MacGyver meets science fiction

Darran Handshaw ‘07 has three passions in life: engineering, firefighting and science fiction, and he has found a way to infuse his life with all three.

In December 2017, after three years of writing and researching, he published his own sci-fi novel titled The Engineer.

He graduated with a BS in mechanical engineering in 2007, and today works at Zebra Technologies as a lead R&D engineer where he works mostly with scanners and other data capture solutions.

Handshaw has also been a volunteer firefighter since he was 14 years old. During his time at Binghamton University, he was a part of Harpur’s Ferry, a student volunteer ambulance service, and was elected chief his senior year. Today, he volunteers with the Sound Beach Fire Department and was recently elected assistant chief.

With this novel, Handshaw has found a way to combine his experiences as an engineer and a firefighter with his love for science fiction.

The book centers around Actaeon, an engineer who lives in a mysterious, abandoned and ancient metropolis called Redemption.

“I’m an electronic product engineer while Actaeon’s expertise is much more broad,” said Handshaw. “The closest person I could compare Actaeon to is MacGyver. He has to run tests with very limited resources and try to figure out these ancient artifacts. Sometimes he’ll take weeks or months to figure something out.

“But like a firefighter, he can also find himself in situations where he needs to act quickly and rely on just his wits.”

Actaeon and Handshaw also share a general curiosity.

“We both really enjoy discovery and figuring things out. I think Actaeon is smarter than me but has fewer resources. I have the entire history of human knowledge to look at on my computer, but Actaeon has to figure things out on his own,” explained Handshaw.

Not only did Handshaw’s engineering skills come in to play when developing the character of Actaeon, he said his experience with product design and project management were helpful in his sci-fi novel’s creation.

“Writing is a lot like designing a product. You start with a product idea and come up with more details and conditions that help inform what that product will actually look like. It’s the same thing with building a world in science fiction and then coming up with characters or events that put restrictions on what can come next,” he explained.

Handshaw had been interested in science fiction for many years and even had a few book ideas before The Engineer, but it wasn’t until he played Redemption MUSH, a text-based role-playing game (RPG), that the story really came to life.

“I played an engineer in that RPG and based Actaeon off of that,” said Handshaw. Not only did the RPG bring about the character Actaeon, Handshaw also met his wife, one of the creators of the game, through the RPG.

The fact that his main character is an engineer gives the book a unique perspective on the science fiction genre.

“Some people want the same thing over and over again with slight variations, but others want to read brand-new ideas. I wanted to create a hero who uses his technical skills and wit to survive in this mysterious place instead of just brute force,” said Handshaw.

Despite the deviation from the norm of science fiction heroes, Handshaw said he drew inspiration from science fiction novelist Roger Zelazny’s style of character development and Steven Erikson’s Malazan Book of the Fallen.

The adventures of Actaeon are far from over. Handshaw is currently busy writing the second book in the series and has already written a short story expanding on Actaeon’s tale for The Quantum Soul: A Sci Fi Roundtable Anthology. He even has plans for a prequel that follows two mercenaries who help Actaeon in The Engineer.

He wants other engineers to know that they, too, can enter into creative fields like this because of their ability to be open to new ideas.

“I had no formal training in writing. I just read a lot,” he said. “Engineers are trained to be creative and to seek out unique ideas, so creating a new world is a natural fit.”

If you’re interested in connecting with Handshaw, you can reach him on Twitter, Goodreads or Facebook.