Brainstorming: Would anyone want to read this? SF retelling of Evita?

As nearly everyone knows, I'm working on a YA Sci-Fi novel with a very familiar plot. I'm up to 40 pages on it now, actually. (and I have a cultural beta)

Basically this teenage bar prostitute and actress (Evita) becomes the mistress of a Cuban military officer 20 years older than her (Juan Peron, called Juan Valverde in my version) in order to further her acting/singing career and get involved in politics. She gives birth to twins (departure from the basic Evita plot), while her lover becomes advisor to the president and secretly wants to be President. Using her connections, gained from years of seducing long-time bar clients, movie directors and other media personalities, Evita uses her radio show (she has one due to a previous lover) to highlight important political issues. She suggests that she and Juan make a clone of Che Guevara and raise him to be an infiltrator/spy, to make it easier for Juan to be President, so "We'll— you'll be handed power on a plate!" As Che grows up, Eva uses him as her Morality Pet/conscience, creating a very close bond between them. He uses her show to make sarcastically funny broadcasts and since he's been trained as an infiltrator, he's able to blend in with different sections of society and comment on their attitudes.

Would anyone want to read a sci-fi version of Evita? (Where Eva doesn't die of cancer)

edited 6th Dec '12 2:22:25 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

Recycled In Space never really tickled my fancy. Themes aren't genre-specific, and recycling plots is hardly uncommon/unavoidable, but if the ONLY way to describe a story is "X but Sci-Fi" Id be fairly skeptical of its merits by default

"The only way to truly waste an idea is to shove it where it doesn't belong."

@Clever Pun: How about the other way to describe it; ''a YA political thriller about a woman who wants to be president and her 14-year-old servant boy who's a clone of Che Guevara a famous revolutionary in a populist near-future Banana Republic in the Caribbean, with some focus on the issues of the ethics of cloning, the use of child soldiers, the impacts of tourism, organised crime, revolution, gangsterism, propaganda and celebrity in national politics, and neo-colonialism, but mostly focusing on the issues facing the kid as a fourteen-year-old".

Because that's basically what it is, it just takes its cues from Evita and in particular the 1996 film version, with Antonio Banderas' portrayal of the Che character, with his sardonic jokes and observer/everyman/conscience role?

edited 27th Nov '12 12:33:32 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

And if our heroine Eva (the actress and aspiring politician) doesn't die of cancer, what life-threatening disease could she get eventually? I plan to make it dramatic, even a bit melodramatic because it's serious when someone has a life-threatening disease. And also, is it possible that her husband's first wife could still die (maybe in childbirth) even in the future?

edited 25th Nov '12 2:22:19 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

Well, certainly more descriptive XD There's a big difference between Recycled In Space and Twice-Told Tale

"The only way to truly waste an idea is to shove it where it doesn't belong."

And which one would you say this is, in your opinion?

edited 25th Nov '12 3:58:11 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

Going by the lengthier description it's closer to the latter. I never saw Evita, so I could be wrong, however.

"The only way to truly waste an idea is to shove it where it doesn't belong."

What are some other ideas on how to twist the story?

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

bump

edited 1st Dec '12 3:27:51 PM by MorwenEdhelwen

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

Is there another way to twist the story other than "she doesn't die of cancer(breast/ovarian)?" Cause I'm really stuck.

edited 3rd Dec '12 12:22:45 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

[DELETED]

edited 17th Dec '12 6:39:02 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

What would be a good reason for her to drug Che with paregoric? And does anyone have suggestions on how to flesh out the characters of her children? She refers to drugging as "taking a nap."

edited 17th Dec '12 6:37:50 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

This is just an idea I thought of when I heard "cough depressant". I don't know much about the work Evita, so this is going by my ability to make Sci-fi bulldust up.

Due to either an unintended cloning defect or an intentionally inserted corruption of DNA, Che's throat is either warped or gradually eaten away the older he gets, leaving him with a feeling of wanting to cough. The stuff you're mentioning soothes the irritation, and added ingredients promote cell production in the throat which mean while the defect is ongoing throughout his life, the paregoric fixes the damaged tissue to prevent any seious damage. This gives Evita reason to drug Che in his formulative years as it develops and keep a hold of him as he grows up (if you go there, of course), as only her paregoric can soothe his throat.

edited 23rd Dec '12 7:18:50 AM by MrMallard

@mallard: and plus, he has asthma... which if removed, could lead to lung deformities and also make his coughing from the hypothetical throat problem worse.

edited 26th Dec '12 11:07:18 PM by MorwenEdhelwen

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

What can she say to him while petting him in her lap like a dog that shows she loves him but doesn't really think of him in the same way as non-cloned humans?

edited 27th Dec '12 12:09:51 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

I'm having trouble with another aspect- how not to turn it into a run-of-the-mill "being a politician's kid is soooo embarrassing!" story, since it also focuses on the biological kids as well as Che, and a large part of it deals with how it feels to be the child of a controversial political figure. I have some idea of their personalities and but no idea as how NOT to make it cliched.

edited 28th Dec '12 6:18:45 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

There'd have to be some loathing of Che, of course.

As in "my mum's paying way too much attention to a clone"?

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

Re: child of a controversial political figure... let's just say that growing up in Washington D.C. has its benefits. I still remember a few overheard bits and pieces from friends - things like how they can always tell when it's the New York Times calling because the number is zeroed out, or hearing a history teacher mention that someone's dad was in an article again. In the event of a particularly embarassing incident, I heard about it from the kid - who was a very good friend of mine - first, so that I would have some context when it inevitably found its way to youtube.

But it is worth noting that for people to treat him differently because of something, they have to know about it first. Do what you want with that.

@kyle: do you mean that your friends told you they heard a history teacher mention that someone's dad was in an article again?

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

What reason could Evita give four-year-old Che as to why she's still breast feeding him?

edited 1st Jan '13 1:21:04 AM by MorwenEdhelwen

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

Also, why would the future world adopt 1940s style fashions?

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

Fads happen. A top designer could have decided that 1940s fashion "are the best thing ever oh my god" and the world just followed suit. These things happen.

Just remember that it wouldn't look exactly like 1940s fashion just like how 90s inspired outfits don't totally copy 90s fashion. Rule of Cool applies.

To the waking world I say,"Aha!"

@PSC: Thanks.

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien

What would be a good reason for Che to be raised in a bohio (hut) on Eva's hacienda and then go to live in the main house when he's four, along with Celia and Fidel, who've cared for him? I thought of something like "giving him a normal life", but I don't know how that would work, or even if it would.

edited 3rd Jan '13 6:17:30 PM by MorwenEdhelwen

The road goes ever on. -Tolkien