Author: Joe Vasicek

Joe Vasicek is the author of more than twenty science fiction books, including the Star Wanderers and Sons of the Starfarers series. As a young man, he studied Arabic and traveled across the Middle East and the Caucasus. He claims Utah as his home.

Trope Tuesday: Lawful Evil

If the term “villain” applies to anyone, it applies to the Lawful Evil.  Whether the evil overlord, his trusted right-hand man, or one of his devoted minions, these characters are dedicated wholeheartedly to their cause, whether they believe it will lead to a better world or not.  Taking over the world is often a major obsession, because hey, someone’s got to do it.  A staple of the evil empire, these guys often turn their country into an industrialized wasteland, though they often have propaganda machines to take care of any bad press.  Bonus points if they can transform into a freakish monster in battle.

From the easydamus character alignment page:

A lawful evil villain methodically takes what he wants within the limits of his code of conduct without regard for whom it hurts. He cares about tradition, loyalty, and order but not about freedom, dignity, or life. He plays by the rules but without mercy or compassion. He is comfortable in a hierarchy and would like to rule, but is willing to serve. He condemns others not according to their actions but according to race, religion, homeland, or social rank. He is loath to break laws or promises.

While Lawful Evils believe in following rules and keeping their word, they’re not above emotional manipulation, negotiating unfavorable contracts, or following the law in letter only.  Even so, they tend to suffer from genre blindness and bureaucratic stupidity (as well as megalomania–but hey, that’s part of the job description).

According to tvtropes, Lawful Evils come in four types:

  1. The supreme ruler, dedicated to establishing and maintaining a civic order that is itself evil.  A good example of this would be Sauron from The Lord of the Rings.
  2. A zealot or übermensch whose moral code falls outside of established social norms.  Khan from The Wrath of Khan is a pretty good example of this, as is Tyler Durden from Fight Club (though your mileage may vary).
  3. The Dragon or other minion who may have their own goals, but answers to the big bad.  Darth Vader is probably the most well-known example.
  4. A complete monster who is dedicated to the destruction of free will and liberty.  The Mormon conception of Satan fits this perfectly.

The scary thing about this trope is that it actually exists in real life.  In fact, outside of our sheltered middle-class, liberal democratic existence (a relatively recent and unusual development in the eyes of history), this type of overlord tends to be the rule and not the exception.  You don’t have to look any further than North Korea, Burma, or Syria for examples of this–which is to say nothing of the Soviet Union, the Third Reich, or the British Empire.

My favorite example of this trope is probably Darth Vader, not just because of how badass he is, but because of his heel face turn at the end of Return of the Jedi.  Ignoring how bad episodes I, II, and III were, his character arc really is the thing that makes that story.  And while we’re on the subject of history, let’s not forget this epic showdown between Stalin and Hitler.  Seriously, click that link.

In my own work, the best example of a Lawful Evil would probably be Qasar from Bringing Stella Home / Sholpan.  He’s more of the affable type than a true evil overlord, though; that would be Tagatai, who doesn’t really come to power until Stars of Blood and Glory. A much more sinister example would be Emile from Heart of the Nebula, or the villain I have planned for Edenfall–I’d better finish those!  And of course, there’s Sheikh Sathi from Desert Stars, though he’s mostly a type 3 Lawful Evil under the thumb of his Neutral Evil wife.

Perhaps one of the reasons I haven’t done a truly despicable Lawful Evil yet is because I’ve been kind of sheltered here in the states.  It will be interesting to see how my writing changes after spending some time in Eastern Europe; Georgia, after all, is the homeland of Stalin.

Darth Vader helmet taken from this site.

Wolfhound by Kindal Debenham

Jacob Hull may be just a spacer’s son, but he’s not afraid to dream big.  As an ensign in the Celostian Navy, his biggest dream is to pilot a destroyer like the Wolfhound, the brand new ship on which he receives his first assignment.  But when pirates attack on their training exercises and drive them far from the rest of the Celostian fleet, Hull realizes that his dream might be more than he asked for…

Full disclosure: Kindal Debenham is actually a good friend of mine–we were both members of Quark in college and still keep in touch as alpha readers for each others’ books.  That’s not why I’m saying that I loved this book, though.  I’ll admit, I had a few doubts when I first started it.  The descriptions are a little wordy, the formatting isn’t perfectly clean–but none of that really matters, because the story is AWESOME.

Why is it so awesome?  Because it’s full of characters you want to root for, facing one impossible conflict after the other, each one bigger and more daunting than the one before.  The story gets off to a decent start, but it really starts to take off after the first third or so, and just keeps getting better and better right up to the end.

Seriously, this is the kind of book I used to hunt for in the library as a kid.  It reminds me a little of the old Star Wars novels by Timothy Zahn, Kevin J. Anderson and Michael A. Stackpole.  Forget dark, dystopian futures and boring, high-concept stuff–this is some rip-roaring space opera, with stations you wish you could visit and starships you wish you could fly.

So yeah, I loved this book.  Great read; once I got into the second half, I couldn’t put it down.  If you’re a fan of space adventure stories, you should definitely check out this book.  It’s available from both Amazon and Smashwords as an indie published ebook, and it’s actually holding it’s own quite well on the Amazon bestseller lists.  It definitely deserves the spot!  Oh, and if you want to check out Kindal’s blog, you can find him here.

The gulf between the generations

I just watched a fascinating interview with a 1960s White House intern who claimed to have an eighteen month affair with President John F. Kennedy.  But the most interesting thing wasn’t the affair itself, but the way the President’s staff, the “fourth branch” of government (AKA the media), and the entire general public of 1960s America seemed more intent on keeping the secret than on facing the truth about JFK’s many affairs.

It seems that my parents’ generation had so much trust in their government that nobody would even raise the question–that to raise doubts about the integrity of the man who held the highest office in this country would itself be unconscionable.  Rather than face the facts, the American public seemed unwilling to do anything that would shatter the gilded image of the man who led the free world.  And that, quite frankly, is a mindset that I simply cannot understand.

In contrast, my own generation has very little trust in our government.  We’ve been raised in an age of ambiguity, where the enemy doesn’t wear a uniform or pledge allegiance to a flag, but live quietly among us, until they strap a bomb to their bodies or turn a commercial airplane into a weapon of terror.  Or at least, that’s the excuse our government gives us for an increasingly invasive security regime that infringes on our basic liberties, enables the military to hold us in detention indefinitely, and sends our soldiers overseas to fight increasingly senseless wars to “liberate” the people of oil-rich nations who don’t even want us there.  As if that weren’t enough, the economic crash has taught us that all that stuff our parents taught us about equality and opportunity is really just a pack of lies–that the rich get bailouts while the rest of us foot the bill, and all that stuff about changing the world and being whatever you want to be…yeah.  Lies, all of it.

My Dad had an interesting rebuttal to all this, though.  He said that it wasn’t his generation that put the president on a pedestal–it was his generation that tore the pedestal down.  During the 60s and 70s, the Vietnam era and the rise of the hippy movement, his generation fought back and made it acceptable for us to question the president, or to criticize the government, or to do all the things that we take for granted today.  In fact, he said that we’re the ones who are backsliding into complacency, with our deafening echo chambers, our social media inanities, our reactive attachment to corporate brands and advertising, and our almost religious sense of  entitlement.

I’m not totally convinced he’s right, but I do think there’s a fundamental gulf between these three generations.  Our grandparents’ was the silent generation, where people were expected to keep to their own business and not rock the boat.  Our parents’ generation was one of top-down media, where ABC, NBC, and CBS ruled the airwaves and told us all what to think, buy, and believe.

Ours is a much more peer-to-peer generation, but I worry that we’re turning into a collection of mindless herds who are turning the culture wars into a messy riot where we abandon civil dialog and rational thinking for a much more destructive mob mentality that isn’t really building anything, but tearing it all down.

Sometimes, it gets so frustrating that it makes me yearn for the days of the frontier, when anyone could leave it all behind and reinvent themselves somewhere out in the west.  That’s probably why I’m so drawn to science fiction, where space is the final frontier.  There really are times when I wish I could go to the stars and escape to it all, and I think that shows in my writing.

Maybe that’s why I feel so compelled to write Star Wanderers.  It’s basically 80% wish fulfillment, about a guy who goes from planet to planet on the kind of spaceship I wish I had.  It’s not all rosy, of course–space can be a cold, dark, and lonely place–but so can this world, when you’re lost and you don’t really know what you’re doing with your life.

Anyhow, those are just some of my random late-night thoughts about the situation in this country and how much things have changed over the decades.  If I had a time machine and got a chance to go back to the 60s (after seeing The Empire Strikes Back on opening night, of course), I don’t know I’d be able to recognize this as my own country.  But really, I don’t think I recognize anything as my own country anymore.  Like Van Gogh, all I can say is the sight of the stars makes me dream.

Teaching English and other future plans

I got my flight plans today from the TLG people in Georgia!  I’ll be flying out next week from JFK, connecting in Kiev and arriving at Tbilisi Wednesday afternoon.  On Monday, I’ll take the train down to my aunt and uncle’s place in New York city and spend a couple of days with them before flying out.

As you can imagine, I’m really excited about all of this!  It’s an adventure, a chance to experience a new culture, and an opportunity to start a new career and get some good experience, both for my resume and for my writing.  Since this is such a huge change in direction, I want to do some thinking aloud about where I see myself going in the next couple of years.  If you have any ideas or suggestions, please chime in!

Stay in Georgia for 2+ years: Right now, this honestly doesn’t seem too likely, but I’m not ruling it out.  After getting some English teaching experience, I’ll probably want to take a higher paying job somewhere else.  The biggest reason to stay would be if I find a local girl I’m interested in pursuing, but that’s not why I’m going out there so I’m not planning on it.  But then again, you never know.

Spend 1+ year(s) in Georgia and take a job in the Persian Gulf region: This is probably the most likely scenario. After teaching in Georgia, I’ll hopefully be in a good position to apply for for more lucrative jobs in Saudi Arabia or the other Gulf states.  I also really want to go down there because of the chance it would give me to work on my Arabic.  From what I’ve heard, there’s not a whole lot of interaction with the local culture, but I’m sure there’s plenty to see and do–and if there isn’t, then all the more time to spend writing.

After a couple of years in the Gulf, I’ll probably have enough money saved up to come back to the US and focus for a while on my writing career. That would be pretty awesome.  Or maybe I’ll decide to take that money and travel for a bit.  The potential downside, though, is that it’ll probably be harder to find a girl in Saudi Arabia–but then again, you never know.

Spend 1+ year(s) in Georgia and take a job elsewhere in the Middle East: Not as lucrative as the gulf, but the cultural experience might be more fulfilling.  I’ve already been to Jordan once, but only long enough to barely whet my appetite. 🙂 I’ve got friends there, too, which is also huge.  And even if I go somewhere besides Jordan, it will give me a great chance to work on my Arabic, maybe even more so than the Gulf.

The biggest downside, of course, is the security situation.  With the revolution in Syria quickly turning to a bloody civil war, and the brinksmanship between Israel and Iran getting worse by the day, it doesn’t look like things are going to be any better a year from now.  I’ll have to keep an eye on developments as they happen, and stay away from the region if thing heat up too significantly.

Spend 1+ year(s) in Georgia and take a job in Eastern Europe: This would be my second preference, after taking a job in the Middle East.  I’ve got a friend in the Ukraine who says it’s really good there, and I’ve got a lot of Czech heritage so it might be good to shoot for a job in the Czech Republic as well.  I won’t be able to work my Arabic as much, but my sister is making a lot of family history breakthroughs so it would be kind of cool to get in touch with those people.  Also, the security situation is considerably less volatile.  Not sure about pay, but I’m sure it will be enough to get by.

Spend 1+ year(s) in Georgia and take a job in East Asia: I don’t have a whole lot of interest in East Asia right now, but I hear there are some fairly lucrative teaching jobs out there, and I have a lot of friends with connections to Japan and China.  It would definitely be another adventure, that’s for sure.

Spend 1+ year(s) in Georgia and come back to the United States: This is probably the least likely scenario.  My main goal in going to Georgia is to use the experience with TLG to launch into a career teaching English as a second language.  Coming back to the states after a successful run would be kind of pointless…but hey, sometimes life gets in the way, so I can’t rule it out.

Come back to the United States in June: Right now, I’m only signed up with the TLG program through June, but if I find the program agreeable I’ll probably stay on for another semester.  Probably.  It really depends, and I can’t say for sure.

If I did come back to the states after fulfilling my term, it would probably be because I change my mind about pursuing a TEFL career altogether.  The only real way I can see that happening is if teaching English seriously hinders my writing, and that seems highly unlikely (it’s only thirty hours per week, including prep time).  From everything I’ve seen, this seems like a career I’m well suited for, and one that will be much easier to balance with my writing than anything else short of working graveyard shift at a hotel.

And if, by some random fluke of luck, my books start to sell like crazy while I’m overseas, I’ll probably still pursue this career choice, at least for the next few years.  When you don’t have anything else to get you out of the house, writing can be extremely boring.  Besides, I want to have something to write about, and what better way to do that than to spend a few years living and working abroad?

So that’s what I see happening in the mid- to near-future.  I’ll definitely post regular updates on my adventures, though the main focus of this blog will still be my writing.

And as for the next week, I plan to revise through Star Wanderers: Part II before leaving, then work on the next two parts of that novel before potentially moving on to Edenfall.  Really, I have no idea what I’ll do, but before Tuesday, I want to at least get Star Wanderers: Part II ready for my first readers.

Whatever happens, it’s going to be an adventure!

Trope Tuesday: Chaotic Evil

If a character in a story scares the hell out of you, chances are he’s a Chaotic Evil.  From ax-crazy psychopaths to nightmarish clowns, from cold-hearted monsters to eldritch abominations, these guys are known for their complete lack of empathy, their nihilistic outlook on life, and their sick sense of humor.

From the easydamus character alignment page:

A chaotic evil character does whatever his greed, hatred, and lust for destruction drive him to do. He is hot-tempered, vicious, arbitrarily violent, and unpredictable. If he is simply out for whatever he can get, he is ruthless and brutal. If he is committed to the spread of evil and chaos, he is even worse…it represents the destruction not only of beauty and life but also of the order on which beauty and life depend.

According to tvtropes, characters who fall under this alignment can be categorized by five types, in decreasing order of redeemability:

  • A Chaotic Good who took things a little too far and inadvertently fell into evil.  Can usually be brought back with a heel realization if they haven’t already crossed the moral event horizon.  Scar from Fullmetal Alchemist is a good example of this type (incidentally, he’s also my favorite character from that series).
  • A character with a very feral nature who believes that everyone is out to get him and thus ends up killing everyone in order to protect himself.  Often manipulated by the Big Bad to do his dirty work.  He doesn’t really kill out of malice, though, so there may still be a possibility of redemption.
  • Committed to chaos before evil.  Can be convinced to team up with the heroes, if only because they happen to share the same enemy.  For these characters, their freedom is the most important thing–though don’t trust them too much, or else you’re liable to end up with a knife in your back.
  • Committed to evil before chaos.  These guys will never team up with the heroes, but they may team up with the Big Bad, even becoming one of his mooks if it gives them more opportunities to unleash fiery mayhem of death on the world.
  • True Chaotic Evil.  These are the most dangerous, because they have absolutely no loyalties and absolutely no compunction.  The best you can hope for is to kill them before they wipe out your entire civilization.

Fortunately, the Chaotic Evil’s weakness is his inability to put together a competent organization. If he has any plans, they’ll usually fizzle out because they’re too haphazard.  When the Chaotic Evil overlaps with the Chessmaster, however, things can get really, really dangerous.

My favorite Chaotic Evil is definitely the Joker from the Dark Knight.  He is, without a doubt, the most dangerous incarnation of this trope that I’ve ever seen.  Running a close second is Kefka from Final Fantasy VI.  Best final fantasy villain of all time, hands down–he totally owns Sephiroth.

I have to admit, I haven’t used this trope much in my own work yet.  Gazan from Bringing Stella Home probably falls under this character alignment, but he’s more of the third type than a true Chaotic Evil.  As a race, the Hameji initially fall under this trope, but they have reasons for everything they do, so once they overthrow the established order, they shift more to Chaotic Neutral.

One day, though, I’m going to write a character with this alignment.  One day…

Flash Gold by Lindsay Buroker

All Kali McAlister wants is to leave Moose Hollow far, far behind–and with her dogless sled, the $1,000 prize for the sled race is just her ticket.  But with pirates, gangsters, and thugs in the Yukon after her late father’s alchemical secrets, she’ll be lucky to make it to the finish line alive.  And then there’s that striking man by the mysterious name of Cedar–why is he helping her?

This was a fun steampunk adventure story.  It was fast-paced, well-written, and quite enjoyable; Buroker knows how to hook a reader with interesting characters and conflicts.  I’m looking forward to reading more books set in this universe.

That said, I did have a few issues with this book.  At some parts, the dialog came across as wooden because the characters’ words and reactions didn’t match the intensity of the scene.  For example, Kali and Cedar got caught up in a couple of friendly discussions during gunfights, one about her automatic reloading rifle (which was somewhat excusable) and one about the status of their relationship (which felt a little contrived).  Also, the climax of the story revolves around a late third act info dump, which is a pet peeve of mine.  It didn’t bring the story to a screeching halt, but it did feel a little clumsy.

None of those kept me from enjoying the story, but they were definitely things I noticed.  My biggest issue was probably a lack of real dept or thoughtfulness; what I like to call a “stuff happens, the end” kind of story.  The main character had good internal motivations, but no real internal conflict.  For example, she had this whole history with a previous lover betraying her trust, but she didn’t really struggle much with learning to trust again; all that old baggage was just a part of her background.

Overall, though, this was a fun action-adventure romp.  The steampunk setting was great, one that I’d like to come back and revisit.  And in spite of my critiques, I didn’t feel cheated by this story at all; it really was an enjoyable read.  For $.99, what do you have to lose?

You can find Flash Gold at the author’s site here, or at Smashwords and Barnes & Noble (for some reason, the Amazon link appears to be broken).

Journey to Jordan is now up on Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

That’s right–my travel journals from the 2008 study abroad to Jordan are now up on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and almost everywhere else!  Here’s a complete list:

Kindle | Kindle UK | Kindle DE | Kindle FR | Kindle ES | Kindle IT | Nook | Smashwords | Kobo | Diesel | Xinxii | Sony | iTunes

Kobo, Xinxii, and Sony should be coming in the next couple of weeks.

I initially set the price for the illustrated version at $4.95, but the transaction fees are a lot less than I thought they would be, so I’ve decided to drop it down to $2.99 with the unillustrated version.  The changes should be reflected on Amazon and Barnes & Noble in a few hours.

I had an amazing, life-changing experience in Jordan, and after coming home, I had big dreams of turning my travel journals into a book.  Because of ebooks and indie publishing, that dream is now a reality.  From the description:

In 2008, Brigham Young University partnered with the University of Jordan to organize a summer study abroad program for its Arabic students. Scattered across West Amman in home-stays coordinated with Amideast, these students spent the summer living, studying, playing, and adventuring in the Middle East.

This is the travel journal of one of those students, and gives a detailed and intensely personal account of his time there. Besides the cultural experience of living with a Palestinian family in an Arab country, it tells the story of a critical juncture in his life, and how traveling across the Middle East helped to shape his personal growth, his spirituality, and his love for a people far from his American home.

Kind of cheesy, but yeah. 🙂 I hope you like it–please share it if you do!

I’m about to embark on another adventure, so this probably won’t be the last travel journal I do.  Who knows–maybe a year or two from now, I’ll be doing a book like this on my experiences in Georgia.  Or better yet, I’ll make it back to the Middle East and do a before-and-after.  Whatever I do, I’ll be sure to keep you guys updated frequently–so definitely stay in touch!

STARS OF BLOOD AND GLORY 1.1 is finished!

That’s right!  After what felt like six hours of un-anesthetized brain surgery, Stars of Blood and Glory 1.0 is finally complete!  Here are the stats:

words: 76,326
chapters: 18, prologue & epilogue
ms pages: 360
start date: 20 Dec 2011
end date: 2 Feb 2011

Some extended stats, just for fun:

days spent writing: 36
miles traveled: ~5,500
viewpoint characters: 5
characters from other novels: 9
major characters who die: 3
space battles: 5
planets slagged: 1

The wordsplash:

Wordle: Stars of Blood and Glory 1.1

And the most influential song while writing:

It’s good to finish another novel, but this one definitely needs a lot of work before I feel that it’s of publishable quality.  I think I know how to fix it, but my mind needs a break in order to give it a fresh approach.  I’ll probably let it settle for a few months, then come back either this spring or summer.

I’m pleasantly surprised with how quickly I was able to finish this book.  Thirty-six writing days is something of a personal record.  Still, it feels like it needs a little more fleshing out.  76k is definitely too short for a novel of this type; hopefully in the second draft, I’ll be able to bring it up to 80k or 90k.

In other news, I heard back from the TLG program, and I’m happy to say I’ve been accepted!  I’ll fly out to Georgia in a little less than two weeks, have a seven day orientation period at Kutaisi, then ship off to wherever the Ministry of Education decides to send me.  I’ll be there until at least June, then either renew for a second semester or go somewhere else, maybe Eastern Europe or the Middle East.

Needless to say, I’m pretty excited!  Hopefully, this new career will be a good fit, and I’ll have many awesome adventures in the next few years.  Even if my writing starts to take off and my books start selling hand over fist, I’ll probably keep teaching for a while just for the experience.  Writing is fun, but when you have nothing else to keep you busy it can also get quite boring.

The next few weeks are going to be pretty freaking busy, so I’m probably going to ease off on the writing, at least until I get settled into the new routine.  Before I leave, I need to:

  • Find affordable expat insurance.
  • Pick up a 220 to 120 volt converter and plug adapter.
  • Publish Journey to Jordan on Amazon and B&N.
  • Get some new clothes.
  • Clean my parents’ guest room.
  • File state taxes for Utah (federal taxes are already filed).
  • Write up the last couple of Trope Tuesday posts for the backlog.
  • Finish the covers for Star Wanderers (while I still have access to my desktop computer).
  • Read up on Georgian customs and mentally prepare myself for the inevitable culture shock.

Shouldn’t be too hard, but it’s only going to get crazier once I’m over there.  I’ll be sure to keep you updated as much as I can, though; this is going to be fun!

So yeah, another novel down; this one makes my sixth.  Just another 94 to go before I reach my lifetime goal of one hundred!

Tomorrow, tomorrow

So, I was going to finish Stars of Blood and Glory today…and then I went and spent some time with an old friend, had some dinner and spent the evening with the missionaries…long story short, I think it would be better just to wait until tomorrow than to do a rush job tonight.

I’ve only got two scenes and an epilogue left, which is very strange, because the novel isn’t even 75k words long yet.  Something definitely seems to be missing, and it probably has to do with the storyline of the new characters I introduced.  They’re the prince and princess of a futuristic Japanese culture (with a mix of Polynesian elements) that’s built on giant floating cities on a water world that never fell to the Hameji.  I think I skipped a little too much on the research, so the culture doesn’t feel fleshed out enough at this point.  Also, there’s a whole host of minor characters that I neglected to even give names; in the next draft, I’ll have to work out who they are and how they fit into things.

I’ll definitely finish this book tomorrow, though.  There’s nothing stopping me, and I really need to get it done.

After that, the plan is to immerse myself in the world of Star Wanderers.  I’ve got to be honest, I’m really looking forward to it.  This story came to me like a love child: completely unexpected at a time when I was supposed to be working on other things.  And yet, few other projects I’ve worked on have given me so much satisfaction.  When I let my mind wander, I inevitably find myself daydreaming about it.  And yet, it’s not a story I can force.  I tried that once, and it was as if the characters just refused to cooperate; the answer, quite firmly, was “no.”

As for my next publishing project, I’m going to try to get the illustrated version of Journey to Jordan formatted and up on Amazon and Barnes & Noble before the end of the week. It’s a little intimidating, because I don’t yet know how to add pictures in html such that they turn out well in ebook format.  However, I think it will be a good learning experience, once I climb the learning curve.  Expect to see some news about that very soon.

And as for my New Year’s goal to read a book every week…I know, I know, I missed it last week.  But I plan to make up for it with a couple of really good books in the next couple of days.  Both of them are indie published, and they’re both really fun reads.  The only reason I haven’t finished them is because I’ve been too busy working on my own projects.

So on that note, I think I’m going to retire for the evening with a good book while I wait with baited breath for Kris Rusch’s next Business Rusch post to go live.  Have a good night!

Trope Tuesday: Chaotic Good

A pox on the phony king of England!

Wherever you find the evil empire, dirty cops, or a misguided crusade, chances are there’s a Chaotic Good somewhere in the shadows fighting against it.  From barbarian heroes to freedom fighters, rebellious princesses to ethical sluts, these free-spirited, noble-minded rebels are constantly at war with the man, robbing the rich to give to the poor.

From the easydamus character alignment page:

A chaotic good character acts as his conscience directs him with little regard for what others expect of him. He makes his own way, but he’s kind and benevolent. He believes in goodness and right but has little use for laws and regulations. He hates it when people try to intimidate others and tell them what to do. He follows his own moral compass, which, although good, may not agree with that of society.

Interestingly, once the evil bad guys are gone, the balance between Good and Chaotic is even more difficult to keep than the line between Good and Lawful.  For that reason, Chaotic Goods often make extremely poor rulers after the war is over.  When they win, they usually do one of the following:

Of all the character alignments, this one is my favorite.  It fits my own sensibilities almost perfectly.  Whenever a character of this type has to give up their old life to accept their new responsibilities, I can’t help but feel a little wistful and sad (maybe that’s why I haven’t settled down and married yet…hmm…).

This trope is extremely prevalent in manga and anime, with Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist my personal favorite.  Agatha and Gil from Girl Genius are also really awesome–it’s going to be interesting to see how Gil shifts now that his father is out of the picture.  In science fiction, Captain Kirk is probably the most beloved character of this type, though almost all of Heinlein’s protagonists also fit the bill.

In my own work, Tiera Al-Najmi from Desert Stars is probably the best example of this trope.  She stands alone against the restrictive norms and hypocrisy of her society, urging Mira to do what’s right instead of what’s expected.  In Bringing Stella Home, James McCoy fits this trope too, though you could also make an argument that he’s more of a Neutral Good.  In Heart of the Nebula, however, he’s definitely Chaotic Good, which puts him squarely at odds with Lars, a Lawful Good who appears in all of the Gaia Nova novels thus far.