Have you ever gone outside on a clear evening and just looked up at the stars? While you were gazing at the cosmos, did you imagine what kind of life might be out there? Wondered if there were beings so powerful they can make planets, solar systems, galaxies, or maybe even universes? Have you ever found yourself somewhat unhappy with life here on Earth and wished you could be somewhere else, far, far away? The principal character of a new novel, The Universe Maker, had such thoughts and embarked on the adventure of a lifetime.
Astrophysicist, engineer, and author Sierra Solter recently contacted me on email with a request to help her promote her new book. She described her work as a self-published young adult novel with the purpose of getting young people interested in STEM careers. Her primary target audience is young women, but even if you are not in that demographic, Universe Maker is something anyone can enjoy. It is fresh, engaging, and an uncommon bit of literature.
Aurora Atalaya is a college student at a prestigious university. Her major course of study is astrophysics, and she is not doing very well. It’s not that she is a poor student, but she is under a constant barrage of misogyny from nearly everyone she knows. Her professors belittle her at every turn, other students (mostly male) look down on her and call her stupid. All of this takes its toll by causing Aurora a great deal of self-doubt and a feeling of inadequacy. While she isn’t giving up on what she wants to achieve, she dreams of an escape from humanity to a place where her abilities are appreciated and respected.
One evening while sitting alone staring into the heavens, feeling out of place on her home planet, she gets whisked away on a spaceship in the shape of a butterfly and taken to the cosmos where she sees wonders beyond human imagination. It is as though a group of ultra-intelligent beings heard her appeal and recognized her potential, and gave her a fantastic gift. Aurora learned she was being groomed to become the Universe Maker.
A collective from a place in the Multiverse chose Aurora to be their leader and make new universes where benevolent civilizations can thrive and grow harmoniously and in beauty. The Multiverse exists outside of time and space as we understand it because a previous Universe maker built our own universe with a different vision. Aurora must maintain her life on Earth, but only for short periods of time, where she continues to suffer at the hands of those who would see her fail. In the Multiverse, the aliens give her the opportunity to give her life meaning she would otherwise not find.
The Universe Maker is told from Aurora’s point of view and has two elements; first is her miserable life as an undergraduate. She also achieves a master’s degree and enters the job-market where potential employers continue to question her worth based on gender issues. That section of the book and others like it were lackluster and mundane. As her earthbound woes continue, the author describes her time in training for her new life and the construction of her first universe in vivid detail. Solter uses words to make colorful pictures that will ignite a reader’s imagination. I could immerse myself in the imagery provided in the details that I would have to call almost poetic. However, I wanted to know more about the earthbound woman and her plight. I realized Aurora had a huge and active imagination and had given a lot of thought to the cosmos to the point she wanted to study and learn more. While her life in the Multiverse is colorful and spellbinding, her life on Earth is mundane and without sensation, save for the pain that goes along with being undervalued in a male-dominated culture.
I sent the author questions about her work and received her responses.
Me: As a scientist and engineer, what made you decide to become an author?
Sierra: “In some ways, I think science fiction is as important as science & STEM. Sci-fi has historically inspired many influential figures to pursue a STEM career and I felt that I could widen my impact as a scientist by writing science fiction. Moreover, science is becoming more and more specialized as we begin to think we “know everything”- and that is not the right direction. We need revolutionary, crazy ideas to truly advance - and often such ideas are first hypothesized in outlandish science fiction novels. My novel is mostly about the extreme far future. If we are able to survive and leave the solar system could we one day create an “artificial” Big Bang? I think so. But I also imagine many near-term ideas in the book like a “headband” that reads the health of brain activity, invisible gravity-air spacesuits, an exoplanet telescope in a handheld magnifying glass, or fusion ignition with cognitive intention. Ok, that last one is probably not near-term…”
Me: What are some of your favorite books, films, and television shows you found particularly inspiring?
Sierra: “I was always obsessed with Jules Verne’s books. I also read nearly all of Carl Sagan’s books before I was a teenager. “Star Maker” by Olaf Stapledon had some influence on the book, but I find his writing very hard to read. There’s a short 10 minute film called “Anima” by Scott Mannion that I love that portrays this idea of an alternate Multiverse that we can tap into through a wired brain portal. Otherwise, I tried deliberately not to let other writing/stories influence me to create something more “pure” and original. Music is actually a bigger inspiration for me as it seems to widen my imagination and I listen to NRVS LVRS & Monolink as if they were my religion. “
Me: The descriptions of the Multiverse and places Aurora visits are amazing. You describe the phenomena with a flavor of fantasy. What were the inspirations for your world-building?
Sierra: “I was a double major in astrophysics and the humanities at Berkeley. So I was writing 20 page papers on philosophy and doing crazy math & physics problem sets every night and after 4 years of that, my ability to imagine the world differently just kind of exploded one day. It’s almost like I was working my brain so hard and in so many directions that it opened a door for me to write and think in a fantastical, multidimensional way.“
Me: Aurora’s plight on Earth is a tragic one. Does this come from personal experience? Did you actually find such misogyny in your educational experience?
Sierra: “The book definitely draws on some of the experiences I’ve had. In retrospect it’s shocking how I was constantly discouraged and pressured not to pursue science or STEM as a female. I was the only female in my graduate program and the only female in many of my STEM programs and job positions, and there was often this overlying attitude, commentary, or tendency to ignore me from the male peers and instructors that conveyed that they thought I didn’t belong in the room. But it’s their loss, my imagination is a huge advantage to any project.”
Me: Why do you think the attitudes of men toward women are as they are in the 21st Century?
Sierra: “We are born into “evil” social infrastructures that perpetuate sexism, racism, oppression, and violence. So I think the question is really why the social infrastructure of sexism began. I think men saw women as a threat to their power, so men treated women as severely inferior and now we are still living with the sad consequences of that. I don’t think men or society in general acknowledge the potential, or even the possibility, of the female genius and I think that’s a huge issue. I think women focusing solely on their outer appearance is making it worse and with social media the outer appearance is all there is to show so that is making it worse as well. On the contrary, I love fashion, in part because I think everything we wear is going to become technology and that’s a theme in the novel I used to maybe get more young girls interested in science.”
Me: What role do you see the current political climate playing in today's attitudes toward women?
Sierra: “We elected an under-qualified man for president instead of an overqualified woman. Maybe that highlights the level of misogyny that exists and has made people think. It’s honestly just a mirror of what I’ve faced and witnessed constantly. Companies would rather hire a white man with no education or experience rather than a woman with multiple degrees. Of course the political climate is making it worse - the blatant sexism of the president gives permission for everyone else to follow suit.”
Me: What are some things you might suggest to educators today to help change attitudes toward women wanting to enter STEM fields?
Sierra: “I think there is a problem very early on in education that is preventing many women from entering STEM. Boys are told they can do anything, girls are not. Then there’s an evolutionary issue of women underestimating their abilities and men overestimating their abilities. Imagining a hunter-gatherer society- men had to take risks to survive (i.e., hunting) and women had to mitigate risk to survive (i.e., protect children). STEM is hard but all men believe they can do it, not all women do. So I wish educators/counselors directly told women that they are probably underestimating themselves and I wonder what effect that would have on degree/major choices. I’d really like to see some kind of STEM “recruitment” program where colleges speak to females in high school or in freshman year about the range of different STEM programs and fields. I think women often work harder, are more focused and detailed, and think about things differently than men and I wish the advantage of having more of that in science was more readily recognized.”
Me: What advice do you have to young women to help them make it through a hostile environment?
Sierra: “Easier said than done, but I would say to know deeply that you are as smart as anyone else regardless of how you are treated, and try as hard as possible not to listen to or absorb any negativity you might face. When someone said something negative to me, I would replay it over and over in my mind until I believed it. And it is so, so hard to get through a STEM degree or program when not only are you facing hostile comments and attitudes but you are made to feel inferior and unworthy because of the misogyny and negativity. I’d recommend meditating with positive self-affirmations to tell yourself that you are as worthy of being in the room as anyone else, regardless of your gender, race, appearance, or even test score.”
Me: Did you have a role model to help you overcome the barriers you found in your path to becoming a scientist?
Sierra: “Unfortunately, not really. Many women in STEM I know of had family in STEM and that’s how they started and succeeded. My relatives didn’t want me pursuing science so when things got hard I had no one to call for emotional support. I sought out dozens of mentors at Berkeley and most told me not to pursue astrophysics. I didn’t join any women STEM groups because I didn’t feel welcome. I had one computer science professor at Berkeley tell me “everyone thought I was a genius because I always had the highest test scores but I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, I was just diving into the realm of equations and trying” and that statement literally helped me succeed at astrophysics at Berkeley.”
Me: What are your future plans as far as the Universe Maker is concerned? Are there other books planned?
Sierra: “I have plans to have “The Universe Maker” be a series of a few books and I have the next books outlined! I’d really love to collaborate with a CGI artist to make even a short clip of Asteria, or some of the planets or imaginary scenes in the novel. Right now, I’m just so excited to interview with you about the novel & I can’t wait to start planning out new planets, galaxies, and technologies for the next books!”
My 16-year-old daughter, Chrissy also read The Universe Maker and I asked her to jot down her impressions for me. Here’s what she offered”
“I loved this book about a woman living a double life. The story is told from Aurora, the main character’s point of view, who exists in a world she finds tedious as well as one that is amazing. As the universe maker, she gets to see wonders no other humans are allowed to experience. It was difficult to get my head around there being more than one universe, but I like the idea of there being many places where things can be so different and amazing.
I think Aurora's life on Earth was interesting, but also upsetting at the same time. It was sad how she was treated so harshly by nearly everyone who should have been more supportive and encouraging. Everyone seemed to want to break her spirit. No one believed in her and only tore her down.But I admire her [Aurora] for never faltering in believing in herself.
Another idea I enjoyed was how time seemed to be irreverent in the story. This is something I would like to learn more about.
The Universe maker is a good story and I will try to get my friends to read it too.”
Along with Chrissy, I also recommend this book, especially for younger readers who may feel out of pace in their own world. I also recommend it for anyone who enjoys a good Sci-fi story with overtones of fantasy!
Well, there it is...
Qapla!
I read The Universe Maker and its spectacular! I really got into the lead character, Aurora, and could identify with the monsters of misogyny that prevent young women from playing out their fantasies of becoming real leaders in the scientific world. Its nice to finally read a book that encourages - across genders, race, etc. The Universe Maker evens the playing field where labels and stereotypes and archetypes are no longer useful in a world where intelligence, courage, and having an "all awareness" of life - whether as an "alien" or "non alien" - we are ONE. At last! Sierra Solter is highly recommended! Kudos to The Universe Maker!
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