Recently, as writers are wont to do, I found myself questioning the path I've been on in terms of this great (read 'hellabig!') literary project I chose to undertake back when the world was young and I had hair. Kiranis is - as readers will likely know - the culmination of thirty years of writing and re-writing, starting and stopping, switching lanes, and all the while avoiding the temptation to write what others thought I should write. Well, I say 'temptation' but, to be honest, it was never really there. To this day, I tend to switch off whenever people say, "Why don't you write...(insert their preference)...?"
As a teenager and subsequent young man, I was an anti-authoritarian nightmare for teachers and neighbours and bosses and pretty much anyone who tried to tell me what to do or suggested they knew better - which, of course, they probably did. I was always sarcastic and I'd say sufficiently frustrating that others might have lost some hair over trying to set me straight (karma's a bitch, right?). I was 'advised to leave' one school before I was expelled, and managed to finish my secondary education with just enough credibility to move forward with my life. Ironic indeed that I later went to university (at the age of 30) and got degrees and a Ph.D.!
I tell you this to lay a foundation here, because I was always going to go my own way. It hasn't always worked - in fact, more often than not, it didn't - but in my middle-aged wisdom (don't laugh!) that earlier ignorance has been tempered by the pragmatism of living in a world where you can't survive on a wing and a prayer, as much we'd all love to. So, to my writing. To Kiranis. What should you expect from this 'born again' dreamer?
Well, as per the title of this blog post, I know my niche, but think it's entirely possible that it's mine alone. Not that writers have never combined Science Fiction and Fantasy before - Kiranis is not the first tale of dragons on an alien world, nor of a 'scientific' reason for them being there (Anne McCaffrey saw to that, and perhaps you'll know of others); nor is it the first time we've seen 'magic' portrayed/explained in pseudo-scientific terms. From the Bene Gesseri in Frank Herbert's Dune to the Jedi and the Sith in Star Wars, we've seen all this before, and if you want some dark and brooding SFF (but with amazing worldbuilding), check out Eric Van Lustbader's Pearl Saga. So, what makes Kiranis so different?
Well, for a start, I turned it all on its head when I typed the line in Book 2 (Pawns of The Prophet): "The dragons were never real..." (reminds me of David Gemmell's "But he did not die" in The Last Guardian). An explanation ensues, but this was no 'get out of jail free' card, no Deus ex Machina. The opening scene of Book 1, Gods of Kiranis, is the setup for this twist of fate, and even the line from the 'Book of Balaam' that precedes the Prologue (and is alluded to in different forms throughout the series) lays down the laws for this literary universe: To make our future real, we must first dream of it. But who, apart from me, is the dreamer?
I wondered recently if I was at risk of attempting some kind of 'fourth wall' pretentiousness in Kiranis, because it's not only multi-layered in terms of its plot; it's designed to challenge the readers' perceptions of what we can do with writing, not only with these kindred genres but in general. I want readers to think deeply about the issues I tackle, from the philosophy of self tinkered with in the Samuel Vawter plotline in Book 2 to death, the afterlife, the scale of the universe and, most importantly, the vast depths of time into which we're all deposited and are perhaps challenged to either dismiss as irrelevant or leave us reeling. Emerging from all of this - and imbued within it - is what I hope the reader will recognise as a deep appreciation for the wonder of life and everything around us.
It's easy nowadays - too easy, unfortunately - to get lost in the misery and negativity of our daily struggles; the political, economic and religious divisions of countries familiar and alien; the dark prognosis for the world of our children and grandchildren and far beyond. For me, Kiranis is the story of one man seeking to bring hope back to a species on the precipice of annihilation. Those who have reached the end of Book 3 might see how this allegory works - I don't want to spoil the surprise for those who haven't.
I've recently had to upgrade my (until then, limited) knowledge of black holes, or singularities as they're also known. This is the great beast of deep time, and I truly wish I had paid attention in school and gone on to be an astrophysicist. I'm fascinated by these things. Oh, and just so you know...they're not holes. Technically, they're not even black. But anyway, without getting too diverted, I wanted to assure SF readers out there that if you're into astrophysics, Kiranis has you covered. From Book 1 the characters were considering the cosmic microwave background and - ooh, what could it mean? - the fact that other species had a different perception of it. I hope that I don't screw up somewhere along the way as I try to tie in a vast plot (with the goals long laid out) with constantly updating information about the nature of the universe - especially since James Webb started sticking his oar in!
So, to the niche, because I know my work has put off some genre purists on either end of the SFF spectrum. Lovers of heroic and/or epic fantasy will find plenty to enjoy in the Kiranis (planet) parts of the books (especially from Book 2 on); while those who enjoy a good old-fashioned space battle should have a great time. But I can accept that some people want to keep these elements on either side of the Great Hall of fiction writing. I've remained true to myself in that I'm writing something I'd love to read, and that has always been my advice to writers - you'll always find someone who thinks like you and shares your tastes. Don't be afraid to explore that.
An early reader of a much earlier version of Book 1 of Kiranis (we're going back to about 2012 here) complained that he had no sense of WHEN this was all happening. Truth be told, you weren't supposed to, but I kowtowed (perhaps naively) to someone I thought knew what he was talking about and I gave it a date. Following up on his comparing my work to Star Trek: TNG (he did not like that my work 'felt' like it) I set the opener for the series in the year 2380, a year after the setting for Nemesis, the final TNG movie. But TNG, Dune, Star Wars, BSG, even Fringe and Lost, Terminator and The Matrix, these were all major influences in the crystallisation of Kiranis.
Kiranis is at the same time a merging of Science Fiction and Fantasy as it is a SFF universe extrapolated from (what I understand as) cutting edge astrophysics and philosophies where secular humanism and spiritual wonder strive for supremacy (that's another blog right there!) and I get to play around with aliens, spaceships, dragons, magic, gods...all wrapped up in the wonder of evolution, deep time, and the destiny of our species. I mean, I'm having fun. Time to stop questioning it and straight right back in. Until next time...
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