This post was written by guest contributor John Scalzi.

John Scalzi’s Interdependency Trilogy is one of my favorite space operas of the last decade and, in fact, in my top three space operas of… well, ever. And I’m old and have read a lot of space operas. The series is absolutely stuffed with fascinating characters, some of whom are decent, some of whom are absolute assholes, and some of whom hit various spots between the two on the decency spectrum.

My absolute favorite of the personalities to whom we’re introduced is Kiva Lagos. Savvy businessperson, unapologetic defender of self-interest, good friend to have, and extremely dangerous enemy to annoy even a little, Kiva is who I want to be when I grow up, and I desperately want to acquire her facility with the most versatile word in any language. 

So without further ado, here to talk more about both the skill and the word is Kiva’s creator and facilitator (though once she was born, I’m sure she had some things to say about her own arc), John Scalzi. –Shiri Sondheimer

(Listen to our conversation with John Scalzi here.)

On April 14, The Last Emperox, the third and final book of my Interdependency Trilogy, will be published. With it, we will see the final appearance of the character Kiva Lagos, who over the course of the series quickly became a beloved fan favorite for her outlook on the universe, for her uninhibited manner of self-expression, and for the fact that her absolute favorite word is “fuck,” and she uses it, or some variation of it, in approximately every other sentence she utters. I get the enthusiasm for Kiva; I like her a lot, too.

But some readers of the series have questioned why it is that Kiva swears so much and whether it is either realistic or necessary to have her do so – and if she has to do it, why she has to use the word “fuck” as much as she does. They are not mollified when I point out that in fact Kiva uses many, many other swear words as well (in her first appearance in The Last Emperox, the words “mudfart,” “shit toad,” and “soggy asses” also make their debuts). They want to know why “fuck” is Kiva’s favorite word, and why it is I, as the author, have made it her favorite word.

Well, there is more than one answer to this.

1. “Fuck” is a universal swear word. Which is to say that no matter what time you’re in or what place you’re in, some version of “fuck” is there, waiting to be employed – if you can find it in official records, that is, since as a generally agreed-upon profanity, it was difficult to find in official records or even dictionaries. In English, it wasn’t until the 1960s that the word made its way into a general-use dictionary. That noted, my work’s been translated into more than two dozen languages at this point, and this is one word where the translators never have difficulty.

2. It’s persistent. The word has existed in English since the 1500s at least, and in the intervening half a millennium has lost little if any of its pungency. That’s the sort of staying power that most words would dream of (if words could dream, which as far as I know, they do not). Given its staying power to date, it is not difficult to imagine it will stay in service even 1,500 years into the future, which is – roughly – when the events of the Interdependency take place.

3. It’s fuckin’ useful. It’s a verb, and a noun, and an adjective, and an interjection, and pretty much any part of speech you want it to be. Which is, of course, part of its persistence – it is what you need it to be, when you need it to be that thing, and then it can be another thing almost immediately. You can write (or speak!) entire intelligible sentences using nothing but various iterations of the word, and it is delightful when it happens. Which bring us to a very important point:

4. It’s a really fun word. It’s easy to say, easy to use, and gives a nice jolt to any sentence it’s in. It appeals both to the 14-year-old who gets a thrill out of naughty words and the 50-year-old who is aware that contrary to what generations of prudes have said, swearing is a mark of intelligence, and “fuck” is the crown jewel of that particular linguistic set. Who doesn’t like “fuck”? Answer: Someone who doesn’t like fun, that’s who. Fuck ’em.

5. Made-up swear words break suspension of disbelief. There is no one who really thinks “frak” in Battlestar Galactica is anything but a word put in because (at the time) one couldn’t say “fuck” on network TV (yes, it originated on the 70s version and was carried over). “Frell” on Farscape? Ugh, come on. It’s one thing for, say, Spongebob Squarepants to say “Barnacles!” because he’s a friggin’ cartoon character after all (and yes, see what I did just there); it’s another to have battle-hardened and/or deeply cynical grown-up characters doing the space linguistics version of “oh fudge.” Let them say “fuck,” gosh darn it! It’s organic to how we use language!

6. Because I use “fuck.” Possibly not as much as Kiva does? But almost? And it’s not just me. My friends and family use it, as do people who are not my friends and family. Its ubiquity is an argument for its use – because it’s naturally a part of our everyday speech and because how it’s used can tell you a lot about a character in a very brief amount of time. Kiva is confident of her own opinions, blunt and argumentative: Why wouldn’t she use “fuck”? And if she didn’t, wouldn’t that be noticeable? (Spoiler: It totally would.)

I accept that some folks are not going to like Kiva’s liberal use of the word; as a character, Kiva is not for everyone, a fact that is true in the book as well as out of it. I also accept that some folks are not going to like my liberal use of the word, either. I, and my books, are not for everyone. If profanity (and specifically the word “fuck”) are not your thing, you’re probably best skipping most of my work. That’s fine! That’s fair! Although also I wonder if you’re still reading this particular article at this point.

For everyone else: Enjoy Kiva, and enjoy her artistry with “fuck.” I’m proud of her and her way with words.

The Last Emperox, book 3 of the Interdependency Trilogy, by John Scalzi will be available April 14th from Tor. Book 1 is The Collapsing Empire, and book 2 is The Consuming Fire. We heartily recommend the fuck out of them.