Illness struck Casa de Munson last weekend. I wrote my column on Friday evening, full of plans for the weekend. Saturday morning, Bryan woke up with a cold, and I had pulled my back out so badly that – by the end of the day – I couldn’t stand up, twist, or sit down without groaning. It hurt, and Bryan was sneezing like a good ‘un.
So, we stayed in as much as we could over the weekend, which meant that Bryan was bouncing off the walls by Monday morning. I wasn’t bouncing at all, as my back was still very sore. It was only Wednesday / Thursday of this week that things felt back to normal. I haven’t (touch wood) come down with my son’s cold. Silver lining …
I wanted to veer off onto a different tack now. As you’ll know if you’re a regular reader of this column, I’m a fan of the science-fiction and fantasy genres. One trope in both genres is that of parallel dimensions, and I’ve been fascinated by the concept of this for a long time – the Multiverse, in the parlance of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Every science-fiction series will have a slightly different explanation or name for it, but the principle is the same in every piece of fiction; there are a multitude of dimensions out there that sit right on top of each other and feature our lives as we would have lived them in different circumstances.
For me, I started work at a particular local authority in 2008 or so. That led me to make particular friendships, which led me to do my first walking marathon for charity a few years later, followed by many more over the next few years. But what if I hadn’t gone for that job interview in the summer of 2008? I’d have got a job somewhere else, that much is certain, but would I have made friends from work colleagues? Where would my career path have ended up? What would I be doing now? I’d still be the same person, but with over a decade of different experiences that might have shaped me in a different way.
In fiction, we’ve seen a lot of examples of parallel worlds. It’s a Wonderful Life – that lovely Christmas story – shows George Bailey a world in which he had never existed. In the High Castle is a really powerful example of the “Nazis win the war” sub-genre, and is really addictive. I loved watching the TV series Sliders when I was young, about four people being pulled into successive parallel worlds against their will. The early series were great, but became a bit off-the-wall as the series progressed. I don’t think I got to the end.
I became obsessed with the works of Harry Turtledove as a teenager, not least because he had an absolutely fantastic name. I was even more delighted to discover that it was his real name, as opposed to a pen name. He wrote entire series of books on alternate history, including the World War series (about a race of aliens which invaded Earth in 1942, giving a lot of insight into the changed priorities for both the Allied and Nazi forces), and another series about the survival of the Byzantine Empire. It’s addictive stuff, I promise you.
Parallel worlds are on my mind because of the story I’m currently writing, based – in part – on an alternate Earth where magic is an intrinsic part of nature. It’s fun for me to explore how life evolved on such a world, and how a world without magic is the odd and strange place to the humans on that world. At the core, most stories are about relationships in one form or another, and the relationships between these two versions of Earth is fun – and hard – to try and write.
This weekend, I’m going to try and get the things done that we didn’t get done last weekend; a visit to Board at Home, for example. My son and I are both fans of board and card games, so Sunday should be a fun day. Just no more colds, back backs, or any other illnesses please.
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