The tech industry is renowned for innovation, from self-driving cars that will one day confidently plow into lane dividers or street signs, to bitcoin currencies perfect for reducing fortunes to pocket change, to everyone’s favorite, the torment nexus. Now allegations have emerged that a tech conference used technology to circumvent a demographic challenge: Unable to attract actual women to speak at the event, it seems the conference may have embellished its list of speakers using entirely fictional women instead.
As bold as this stratagem is, the science fiction world got there long before the tech industry’s giant brains. When one thinks of it, creating personas to suit roles is an obvious coping mechanism when faced with a dire lack of appropriate candidates. Consider these five works. Note that each synopsis is a giant spoiler for the book in question.
No kidding: spoilers abound!
John Joseph Bonforte from Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein (1956)
The Humanists want to retain human domination of the Solar System. The Expansionists prefer a more inclusive approach, one that would include Martians and other such folk. Lumbered as they with a democratic government, the Expansionists require a leader with a rare combination of charisma and moral fortitude, a leader who can convince human voters to abandon privilege while at the same time convincing aliens that this isn’t a cruel confidence trick.
The Expansionists had such a man in John Joseph Bonforte. Bonforte has been kidnapped on the eve of a crucial Martian ceremony. Without the real Bonforte, the Expansionists have no choice but to turn to a fake one… which is where actor Lawrence Smith, AKA Lorenzo Smythe, comes in. Lorenzo the Great is no paragon, but perhaps he can learn to play one. It’s the role of a lifetime.
There is probably a fascinating conversation to be had about the degree to which professional politicians adopt false versions of themselves to get elected. This comment section probably is not the correct venue for that thread.
Interface by Stephen Bury (1994)
The Network has clear policy goals and a subtle mastery of public relations techniques. Being a shadowy cabal of corporate interests, the Network cannot run for President. Had they only a suitably compliant volunteer, the Network could guide that person infallibly past the shoals of public opinion and into the Oval Office.
Illinois governor William Cozzano is the perfect catspaw. After suffering a stroke, he has an experimental biochip implanted into his brain—and once microchipped, the charming puppet Cozzano dances on the Network’s strings. The Presidency is Cozzano’s (or rather the Network’s)… unless, of course, an unforeseen twist of fate undoes their plan.
Unsurprisingly, Bury (actually Neal Stephenson and George Jewsbury, who was then using the penname J. Frederick George) takes a rather cynical view of American politics.
Chip Livingston from Bimbos of the Death Sun by Sharyn McCrumb (1987)
Famed author Appin Dungannon is noted for two things: his wildly popular fantasy novels featuring Tratyn Runewind, and being a proud, arrogant, contentious, and all-around abrasive person. To know Dungannon is to dislike him. Thus, the attendees of the Rubicon SF convention should not have been astounded when someone murdered Dungannon, only surprised that it did not happen sooner.
Lt. Thomas Ayhan is delighted to deal with SF fans rather than mystery fans, who are inconveniently well-informed about police procedure. But he soon learns that the obvious suspect, Chip Livingston, is a fan who seems to be simultaneously everywhere and yet is nowhere to be seen. This is because Chip is a composite persona played by a number of people; Livingston does not exist, and cannot be the murderer. Ayhan must look elsewhere.
Here I insert the necessary “Bimbos is very mean-spirited about fans” warning. Also, readers should know that this is a cozy, which means that despite Ayhan’s diligence, he’s not going to solve the crime. That must fall to some observant bystander.
I am not really sure why cozies even bother having police around.
Emmanuel Goldstein from Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1949)
Oceania is diligently guided by the Party. Every aspect of daily life is regimented. Omnipresent monitoring and draconian punishment ensure conformity. Routine editing of archives and books ensure that history is whatever the Party deems it to be, from moment to moment.
While fear ensures compliance, hatred ensures enthusiastic compliance. Perhaps there once was a real Emmanuel Goldstein. The Goldstein that Oceanians know is the creation of the Party, the hateful man behind every misfortune, a figure into whom the whole of the public’s hatred can be poured without endangering the Party. Even the Party’s enemies serve the Party.
Despite being (or choosing to be) limited to mid-20th century technology, the Party is adept at manipulating the public. One has to wonder what use they might have made of social media. Big Brother would be such a memorable Xitter character.
Dirac Angestun Gesept from Wasp by Eric Frank Russell (1959)
Terra and the Sirian Combine are at war. While humanity is significantly technologically superior, the Sirians outnumber the Terrans ten-to-one. Quantity has a quality all its own. Terra’s High Command’s solution is to adopt tactics in which the weight of numbers is irrelevant.
Disguised as a Sirian, James Mowry is dispatched to the backwater Sirian world of Jaimec to foment as much chaos and fear as he can. Sirian political activists yearning for change would be invaluable allies against the Sirian government. Since there are none, Mowry creates Dirac Angestun Gesept from whole cloth. Dirac Angestun Gesept strikes again and again…despite the notable handicap of not existing at all.
In a quote often included on the covers of newer editions of Wasp, Terry Pratchett stated that he “can’t imagine a funnier terrorists’ handbook,” if that gives curious readers a sense of what to expect from Russell’s Eisenhower-era classic.
***
This is, of course, a very small sample of a very large field. I didn’t even mention the relevant character from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Feel free to mention other examples in comments below.
In the words of fanfiction author Musty181, four-time Hugo finalist, prolific book reviewer, and perennial Darwin Award nominee James Davis Nicoll “looks like a default mii with glasses.” His work has appeared in Interzone, Publishers Weekly and Romantic Times as well as on his own websites, James Nicoll Reviews (where he is assisted by editor Karen Lofstrom and web person Adrienne L. Travis) and the 2021, 2022, and 2023 Aurora Award finalist Young People Read Old SFF (where he is assisted by web person Adrienne L. Travis). His Patreon can be found here.
