In Media Res
"In media res" is a Latin term which means "in the middle of things". It is used by literary critics to describe stories that plunge the reader straight into the action, with hardly any introduction.
"Omega Ship" is certainly a good example of a story that starts in media res. On the very first page, we find the protagonist in the middle of a life-and-death problem, and we must infer what happened before the problem started.
The author gives us few hints. The blond boy says: "The Omega hit atmo. We find the escape capsules, or we die." |
"Atmo" must surely mean atmosphere. The Omega, it seems, was not designed to actually land on an alien planet. More likely, it was designed to orbit the planet while smaller spacecraft shuttle the crew and passengers to the surface. But something has gone wrong, and the Omega has crashed into the planet's atmosphere, like a sailing ship running aground.
A bit later, the blond boy also explains why everyone is dead:
A bit later, the blond boy also explains why everyone is dead:
"The Omega went into conservation mode, cutting power to the pods one by one. Only a fraction were still powered on when she found a suitable planet—"
That's good news and bad news. The fact that everyone is dead is certainly bad news. But at least the Omega did find a habitable planet—a planet capable of sustaining human life. The Omega's lack of power might also explain why it crashed into this planet's atmosphere.
That it's a habitable planet is confirmed a bit later, when the dark-haired boy points out that supply capsules are being launched from the mother ship. The blond boy responds by saying: “Isn’t that good news? I mean, the Omega would only release supply capsules if it found a habitable planet, right?” |
And with that line (and some other subtle hints), the author foreshadows the main conflict of the story: There are two boys, and only one girl. That sounds like a recipe for trouble.
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To foreshadow something means to give a hint that something is going to happen in the future. |