So, here we are. Invited back by Sarah Ash (many thanks) to write a second post for her to commemorate the release of the next book in The Cluster Cycle. Since I chose the topic last time, I asked her to provide one.

For anyone who had read my previous guest post, the concept for The Cluster Cycle was retellings of old stories in a sci-fi setting with a modern twist. Compared to the previous post about Starborn Vendetta, which lingered far more on my inspirations, this one (based on the suggestion of Sarah Ash) focuses on the problem that stared me in the face when a series was accepted and I had to write four more novels in the same world. A problem loosely defined as ‘Oh flipping heck, what the flip do I do now?!’. The second book, Lost Station Circé, is the result of what is probably a very relatable conundrum.

Second volumes, or sequels, or follow-ups or whatever you choose to call them, are very easy to mess up. The stories of the sequel being worse than the original are numerous, so much so it’s become a cliché. To highlight one anime, take the original second season of Black Butler. While not completely terrible, its original story didn’t sit well with a lot of fans and is generally seen as subpar (the amount of fan service that just comes off as uncomfortable given characters’ ages doesn’t help). There is also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which has the dual problem of wildly varying quality, and a continuous narrative across over thirty films and multiple television series plus extras. It was the kind of thing I didn’t want to happen, as it puts me off not just a series, but off characters that I might otherwise like.

I was faced with these issues, and decided to take an interesting way out. A unique quality of writing fiction is that it gives you unlimited license for hopping about within a timeline, so I skipped forward several centuries from the events of Starborn Vendetta. I also focused on a different class of people; rather than rulers and nobility, Lost Station Circé focuses on the ragtag crew of a cargo ship on the edges of the Cluster. While there are connections to be found, and some explicit character references/cameos I won’t spoil, I decided this series would be one where readers could truly jump in anywhere. Challenging? Yes, but lots of fun.

A second pleasure was the two works I chose as inspiration, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island and Homer’s The Odyssey. Stevenson’s old adventure had been a childhood favourite, and The Odyssey introduced me to the world of Greek folklore and mythology…alongside Disney’s Hercules. As before, some character names are references to the original (Solet, Circé, Livesey, Benbow), but not as many. And mapping out their personal journeys, based around the theme of restitution, was huge fun both in the original writing and the edits.

But what about the biggest pitfall? There were two. One was based around how to make the story stand out. Looking back, I feel that Starborn Vendetta is perhaps a little too faithful to the works that inspired it, so while my original concept leaned pretty close to Treasure Island in structure, and to a point still does, I felt it needed a unique identity to help it stand out and really push the series forward. I also realised I hadn’t full communicated something that admittedly hadn’t solidified fully when writing the first one: nearly all humans within the Cluster are meant to be non-white peoples. This is a tricky thing to handle, and it’s an ongoing process, but it felt right for this universe that the stereotypical European white face has become rarefied or even extinct by this point in history.

I hope this hasn’t been a terrible drag on you, dear reader. It’s still strange being a published writer. Probably something I’ll never get used to. But, like the Benbow, one can but set out and see what the future holds.

Works