughes, here.