I - Incognito

*Mission Impossible theme!*

Sodium pentathol. Or truth serum. Or honesty potion. Spies, double agents, unfaithful viziers, messenger units with illegally partitioned hard drives.

This kind of thing is why spies and their ilk fit so well into sci-fi and fantasy. Sure, regular spies and such are all well and good, but imagine how much harder it is when the spy you’re searching for can meld into the shadows, or how much more dangerous if they can have their personality, experiences, and intelligence downloaded into a stronger body.

While I’m always a big supporter of mixing genres, it occurs to me that anything dealing with subterfuge—whether it be crime, spy stories, courtroom drama, or police procedural—would work better than most other things combined with sci-fi/fantasy.

Of course, I’m always preferential to SF/F, so that could just be my bias talking. But with completely silent laser guns or cursed spiders with venom that kills instantly…how does that not play into any assassination plot you could come up with?

And you can get higher stakes in SF/F than you could hope for in a traditional or historical setting. It’s no longer a country that could be lost if this secret doesn’t arrive. No, it’s an entire intergalactic society. If the dwarvish police can’t figure out this crime, then someone is going to crash the gods down to earth and end existence.

So: go for it! Read and write magical spies and android lawyers! Go go gadget…literally!

Voss