{"id":5933,"date":"2023-10-08T00:02:24","date_gmt":"2023-10-08T05:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/?p=5933"},"modified":"2023-08-28T19:23:41","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T00:23:41","slug":"problem-solving-blending-satire-and-adventure-and-skewering-bureaucracy-dave-freers-prometheus-interview-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/problem-solving-blending-satire-and-adventure-and-skewering-bureaucracy-dave-freers-prometheus-interview-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Problem-solving, blending satire with adventure, and skewering bureaucracy: Dave Freer\u2019s Prometheus interview, part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here is the third part of the Prometheus Interview with Australian author Dave Freer, 2023 winner of the Prometheus for Best Novel for Cloud-Castles.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dave Freer (Photo courtesy of author)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Q: Are there common subjects or themes that you find yourself exploring and returning to in your different novels and stories?<\/p>\n

A: Problem-solving. Endlessly. That\u2019s what humans do best. It\u2019s our species selective advantage.<\/p>\n

Many animals are faster or stronger. We think our way out of the shit \u2013 that, often as not, we got ourselves into in the first place. We\u2019re not sheep. We don\u2019t need to follow, we can think, independently. I want to foment that.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Then there is the issue of preconceptions\/assumptions, especially about human mores<\/em>. I have repeatedly used the alien\/non-human point-of-view to show just how ridiculous so many of these ideas really are. The point is to make the reader think about things we take for granted.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Q: How representative is\u00a0Cloud-Castles <\/em>of your work?<\/p>\n

A: It\u2019s fairly representative of a section of my work. I think I\u2019m at 24 novels published and I enjoy experimentation.<\/p>\n

Books like Rats, Bats and Vats\u00a0<\/em>followed a not-dissimilar path of balancing satire with outright adventure. Onion-layer books \u2013 where each layer makes sense on its own are a goal of mine.<\/p>\n

Sir Terry Pratchett<\/a> was a role model for this.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Q: Are there some ways, in retrospect, that\u00a0Cloud-Castles\u00a0<\/em>was a departure (or a step forward) from your previous novels and earlier focus in sf\/fantasy?<\/p>\n

A: It\u2019s a slightly more overt Minarchist\/Libertarian reflection of my own points of view, but as always, my idea is for readers to enjoy the ride.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not a preacher, I\u2019m an opener of doors and a joker. I am more Eric Frank Russell<\/a> than L. Neil Smith.<\/a><\/p>\n

Q: Have any non-fiction books enlightened you or influenced the evolution of your own views?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A: I read everything. (I read very fast \u2013 a novel in a couple of hours).<\/p>\n

Yes, I have waded through Adam Smith (both The Wealth of Nations <\/em>and Theory of Moral Sentiments<\/em>) in my teens \u2013 which was probably a bit early.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If I was to pick on one book that I think people ought to venture on it would be Frederick Bastiat\u2019s The Law.<\/em><\/p>\n

Firstly: it is short and quite cheap; Secondly: it is quite easy to read; and thirdly: it makes extremely good sense.<\/p>\n

Q: How do readers and critics respond to your stories?<\/p>\n

A: I don\u2019t care if they agree or not. I\u2019m a trickster, a joker, not a high priest laying down unthinking doctrine.<\/p>\n

Yes, I am a skeptic. Scientists should be. Hell, humans should, unthinking following is for sheep.<\/p>\n

Q: You skewer bureaucrats in particular in Cloud-Castles.<\/em><\/p>\n

A: I have an utter loathing of petty bureaucracy. Of all the forms of government, it tends to be the most irrelevant and have the least gain, and be most damaging to individual freedoms and economic endeavor, and the key to repression.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the order from on high that affects your life \u2013 that is powerless without the bureaucrats, right down to the local level, eagerly scurrying to exert that power, without thought or responsibility.<\/p>\n

Q: How important is realistic world-building to your science fiction?<\/p>\n

A I strive for a logical, hopefully workable construct of things. People are illogical. Geology and economic practicality is not.<\/p>\n

Books where I find myself saying \u2018you cannot possibly sustain that many\/few people without xyz\u2019 throw me out. So I spend a lot of time constructing the background \u2013 from the geography to biology.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dave Freer on the beach in Tasmania Photo courtesy of author<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Q: You have a real connection to the outdoors. How did that develop?<\/p>\n

A: I grew up on the edge of the coastal bush, able to walk to the sea \u2013 I outgrew my childhood illness, and while I stayed small, reveled in the all the outdoor things I couldn\u2019t do as a very little kid. Diving with my older brother, going to the boat with the old man\u2026 hooliganing around in the coastal bush, it was idyllic in many ways. And I trained the local library into letting me into the adult section.<\/p>\n

Q: Where did you go to school and how did that shape you?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A: I got sent to a military-style boarding school \u2013 my father\u2019s school, about 500 miles away, which had literarily been started as \u2018for the sons of Officers and Gentlemen\u2019.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve read Kipling\u2019s Stalky and Co<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 you\u2019ve got it.\u00a0 It was like time travel a hundred years back \u2013 into the bleak interior, with toff kids I didn\u2019t fit with, who knew nothing of fishing or diving.<\/p>\n

Well, a rebel I came\u2026 and I am still the same.<\/p>\n

Coming up soon:<\/strong>\u00a0The fourth and final part of the Prometheus Interview with Dave Freer.<\/p>\n

Read the first part and second part<\/strong>\u00a0of the Prometheus interview with Dave Freer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE:
\n<\/strong>
\n<\/u><\/strong>* Prometheus winners:\u00a0<\/strong>For the full list of Prometheus winners, finalists and nominees \u2013 for the annual Best Novel and Best Classic Fiction (Hall of Fame) categories and occasional Special Awards \u2013 visit the enhanced\u00a0Prometheus Awards page\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>on the LFS website, which now includes convenient links to the full set of published appreciation-reviews of past winners.<\/p>\n

* Read\u00a0\u201cThe Libertarian History of Science Fiction,\u201d<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0an essay in the international magazine\u00a0Quillette<\/em>\u00a0that favorably highlights the Prometheus Awards, the Libertarian Futurist Society and the significant element of libertarian sf\/fantasy in the evolution of the modern genre.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0Watch\u00a0 <\/strong>videos <\/strong>of past Prometheus Awards ceremonies, Libertarian Futurist Society panel discussions with noted sf authors and leading libertarian writers, and other LFS programs on the Prometheus Blog\u2019s\u00a0Video page.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

*\u00a0Join us<\/strong>! To help sustain the Prometheus Awards,\u00a0join\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>the Libertarian Futurist Society (LFS), a non-profit all-volunteer association of freedom-loving sf\/fantasy fans.<\/p>\n

Libertarian futurists believe that culture matters! We understand that the arts and literature can be vital, and in some ways even more powerful than politics in the long run, by sparking innovation, better ideas, positive social change, and mutual respect for each other\u2019s rights and differences.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here is the third part of the Prometheus Interview with Australian author Dave Freer, 2023 winner of the Prometheus for Best Novel for Cloud-Castles. Q: Are there common subjects or themes that you find yourself exploring and returning to in your different novels and stories? A: Problem-solving. Endlessly. That\u2019s what humans do best. It\u2019s our … Continue reading Problem-solving, blending satire with adventure, and skewering bureaucracy: Dave Freer\u2019s Prometheus interview, part 3<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[36],"tags":[1999,1839,1841,104,1998,1040,29,1996,341,2107,1997,2000,2001],"class_list":["post-5933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","tag-adam-smith","tag-cloud-castles","tag-dave-freer","tag-eric-frank-russell","tag-frederick-bastiat","tag-kipling","tag-l-neil-smith","tag-rats-bats-and-vats","tag-terry-pratchett","tag-the-complete-stalky","tag-the-law","tag-the-wealth-of-nations","tag-theory-of-moral-sentiments"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pe8nGl-1xH","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5933"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5933\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6425,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5933\/revisions\/6425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lfs.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}