What it is not

My new novel is a departure from Sha’Kert. Sha’Kert was a deliberate effort to steer a different path from the usual science fiction novels I have read. No hard science; no fleets of spacecraft or alien monsters; no wars or violent character-consuming conflicts; and no hard, neat, ‘tie all the ends up with ribbons’ ending. Sha’Kert is, in its entirety, a ‘positive’ novel. Not that it lacks sadness or pain, quite far from it, but more that, in the end, the chief protagonists maintain hope.

My new novel neatly, quietly, and decisively puts all that in the garbage tin and ploughs another path.

What it is

It remains a first-person perspective work. Not every reader’s cup of tea I’ll grant you, but there is merit in the approach. It keeps a deeper perspective, and avoids an ‘all action first’ approach to dig into the minds and motivations of the characters.

My new novel is the first of a planned three (or perhaps more) volume series. I have given myself license to write long and deep, to go for message over brevity. Not wordy, not purple prose, but where it demands a deeper dive it will get one.

It is dark; harsh; violent in places and extremely violent in others; hopeless in parts, despairing in others; but always, clearly science fiction.

There is no single, central character. There are four, around whom others orbit in four main plot lines, inextricably twined together.

The working title for the series is ‘Descent’ although, as happens with these things, that is subject to change.

Staying in touch

If the moon and stars align, and I keep my head down, the first draft will be completed in August / September 2022, with an announcement on publication hopefully in the first half of 2023.

To keep up to date with progress, news, and perhaps some bonus material, keep an eye on this website and my twitter feed.