The double meaning of “Mensa”…
In the 1/23/2020 edition of The NY Times, there appeared the story about how three-year-old Muhammed Horyz Nadzim was elected to Mensa, that snooty Brit-originated group of so-called geniuses (the story might have appeared elsewhere as well). I guess that Mensa needed some publicity, and more power to the kid. But his mother had the right attitude, saying that whatever her son went on to become, she would be proud of him.
You see, that Mensa and other snooty organizations like Phi Beta Kappa are irrelevant to most people’s lives, including mine. That kid will have to decide what he wants to do and strive to make it happen, just like anyone else. And whatever he does, Mom will be proud! Ivy colleges, exclusive men’s clubs, and society pages don’t create productive and contributing members of society. People must create their own realities. Sure, some people like Papa Bush or Albert Einstein are born with silver spoons in their mouths or are gifted with extreme intelligence and/or skills, but if they don’t set out to do something, that something won’t be handed to them. They have t work for it. (Let’s ignore those few that inherit old wealth. They’re mostly irrelevant too.) That’s more true today than ever before in human existence.
Yes, I had the above Mensa in mind when I created the title for my sci-fi novel, More than Human: The Mensa Contagion, but only in the sense that the “Mensa” in my title was a bit of a stick-it-to-you directed toward that organization of so-called geniuses. You see, the “Mensa” in that title is really the name of a constellation that can be seen from South Africa. From that direction an ET virus comes that creates Homo sapiens 2.0, a new breed of humans that ends up creating a new society on Earth that makes a lot more of a difference than any members from any exclusive club ever will.
I choose my book titles carefully. In my works in progress (WIPs), I have one working title at the start and collect other possibilities as I go. While I do the same thing for characters’ names, a book’s cover and title are the first things readers see at online retailers. They’re important. (In bookstores, it might be the print version’s spine, which is part of the cover.)
There is a trend toward short titles these days, but they often fall short (I couldn’t resist the pun) because they fail to indicate the book’s content. The best title is a short blurb, something that catches the eye of readers and tells them what the book is about. My best is The Midas Bomb, book #1 in the “Detectives Chen and Castilblanco Series.” It’s short and states what happens in the book, the best of both worlds. (Read the book to see why.)
More than Human: The Mensa Contagion for all its length is only half-right. “More than Human” implies Homo sapiens 2.0, but I wanted to qualify that. “The Mensa Contagion” accomplishes three things. First, it differentiates my book from Theodore Sturgeon’s famous sci-fi novel about ESP (I’ve only rarely included ESP in my sci-fi tales). Second, it indicates the source of the ET virus. And third, like I said above, it’s a slap at that other Mensa. You can see how much fun one can have with titles!
Why is my title only half-right? Because the book is really in two parts. The first deals with the contagion’s arrival and its consequences. The second describes what those new humans end up doing—they colonize Mars! I suppose that second part might be more attractive to some sci-fi readers than the first. It’s probably what led one reviewer to say the book reminded her of Kin Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy. I’m humbled by that statement, just like I am by reviewers who compare me to Dr. Asimov. In fact, More than Human: Mars and Beyond was one candidate for the title! But I wanted to say how Homo sapiens 2.0 came to be as well as describe the source of the contagion. The stick it to that other Mensa was just frosting on the cake.
I had originally planned a trilogy, not thinking about Mr. Robinson, of course. (Back when I went to school at UC Santa Barbara, some of us thought of Mrs. Robinson, but not in the way you might think. We loved the movie The Graduate, and I sometimes took that bus at the end of the movie.) The first book in my trilogy was condensed into part one, the second book into part two, and the third is now a longtime WIP (you’ll understand why there should be a third story if you read the book). Who knows? Maybe I’ll redo everything and make it all a trilogy.
In any case, adding more to that title to make it even more descriptive seemed to make something far too long, so it ended up only being half-right. But that half is a good one. I suppose I could name the trilogy “The More than Human Trilogy,” but Theodore Sturgeon might not like that. Nevertheless, in that case, the individual books would have The Mensa Contagion, The Mars Colony, and Star Trek added after a colon to the series title More than Human. (Yeah, Star Trek is already taken, but you can’t copyright titles…or even parts of them, even if Roddenberry et al have registered Star Trek as a trademark.)
In conclusion, authors should have fun with titles and choose ones that aren’t bland and meaningless. Now what do you think of Sing a Zamba Galactica, Come Dance a Cumbia…with Stars in Your Hand!, or Pasodobles in a Quantum Stringscape? And maybe that three-year-old new Mensa member would like to read More than Human: The Mensa Contagion? He’s probably already aware that the earthly Mensa group isn’t actually contagious.
***
Comments are always welcome.
More than Humans: The Mensa Contagion. An ET virus invades Earth, creating Homo sapiens 2.0. The new humans are a bit more creative in the arts and sciences. Some of them decide a colony on Mars would allow them a foothold in space, the final frontier. This two-part novel about the plague and the Mars colony led one reviewer to compare it to Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy. Available in ebook format on Amazon and all ebook formats on Smashwords and its affiliate retailers (iBooks, B&N, Kobo, etc.) and library and lending services (Scribd, Overdrive, Baker & Taylor, Garners, etc.).
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
