Dear Spacetravellers,

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Science fiction wars may feature alien armadas, planet-killing weapons, and battles fought across galaxies—but at their core, they are rarely about technology. They are about us.

Across the genre, sci-fi conflicts repeatedly explore the same deeply human questions: What do we fear? Who deserves power? How far will we go to survive? And perhaps most unsettling—what are we willing to become when survival is on the line?

Fear Is the True First Strike

In almost every sci-fi war story, fear arrives before the enemy does. Fear of the unknown. Fear of extinction. Fear of losing control.

Alien invasions often mirror humanity’s ancient terror of outsiders. The unfamiliar language, biology, or technology of an alien force becomes a symbol for existential dread. Sci-fi uses aliens not just as enemies—but as projections of what we don’t understand and therefore fear.

This fear drives preemptive strikes, extreme militarization, and moral shortcuts long before diplomacy is even considered.

Power Corrupts—Even in Space

Sci-fi wars frequently expose how quickly power consolidates during crisis. Emergency powers become permanent. Surveillance becomes justified. Civil liberties disappear “temporarily.”

Leaders in sci-fi conflicts often begin with good intentions—protecting their people—but slowly shift toward domination, control, and authoritarianism. The battlefield becomes an excuse.

These stories ask a haunting question: If humanity gains god-like technology, will our ethics evolve fast enough to handle it?

Survival Demands Compromise

One of the most compelling aspects of sci-fi warfare is moral compromise. Characters must choose between bad options: sacrifice a city to save a planet, abandon civilians to protect a secret, or cooperate with an enemy to avoid annihilation.

In Attack on Planet Falrus, survival isn’t just about weapons—it’s about what characters are willing to lose: innocence, trust, or even their identity. Like many great sci-fi war stories, the conflict forces characters to confront whether survival without morality is victory at all.

Civilians Are Never Just Background

Unlike traditional war stories, sci-fi often centers civilians—those caught between advanced weapons and political decisions they didn’t make. Entire planets become collateral damage.

This focus reminds readers that war is not just strategy and spectacle. It is hunger, displacement, trauma, and grief—scaled to a planetary level.

Sci-fi magnifies these consequences so we can’t ignore them.

Sci-Fi Wars Are Warnings, Not Escapes

At its best, sci-fi war isn’t escapism—it’s a mirror. By placing humanity in extreme future scenarios, authors strip away comforting illusions and reveal our core instincts.

Fear. Ambition. Tribalism. Sacrifice. Hope.

The question sci-fi wars keep asking isn’t “Who wins?”​
It’s “Who are we when everything is at stake?”

And the answer is rarely alien at all.

You would have heard of 'The Volcan Council' by Laurie Bowler from a previous newsletter too. Find out more about Benedict Tourus and how his life got turned upside down in the exciting thriller 'The Volcan Council'.

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Wishing you warm wishes for the new Year

All my love,

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Joanna