The self-destructive nature of human behavior will not function on a macroscopic level in space. Government will cease to function as a regulative agency. Human culture will resemble something very similar to what it did when we were mobile hunters and gatherers during the Pleistocene. After all, how do you administer an open system where resources are widely dispersed? The answer, of course, is to circumscribe them - which is the linchpin for THE FORBIDDEN BORDERS.

Humans, by their very nature, are exploitative. It's just who and what we are: sophisticated apes with a clever technology at our disposal. Which, of course, is why the illusive aliens bottled us up behind the Forbidden Borders.

The trilogy provided me with a unique way of looking at humanity, at our technology, religion, and social customs. The Forbidden Borders universe functions as a reflection of our modern earth. We are running out of resources and headed for ultimate disaster unless we can escape beyond the confines of our gravity. Further, our religions, dependent as they are on hidden truths, often reflect a very naive perspective of God.

The protagonist, Staffa kar Therma, is a dangerous mercenary, an undefeated and brilliant stategist who sells his services to the highest bidder. Arrogant and invincible, I pull the plug on him, topple him from the heights of power, and allow him to live among his victims. As Staffa searches for his humanity, the freakish Sinklar Fist finds his own talent.

Through the series, the mysterious Mag Comm computer and the mystical Seddi are at loggerheads. Part of the fun of writing the trilogy lay in the ability to take another slant on religion. Why do we always assume that God hides revelation from us? What if God's thumbprint on the universe lies right before our eyes? To make the point, quantum physics become God's reflection in our universe. I mean, after all, if you were God, would you hide Ultimate Truth in a dark cave, or in a dusty old book, or would you put Truth out where anyone could see it?

If you haven't read THE FORBIDDEN BORDERS trilogy, please do so. Yes, it is science fiction, but I believe it is a rollicking good story with powerful characters. Peer beyond the action and see if "dancing with the quanta" doesn't challenge the way you think about the world around you.